My Brother's Keeper (1948 film)
Encyclopedia
My Brother's Keeper is a 1948
British crime film in the form of a convicts-on-the-run chase thriller, directed by Alfred Roome
for Gainsborough Pictures
. It was the first of only two films directed by Roome (the other being the following year's comedy It's Not Cricket
) during a long career as a film editor. The film stars Jack Warner
and George Cole and was produced by Sydney Box
.
) and Willie Stannard (George Cole) are two newly-convicted criminals being transported to prison
. Martin is a hardened, cynical career criminal, while Stannard is a naïve, rather dull-witted youth who has never previously been in trouble with the law, maintains his innocence of the rape
for which he has been convicted and is terrified by the prospect of prison. During the journey the pair manage to escape. Martin steals an army officer's uniform and passes Stannard off as a deserter in his charge, being returned to face a military tribunal.
The escape location has been chosen by Martin for its proximity to a garage
run by his mistress Nora Lawrence (Jane Hylton
), who provides the pair with overnight shelter. The following day Martin and Stannard take refuge in a derelict isolated cottage. While trying to file their handcuffs apart they are surprised by a hunting man with a gun. A struggle ensues, during which Martin shoots and kills the man. Shortly thereafter they manage to separate the handcuffs and Martin abandons Stannard, going on the run alone while Stannard gives himself up and is promptly charged with murder
.
Martin manages to contact his wife in London, asking if she can find a way to get money to him. She arranges to travel by taxi to the woods in which he is hiding. Just as she arrives, the police have tracked Martin down and have him cornered. Rather than give himself up, Martin makes a final doomed attempt to escape through a signed minefield, watched by police, reporters, his wife and mistress and a crowd of sensation-seeking gawkers.
, and Dixon of Dock Green
, the TV series developed from it which ran until the mid 1970s, Warner became forever engrained on the British consciousness as George "Evenin' all" Dixon, the avuncular upholder of law and order. My Brother's Keeper is often cited as an example of the dramatic range of which Warner was capable, before he became typecast. Cole's performance too is credited as one of the factors in his unusually smooth transition from child star to adult actor. The film's main weakness is cited as the interpolation of a pseudo-comic and largely irrelevant subplot involving a newspaper reporter trying to cover the story while on honeymoon in the area.
/Oxfordshire
border area, including scenes shot at the now abandoned Aston Rowant railway station
.
1948 in film
The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
British crime film in the form of a convicts-on-the-run chase thriller, directed by Alfred Roome
Alfred Roome
Alfred Roome was a British cinematographer, film editor and occasional director. Born in London, on 22 December 1908 he first worked in the film industry as a film editor on the 1932 British comedy film Thark...
for Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
. It was the first of only two films directed by Roome (the other being the following year's comedy It's Not Cricket
It's Not Cricket (1949 film)
It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Roome and starring Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Susan Shaw and Maurice Denham. It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation.-Plot:Major Bright and Capain Early...
) during a long career as a film editor. The film stars Jack Warner
Jack Warner (actor)
Jack Warner OBE was an English film and television actor. He is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon, which he played until the age of eighty....
and George Cole and was produced by Sydney Box
Sydney Box
Sydney Box was a British film producer and screenwriter, brother of another prominent British filmmaker, Betty Box. He produced the postwar screenplay, The Seventh Veil, which earned him the 1946 Oscar for best original screenplay with his then wife Muriel Box after which the couple were hired by...
.
Plot
Handcuffed together, George Martin (Jack WarnerJack Warner (actor)
Jack Warner OBE was an English film and television actor. He is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon, which he played until the age of eighty....
) and Willie Stannard (George Cole) are two newly-convicted criminals being transported to prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. Martin is a hardened, cynical career criminal, while Stannard is a naïve, rather dull-witted youth who has never previously been in trouble with the law, maintains his innocence of the rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
for which he has been convicted and is terrified by the prospect of prison. During the journey the pair manage to escape. Martin steals an army officer's uniform and passes Stannard off as a deserter in his charge, being returned to face a military tribunal.
The escape location has been chosen by Martin for its proximity to a garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
run by his mistress Nora Lawrence (Jane Hylton
Jane Hylton
Jane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
), who provides the pair with overnight shelter. The following day Martin and Stannard take refuge in a derelict isolated cottage. While trying to file their handcuffs apart they are surprised by a hunting man with a gun. A struggle ensues, during which Martin shoots and kills the man. Shortly thereafter they manage to separate the handcuffs and Martin abandons Stannard, going on the run alone while Stannard gives himself up and is promptly charged with murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
Martin manages to contact his wife in London, asking if she can find a way to get money to him. She arranges to travel by taxi to the woods in which he is hiding. Just as she arrives, the police have tracked Martin down and have him cornered. Rather than give himself up, Martin makes a final doomed attempt to escape through a signed minefield, watched by police, reporters, his wife and mistress and a crowd of sensation-seeking gawkers.
