The Intruder (1953 film)

The Intruder is a 1953 British drama film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Jack Hawkins, George Cole, Dennis Price and Michael Medwin.[2] The film is based on the 1949 novel by Robin Maugham called The Line on Ginger.

The Intruder
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGuy Hamilton
Produced byIvan Foxwell
Written byJohn Hunter
Robin Maugham
Anthony Squire
StarringJack Hawkins
George Cole
Dennis Price
Michael Medwin
Music byFrancis Chagrin
CinematographyEdward Scaife
Distributed byBritish Lion Films
Release date
  • 19 October 1953 (1953-10-19)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£161,488 (UK)[1]

Post-war London is the backdrop including Belgravia, Covent Garden market, Loughborough Junction and Dulwich Hospital.

A contemporary critic commented that the film treated the subject "with intelligence, taste, and a feeling for the medium"; he also wrote "Medwin... gives a brilliant study of a good fellow gone wrong".[3]

Plot

Ex-Colonel, now stockbroker, Wolf Merton (Hawkins) returns home one evening to find it being burgled by an armed intruder. Merton recognises the culprit, Ginger Edwards (Medwin), as a former soldier who had fought courageously under his command in a tank regiment during the Second World War. Merton briefly questions Edwards on how he got into a life of crime, but, suspecting Merton has called the police, the burglar makes his escape. Merton sets out to discover why one of his best men became involved in crime after he was de-mobbed. The story unfolds in a sequence of flash-back episodes of events during the war and how they affected, or contrasted with, how each of the main characters fared when they returned to civilian life.[4]

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Francis Chagrin, conducted by Muir Mathieson.[4] He later adapted the music for concert use as the Four Orchestral Episodes.[5]

Video Release

In 2020 Network Distributing Limited produced and released the film on Blu-ray.[6]

References
  1. Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p499
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048211/
  3. Campbell Dixon, The Daily Telegraph, 17 October 1953, quoted in BFI programme note, 2012.
  4. British Film Institute page about The Intruder Retrieved 23 February 2012
  5. Lane, Philip. Notes to Chandos 10323: The Film Music of Francis Chagrin (2005)
  6. Best of British magazine; June 2020 issue; page 73
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