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The Mark of Cain (1947 film)

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The Mark of Cain
Film poster
Directed byBrian Desmond Hurst
Written by
Based onAiring in a Closed Carriage by Marjorie Bowen
Produced byW. P. Lipscomb
Starring
CinematographyErwin Hillier
Edited bySidney Stone
Music byBernard Stevens
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
  • 31 December 1947 (1947-12-31)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£253,400[1]
Box office£75,800[1]

The Mark of Cain is a 1947 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Eric Portman, Sally Gray, Patrick Holt and Dermot Walsh.[2][3] It was written by Christianna Brand and Francis Crowdy based on the 1943 novel Airing in a Closed Carriage by Marjorie Bowen (as Joseph Shearing), which in turn was based on the true life murder trial of Florence Maybrick.[4][5]

Plot

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English industrialist Richard Howard visits Bordeaux, France to buy cotton for his mills from Sarah Bonheur, He becomes enamoured by Sarah and spends much of his business trip sight-seeing. When his younger brother, John arrives to close the deal, he also is attracted to Sarah, and after a whirlwind courtship, marries her.

When living a lonely existence in John's grand house in Manchester, England, Sarah confides to Richard that she is depressed by her marriage. Richard encourages her to divorce John and run off with him. Sarah consults a lawyer, but finally ignores Richard's advice, and somehow reconciles with her husband. Seeking revenge, Richard then poisons his brother and attempts to frame Sarah for the murder.

Dr. White is suspicious of the circumstances behind John's rapid decline, and after his death, Sarah's purchase of arsenic casts suspicion on her. In standing trial for murder, Richard defends Sarah thinking he will win her love, but she is found guilty. Another suitor, Jerome Thorn, is convinced he knows the identity of the poisoner, and comes to Sarah's aid.

Cast

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Production

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It was made at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky.[6]

Critical reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "'This is a gloomy production, which induces little interest or belief. Once again the theme is murder, and it has not even the entertainment value of being an exciting one. Eric Portman is quite good as the vain egoist, Richard; Sally Gray is not very interesting as Sarah; and Patrick Holt is not happy as the boorish John."[7]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Tin-pot triangle melodrama. Played against phoney late nineteenth-century Manchester backgrounds, it tells, as far as we could gather, of the machinations of a ranting megalomaniac, but fails completely to make its point, if any, clear. 'Ham' acting, stilted dialogue and erratic direction accentuate every flaw in its vague and stagey script."[8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Fashionable gloom and doom."[9]

Britmovie wrote, "... the story never catches fire, one reason for this is the heavy-handed direction of Brian Desmond Hurst which fails to maintain adequate suspense. Dermot Walsh and Patrick Holt overplay their roles and both were a promise never really to be fulfilled, but Eric Portman dominates the film in a barnstorming acting performance. Sally Gray is somewhat inconsequential and there’s no spark of chemistry between the leads."[10]

Film critic Allan Essler Smith wrote, "This powerful drama is an interesting example of a strand of late 1940s British cinema, but has been long neglected and not shown on British TV for many years, if at all. Set in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, it has excellent period detail and the sets effectively highlight Sarah's alienation and despair in the Howards's suffocating and gloomy household."[11]

Box Office

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Producer's receipts were £70,000 in the UK and £5,800 overseas.[1]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 354. Income is in terms of producer's share of receipts.
  2. ^ "The Mark of Cain". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  3. ^ Murphy, Rober (1992). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48'. Routledge. p. 161. ISBN 978-0415076845.
  4. ^ Parkinson, David. Review: 'The Mark of Cain'." RadioTimes, 16 June 2016. Retrieved: 27 August 2016.
  5. ^ Vagarian. "Dust & Corruption: Joseph Shearing's 'Airing in a Closed Carriage' and the Florence Maybrick mystery." dustandcorruption.blogspot.co.uk, 10 December 2010. Retrieved: 27 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Review: 'The Mark of Cain' (1948)." British Film Institute, 2016. Retrieved: 27 August 2016.
  7. ^ "The Mark of Cain". The Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 15, no. 169. 1 January 1948. p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ "The Mark of Cain". Kine Weekly. Vol. 371, no. 2123. 8 January 1948. p. 16 – via ProQuest.
  9. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 228. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  10. ^ "Review: 'The Mark of Cain' 1947." Britmovie. Retrieved: 27 August 2016.
  11. ^ Smith, Allan Essler. "Review: 'The Mark of Cain' (1947)". Brian Desmond Hurst. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019.
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