Town on Trial

[paul kersey]

It's great to see that Channel 4 are showing "Town On trial" again. Wednesday 25th April @ 13.20.
Starring John Mills and Alec McCowen, it is a nicely made film based on a Francis Durbridge story and has a great climax ................ ok, I won't spoil it!

[judylou]

Hi Paul,
I haven't heard of it, but being a John Mills fan, and enjoy a good Francis Durbridge,
I would love to track it down....being in Aust, of course I won't see it on Channel 4, but I will keep my eye out for it.

QUOTE=paul kersey;2072143]It's great to see that Channel 4 are showing "Town On trial" again. Wednesday 25th April @ 13.20.
Starring John Mills and Alec McCowen, it is a nicely made film based on a Francis Durbridge story and has a great climax ................ ok, I won't spoil it![/QUOTE]

[wadey]

Well worth a look

[Windthrop]

It's great to see that Channel 4 are showing "Town On trial" again. Wednesday 25th April @ 13.20.
Starring John Mills and Alec McCowen, it is a nicely made film based on a Francis Durbridge story and has a great climax ................ ok, I won't spoil it!

Vicious Circle is the Durbridge one IIRC. TOT is still a first rate little thriller with a grittier than expected turn from Mills.

[paul kersey]

Vicious Circle is the Durbridge one IIRC. TOT is still a first rate little thriller with a grittier than expected turn from Mills.

I stand corrected, it appears to have been written by Ken Hughes and Robert Westerby and you were correct, Durbridge wrote Vicious Circle. Along with The October Man and Mr Denning drives North, these films are amongst my favourite John Mills films and are all worth watching when you get a chance.

[Johnallan]

I defy any red-blooded heterosexual male not to be impressed by the sight of Magda Miller playing tennis.

[thedarkavenger]

Only ever seen Town on Trial once and that was a few years ago. My abiding memory is of how 'American' it seemed, or maybe that was just the unlikely presence of Charles Coburn. Really enjoyed the film and will be setting the record button as my copy at the moment is pretty bad DVD-R one. Did they ever get around to releasing a region-2 version of the film?

[wadey]

I defy any red-blooded heterosexual male not to be impressed by the sight of Magda Miller playing tennis.

I was going to mention this, very saucy indeed and even by today's standards a very sexy outfit !

[Westengland]

My abiding memory is of how 'American' it seemed, or maybe that was the unlikely presence of Charles Coburn

Yeah, that's what I noticed, in the characters, especially John Mill's and the way the story is told(and Charles Coburn's 'American' seems more out-of-place the more times the film is seen). The directors and writers went on to Hollywood careers where they became becalmed somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.

I defy any red-blooded heterosexual male not to be impressed by the sight of Magda Miller playing tennis.

I was going to mention this, very saucy indeed and even by today's standards a very sexy outfit!

This is Britmovie, remember: what we want now is a long thread comprehensively listing: a) the name of every extra - every face - who can be seen, somewhere - anywhere - in the film, with accompanying screengrabs and b) then-and-now comparison images of all the location sites, in street-by-street, house-by-house etc. detail, not posting up pix of the aforementioned tennis match (or Elizabeth Seal's dance) for 'film education' purposes.

[wadey]

You've forgotten the geological history of the area

[judylou]

Actually just looked it up and bought a copy on Ebay, I look forward to watching it..

Hi Paul,
I haven't heard of it, but being a John Mills fan, and enjoy a good Francis Durbridge,
I would love to track it down....being in Aust, of course I won't see it on Channel 4, but I will keep my eye out for it.

QUOTE=paul kersey;2072143]It's great to see that Channel 4 are showing "Town On trial" again. Wednesday 25th April @ 13.20.
Starring John Mills and Alec McCowen, it is a nicely made film based on a Francis Durbridge story and has a great climax ................ ok, I won't spoil it!

[/QUOTE]

[Laura Jesson]

Absolutely love John Mills' films, which I collect and cannot think of one that I have not liked.

Pushed, I would have to say Mr Denning Drives North was my all time favourite of his.
The open top Rolls Royce he drives in that is certainly a car to behold!!

[Elaine]

I am an admirer of John Mills as well, and have most of his films having collected them in recent years. I have Town On Trial, which is a very good low budget film. It is very racy in parts, tame by todays standards, but daring for the 1950's. It is a film I can watch over and over again for it's interesting characters, a real who done it. Mr Denning Drives North, October Man and The Long Memory are also great. I could go on but I would take up to much time. As Laura on the above post says, there isn't one of his film which I have seen that I dislike.

[cassidy]

The Long Memory is on Film4 on Friday 27th April at 11am.

I am an admirer of John Mills as well, and have most of his films having collected them in recent years. I have Town On Trial, which is a very good low budget film. It is very racy in parts, tame by todays standards, but daring for the 1950's. It is a film I can watch over and over again for it's interesting characters, a real who done it. Mr Denning Drives North, October Man and The Long Memory are also great. I could go on but I would take up to much time. As Laura on the above post says, there isn't one of his film which I have seen that I dislike.

[paul kersey]

The Long Memory is on Film4 on Friday 27th April at 11am.

Thanks for that one !
I can't understand why these four films are not available as a box set.

[didi-5]

I've never seen Town on Trial or The Long Memory so will be recording both - thanks for the heads-up!

[Westengland]

All of John Mill's 'contemporary domestic' films, as they could be classified, ie: not the 'international', 'historical' or 'military' (except for Tunes Of Glory) ones, from So Well Remembered (1947), made immediately after Great Expectations, through to Dulicima (1971), are interesting for what's in the rest of each film, apart from JM's performance - plots, locatations, characterisations, cast, crew etc. That doesn't mean they'll be DVD rereleased or TV rebroadcast soon, let alone shown in cinemas (the format they were made for).

[Mark O]

Thanks for the info Paul, I'll be recording it, I have seen it on you-tube, but not very clearly, I'm intrigued to know where it was filmed as there's several outdoor locations, I recall Elizabeth Seal's strange, erotic dance at the Tennis club Ball, must have taken plenty of courage to do all that in front of all those people, but that's Thespian professionalism for you.

[Windthrop]

All of John Mill's 'contemporary domestic' films, as they could be classified, ie: not the 'international', 'historical' or 'military' (except for Tunes Of Glory) ones, from So Well Remembered (1947), made immediately after Great Expectations, through to Dulicima (1971), are interesting for what's in the rest of each film, apart from JM's performance - plots, locatations, characterisations, cast, crew etc. That doesn't mean they'll be DVD rereleased or TV rebroadcast soon, let alone shown in cinemas (the format they were made for).

Well said. Of all the domestic post-war stars Mills films were in some ways the most parochial (I mean that in a positive way) and are quite valuable social documents.

[paul kersey]

Forgot about Dulcima. Why has that film been treated so unfairly ?. I don't think it ever had a proper cinema release and has never been released on a legitimate DVD. ( good job we have bootlegs sometimes)