23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)

23 Paces to Baker Street is an American thriller film first released in 1956, directed by Henry Hathaway.  The film stars Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Cecil Parker, Patricia Laffan and Maurice Denham.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Philip Hannon is a successful American playwright who is settling into a humdrum bachelor life in London when his former fiancée Jean Lennox decides to walk back into his life.  They haven’t met for several years, separating not long after after an accident which left Philip blind.  One evening, Philip heads off alone to his local pub and overhears a strange conversation between a man and a woman who appear to be plotting a kidnapping.  When the police fail to take his story seriously, Philip decides to conduct his own investigation, not knowing that he is up against a very dangerous opponent...

23 Paces to Baker Street is little known suspense thriller which looks suspiciously like a watered down remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s earlier Rear Window (1954).  It was directed by Henry Hathaway, who had previously made his mark with some memorable film noir dramas such as The Dark Corner (1946), although his most well-known film is probably True Grit (1969), a classic western starring John Wayne.   Some obvious deficiencies in the screenplay are compounded by a pretty one-note performance from Van Johnson who fails to evoke much sympathy or convey any sense of danger.  However, this is at least partly made up for by the attractive colour cinematography, which includes some spectacular panoramic shots of the London skyline.

© James Travers 2008

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