Hour of Decision (film)

Hour of Decision is a 1957 British mystery film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards and starring Jeff Morrow, Hazel Court and Anthony Dawson. It is based on the 1954 novel Murder in Mayfair by Frederic Goldsmith.

Plot
The British wife of an American journalist begins receiving letters blackmailing her over a love affair. Suspicion points to her when the blackmailer is found murdered.

Cast

 * Jeff Morrow as Joe Saunders
 * Hazel Court as Margaret Saunders / Peggy
 * Anthony Dawson as Gary Bax
 * Mary Laura Wood as Olive Bax
 * Alan Gifford as J. Foster Green
 * Carl Bernard as Inspector Gower
 * Lionel Jeffries as Albert Mayne
 * Anthony Snell as Andrew Crest
 * Vanda Godsell as Eileen Chadwick
 * Robert Sansom as Reece Chadwick
 * Garard Green as Tony Pendleton
 * Marne Maitland as club waiter
 * Arthur Lowe as calligraphy expert
 * Margaret Allworthy as Denise March
 * Richard Shaw as Detective Sergeant Dale
 * Frank Atkinson as caretaker
 * Michael Balfour as barman
 * Reginald Hearne as Personnel Manager
 * Dennis Chinnery as studio photographer

Production
The film was shot at Walton Studios with location shooting around London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Arthur Lawson.

Critical response
Monthly Film Bulletin said: "A hackneyed and lethargically told murder mystery, with a solution more dependent on coincidence than logic. Lionel Jeffries' assured performance as a jaded nightclub proprietor provides the film's most satisfying scenes."

Kine Weekly wrote: "Ingenious and holding who-dunnit. ... The red herrings are neatly manipulated by a competent cast and resourceful director against appropriate London backgrounds, and the twist ending is theatrically effective."

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Too-leaisurely whodunnit at least hides its villain well."

Leslie Halliwell said: "A familiar type of second feature whodunit, with little about it to spark enthusiasm."