Women of Twilight
Encyclopedia
Women of Twilight is a 1952 British crime film
directed by Gordon Parry
and starring René Ray
, Lois Maxwell
, Freda Jackson
and Laurence Harvey
. The screenplay was by Anatole de Grunwald
. 89 minutes.
) is a boarding-house landlady who takes in women about to bear illegitimate children. Under cover of this she is a baby-farmer. She tries to blackmail her boarders. But she is unsuccessful in the case of Vivianne Bruce, the mistress of a condemned murderer.
. And she gives another first rate performance. Lois Maxwell
gives a poignant portrayal of a mother whose child dies as a result of neglect. Director Gordon Parry has handled this tragic piece with ability and understanding."
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
directed by Gordon Parry
Gordon Parry (film director)
Gordon Parry was a British film director and producer. Born in Aintree on 24 July 1908, he directed his first film Third Time Lucky in 1948. He died in 1981.-Selected filmography:* Third Time Lucky * Fast and Loose...
and starring René Ray
René Ray
René Ray, Countess of Midleton was a British film and stage actress of the 1930s and 1940s who appeared in over forty films....
, Lois Maxwell
Lois Maxwell
Lois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
, Freda Jackson
Freda Jackson
Freda Maud Jackson was an English stage actress who also worked in film and TV. Born in Nottingham, she was famous for her stage role as the cruel landlady Mrs. Voray in the play No Room at the Inn in the mid-1940s; she appeared in the film adaptation of 1948...
and Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
. The screenplay was by Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole "Tolly" de Grunwald was a British film producer and screenwriter.Anatole de Grunwald was born in Petrograd , Russia, the son of a diplomat in the service of Tsar Nicholas II. He was seven years old when his father was forced to flee with his family to England during the 1917 Bolshevik...
. 89 minutes.
Plot
Helen Allistair, (Freda JacksonFreda Jackson
Freda Maud Jackson was an English stage actress who also worked in film and TV. Born in Nottingham, she was famous for her stage role as the cruel landlady Mrs. Voray in the play No Room at the Inn in the mid-1940s; she appeared in the film adaptation of 1948...
) is a boarding-house landlady who takes in women about to bear illegitimate children. Under cover of this she is a baby-farmer. She tries to blackmail her boarders. But she is unsuccessful in the case of Vivianne Bruce, the mistress of a condemned murderer.
Cast
- Helen Allistair - Freda JacksonFreda JacksonFreda Maud Jackson was an English stage actress who also worked in film and TV. Born in Nottingham, she was famous for her stage role as the cruel landlady Mrs. Voray in the play No Room at the Inn in the mid-1940s; she appeared in the film adaptation of 1948...
- Vivianne Bruce - René RayRené RayRené Ray, Countess of Midleton was a British film and stage actress of the 1930s and 1940s who appeared in over forty films....
- Christine Ralston - Lois MaxwellLois MaxwellLois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
- Rosie Gordon - Joan DowlingJoan DowlingJoan Dowling was an English character actress.-Biography:Joan Dowling was an English Actress of the 1940–50s era. She was the illegitimate daughter of Vera Dowling and was brought up by her great grandmother in Uxbridge...
- Olga Lambert - Dora BryanDora BryanDora May Bryan OBE is an English actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in Southport, Lancashire, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire...
- Jess Smithson - Vida HopeVida Hope-Selected filmography:* Champagne Charlie * English Without Tears * Hue and Cry * Nicholas Nickleby * It Always Rains on Sunday * Woman Hater * For Them That Trespass...
- Jerry Nolan - Laurence HarveyLaurence HarveyLaurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
Criticism
"In this sordid but arresting story, Freda Jackson has a similar role to the one she played so successfully in No Room at the InnNo Room at the Inn
No Room at the Inn is a 1948 British melodrama, directed by Daniel Birt and starring Freda Jackson and Ann Stephens. The screenplay was adapted by Dylan Thomas and Ivor Foxwell from the play by Joan Temple...
. And she gives another first rate performance. Lois Maxwell
Lois Maxwell
Lois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
gives a poignant portrayal of a mother whose child dies as a result of neglect. Director Gordon Parry has handled this tragic piece with ability and understanding."