The Halfway House

The Halfway House was directed by Basil Dearden with associate producer being Calvalcanti. The script was by TEB Clarke, Diana Morgan and Angus McPhail from the play The Peaceful Inn by Denis Ogden. Photography was by Wilkie Cooper, art direction by Michael Relph and music by Lord Berners. Editing by Charles Hasse who was supervised by Sidney Cole. The ensemble cast are Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns, Tom Walls, Françoise Rosay, Esmond Knight, Guy Middleton, Alfred Drayton, Valerie White, Richard Bird, Sally-Ann Howes, Philippa Hiatt, Pat McGrath, John Boxer, CV France, Joss Ambler, Rachel Thomas, Roland Pertwee, Jack Jones and Moses Jones.

Synopsis

Several characters take a holiday from the war at an Inn in the Welsh mountains. They all have personal problems to solve, and as they stay at the inn they realise that everything is not as it seems. The newspapers are all a year old, the landlord and his daughter have no shadows. The time spent at the inn resolves all their problems and the visitors realise tht they have been given a second chance. They find out that the inn and it's owners were blown up by a bomb exactly a year earlier.

Review

Resolving personal and topical problems is the main theme of this charming, beautifully shot film. Divorce, terminal illness, racketeering and neutrality are all brought under the microscope, along with other spiritual themes of nationality, sacrifice and the nature of love. Françoise Rosay plays opposite Tom Walls in her first English film, (they were paired again in Johnny Frenchman). The actors do their best with rather stereotypical characters and my only objection to the film is that EVERYONE is saved.

Released April 1944