Night Beat (1947 film)

Night Beat is a 1947 British Brit noir crime thriller drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Ronald Howard, Hector Ross, Christine Norden and Sid James. Following the Second World War, the two comrades go their separate ways; one joins the Metropolitan Police while the other begins a police career but becomes a racketeer in post-war London. Sky Movies described the film as a "British thriller that examines a challenging issue of its times: the problems encountered by servicemen when trying to adjust to civilian life."

Cast

 * Anne Crawford as Julie Kendall
 * Maxwell Reed as Felix Fenton
 * Ronald Howard as Andy Kendall
 * Christine Norden as Jackie
 * Hector Ross as Don Brady
 * Fred Groves as PC Kendall
 * Sid James as Nixon (as Sidney James)
 * Nicholas Stuart as Rocky
 * Frederick Leister as Magistrate
 * Michael Medwin as Spider
 * Robert Cawdron as Police recruit
 * Robert Raglan as Detective Sergeant (uncredited)

Box Office
As of 30 June 1949 the film earned £118,578 in the UK of which £90,028 went to the producer.

Critical reception
The Radio Times wrote, "a relishably bad British crime drama set in an unreal Soho underworld of spivs and nightclubs. It's a compendium of clichés...Benjamin Frankel's score is better than the film deserves." Allmovie wrote, "though its starts out strong, Night Beat metamorphoses into standard melodramatics towards the end." Britmovie wrote, "fast-paced British crime melodrama...The two lead actors are particularly wooden and it’s left to the supporting cast to add some lowlife colour; particularly Maxwell Reed’s smug villain, Christine Norden as the vampish blonde, Sid James piano playing snout and a brief appearance by Michael Medwin as an indignant petty crook."