Cast
- Jack WarnerJack Warner (actor)Jack Warner OBE was an English film and television actor. He is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon, which he played until the age of eighty....
as George Martin - Jane HyltonJane HyltonJane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
as Nora Lawrence - David TomlinsonDavid TomlinsonDavid Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson was an English film actor. He is primarily remembered for his roles as authority figure George Banks in Mary Poppins, fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug.-Early life:Born...
as Ronnie Waring - Bill Owen as Syd Evans
- George Cole as Willie Stannard
- Yvonne OwenYvonne Owen-Selected filmography:* The Seventh Veil * The Years Between * Holiday Camp * My Brother's Keeper * Third Time Lucky * Miranda * Easy Money * Portrait from Life...
as Meg Waring - Raymond LovellRaymond LovellRaymond Lovell was a Canadian-born film actor who performed in British produced films. He mainly played supporting roles, and was often seen as slightly pompous characters...
as Bill Wainwright - Brenda BruceBrenda BruceBrenda Bruce was a British actress. She had a long and successful career in the theatre, radio, film, and television.-Early life:Brenda Bruce was born in Manchester...
as Winnie Foreman - Susan ShawSusan ShawSusan Shaw was an English actress.Shaw began her film career in 1946 when she was signed to a contract by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation...
as Beryl - Beatrice VarleyBeatrice VarleyBeatrice Varley was a British actress who appeared in a variety of television and film roles between 1936 and 1964...
as Jenny Martin - Garry MarshGarry MarshGarry Marsh was a British film actor. Marsh began acting on the stage at the age of fifteen. He started off in films as a leading man but later became a character actor playing self-important roles.-Filmography:* Long Odds...
as Brewster - Maurice DenhamMaurice DenhamMaurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
as Superintendent Trent - Frederick PiperFrederick PiperFrederick Piper was an English actor who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Never a leading player, Piper was usually cast in minor, sometimes uncredited, parts although he also appeared in some more substantial supporting roles...
as Gordon - Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...
as Harding - John BoxerJohn Boxer (British actor)John Boxer was a British film and television actor.Boxer's television appearances included Emergency – Ward 10, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk , The Onedin Line and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.-Selected filmography:* There Ain't No Justice * Convoy *...
as Police Sergeant Bert Foreman - Amy VenessAmy VenessAmy Veness was a British film actress. She played the role of Grandma Huggett in The Huggetts Trilogy.-Selected filmography:* Please Help Emily * Let Me Explain, Dear * A Southern Maid...
as Mrs. Gully - Fred GrovesFred Groves (actor)-Selected filmography:* Maria Marten * The Idol of Paris * The Loss of the Birkenhead * Florence Nightingale * The Firm of Girdlestone * The Manxman * The Labour Leader...
as Crown Hotel landlord - Arthur HamblingArthur HamblingArthur Hambling was a British actor, he was best known for appearances in the films Henry V and The Lavender Hill Mob .-Selected filmography:* The Scoop * French Leave...
as Edward Hodges - Valentine DyallValentine DyallValentine Dyall was an English character actor, the son of veteran actor Franklin Dyall. Dyall was especially popular as a voice actor, due to his very distinctive sepulchral voice, he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment With Fear.In...
as Inspector at Milton Wells - George MerrittGeorge Merritt (actor)George Merritt was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The W Plan * The Lodger * I Was a Spy * Crime on the Hill * The Silver Spoon...
as Constable at Milton Wells - Jack RaineJack RaineJack Raine was a British television and film actor. He was married to actress and musician Binnie Hale.-Selected filmography:* Night Birds * The Middle Watch * Fires of Fate * The House of Trent...
as Chief Constable Col. Heatherly
Reception
My Brother's Keeper is a well-regarded film, with a reputation as a tight, tense and fast-moving thriller with Roome's previous editing experience being well utilised. The characterisation of the two main protagonists is praised for going deeper than the stereotypes of the tough, reckless criminal and the dim, hapless innocent. Via the 1950 film The Blue LampThe Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios, directed by Basil Dearden and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon, Jimmy Hanley and Dirk Bogarde in an early role...
, and Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, the TV series developed from it which ran until the mid 1970s, Warner became forever engrained on the British consciousness as George "Evenin' all" Dixon, the avuncular upholder of law and order. My Brother's Keeper is often cited as an example of the dramatic range of which Warner was capable, before he became typecast. Cole's performance too is credited as one of the factors in his unusually smooth transition from child star to adult actor. The film's main weakness is cited as the interpolation of a pseudo-comic and largely irrelevant subplot involving a newspaper reporter trying to cover the story while on honeymoon in the area.
Location filming
My Brother's Keepers exterior location sequences were filmed in the BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
/Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
border area, including scenes shot at the now abandoned Aston Rowant railway station
Aston Rowant railway station
Aston Rowant railway station was opened in 1872 and was a part of the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. Having closed in 1961, there have been proposals to reopen the station not only to the heritage services of the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, but also National Rail commuter...
.
External links
- My Brother's Keeper at BFI Screen Online
- My Brother's Keeper at BritMovie