Mr Denning Drives North – 1951 | 93 mins | Mystery | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Little-seen thriller from director Anthony Kimmins that walks a line between suspense and black-comedy; unsure what it really wants to be. Featuring a great performance from John Mills, there’s also a strong supporting cast of watchable stalwarts including Bernard Lee, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Herbert Lom and Phyllis Calvert.

A successful aircraft manufacturer, Mr. Denning (John Mills), encounters trouble when he attempts to prevent his daughter Liz (Eileen Moore) running off with an undesirable blackmailer-boyfriend (Herbert Lom). He visits the rogue with the intention of buying him off, but during a sudden fit of rage he accidentally kills him. He drives North with the corpse in the back seat and temporarily disposes of the body in a roadside ditch. When police reports of the body being discovered fail to surface, Denning returns to the site to make more permanent arrangements but finds the corpse has mysteriously disappeared. A passing gypsy is charged with the murder. With only an inexpensive ring to go on for clues, Liz’s fiancé, Chick (Sam Wanamaker), sets out to uncover the truth.