23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Okay, so in story 23 Paces to Baker Street mayn't be the most original on the block, but it doesn't necessarily need to be to be entertaining. There may be the odd cliché about, however there is much to enjoy namely the suspenseful and Hitchcockian-like story and the telling and suspense of it is very taut too. The film is very well made, with stylish photography and striking production values while I enjoyed the traditional fog used. Henry Hathaway's direction is excellent too, the screenplay is cracking, Van Johnson is very good in an ideal role, Vera Miles is suitably sympathetic and the support cast are faultless. Overall, very entertaining, well made and suspenseful film and worth repeat viewings. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Philip Hannon is a blind playwright residing in London, during one of his R&R moments at the local public house, he overhears part of a conversation that suggests the vile kidnapping of a child. Getting the police force to take him seriously proves hard to achieve, so with the help of his trusty butler and his ex fiancée, Jean Lennox, he hopes to avert a dastardly crime. Well well well, sometimes you can tune into a film not expecting much more than a B movie rush, yet just occasionally you get submarined and get a mysterious treat that deserves far better support than it actually gets. I have been delighted to log on to this films page and see that others have been entertained by this picture as much as myself. This is not ground breaking or even remotely original, in fact it does play out as some sort of cheap knock off idea that Hitchcock turned down in his sleep, but you know what? Sometimes a film can be great just for having an honest will to entertain the viewers with suspense and mystery being its main fortitudes. Henry Hathaway directs and it's just another film to prove that as up and down as his career was, he was never afraid to tackle different genres, here, with the London location totally interesting, he manages to knit it all together with impressive results. Van Johnson has his critics, and it would be foolish of me to not concur that at times he has been wooden, but here as the blind Phillip Hannon, he shows that if given good enough roles he was more than able to rise to the challenge. Not one to revisit often for sure, but seriously recommended to those who like the genre and are stuck for a good film to watch. 7/10

I saw this movie many years ago and loved it. I was finally able to get a VHS copy. This is one of the few movies I have to watch at least once a year. I am a fan of Van Johnson and I enjoyed him in this movie. He plays an embittered blind writer who is visiting London. He overhears a conversation which sounds like a murder plot. Along with his friend and loyal girlfriend,they try to figure out who is going to be murdered and where. The scene with Van Johnson almost falling from the missing front of an abandoned building is tense. The story moves along well and there are many twists and turns to make even Hitchcock proud. I wish more movies were made as well as this one.

Van Johnson is a blind playwright in London. cranky since he lost his sight he lives a reclusive existence having driven away anyone who cared about him. He's helped along by a butler. One day when he wanders off to a pub he overhears a conversation that leads him to believe that a terrible crime-a kidnapping or murder-is going to take place. When his call to the police gets him nowhere he decides to stop the crime himself, and so with the aide of his butler and his ex-fiancé he tries to get to the bottom of the crime.Shot in a beautiful widescreen that was lost in the pan and scan version I saw (Its wide at the start and end for the titles) this is a nifty little thriller that is akin to Hitchcock's films of the 1950's. While it echoes Hitchcock's work it is decidedly its own beast with the plot and events playing out in ways that Hitch never really explored. Johnson's blindness is both a blessing and a curse and a good chunk of the tension comes from not knowing if he's in over his head. The plot is nicely crafted so that, like Johnson and his companions, we are not sure what exactly is being planned. We have to piece things together. The performances are very good with everyone nicely filling out their assigned roles.If there is a problem with the film its that film has the feel of some of the big budget films of the 50's that were made in color and on location so that people would be lured back to theaters in order to see things they couldn't get on TV. Its often too "big" for some of the small moments with shots set up to look good in widescreen, but almost at the cost of the story. Still its a minor complaint and the film looks good in the full screen edition I saw.This is one to look out for, especially if you're a Hitchcock fan, since it appears to be an under appreciated thriller.7 ish out of 10.