Tonight's Movie: Gideon's Day (1958)

GIDEON'S DAY (1958), known in the U.S. as GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD, is just the kind of film I like: A "day in the life" police procedural featuring Jack Hawkins in almost every scene.

GIDEON'S DAY is one of the least-known films from director John Ford, but while there's nothing particularly Fordian about it -- other than the presence of Ford regular Anna Lee -- that's not really a negative. It's an engaging, well-made 91 minutes which I quite enjoyed.

The movie was written by written by T.E.B. Clarke based on the novel by J.J. Maric, aka John Creasey. As the movie begins, Chief Inspector George Gideon (Hawkins) breakfasts with his family, including his wife Kate (Lee), oldest daughter (Anna Massey, in her film debut), and two younger children (Malcolm and Mavis Ranson).

He's then off to work, though not without receiving a driving ticket on the way, followed by a long, arduous day at work. Honestly, Gideon does so much and goes so many places I'm not sure how he did it all in a single day, but whether or not it was physically possible, it was quite entertaining!

One of the things I appreciated was that when Gideon came home after his long day, which included being threatened with being shot, his wife doesn't complain that he's come home late and missed seeing his daughter's concert or visiting relatives; instead she's delighted to see him and sets about getting him a meal. Her warm reaction conveyed an appreciation for his dangerous, hard job, and that him getting home safely at day's end was the most important thing.

I also speculated that the gap in the Gideons' children's ages may have been due to his wartime service, and if that were the case, it would doubly explain why she was so glad to see him.  She had perspective.

As a growing fan of Jack Hawkins (THE CRUEL SEA) I thoroughly enjoyed him in this as the engaged, hyper-competent police inspector. He faces a wide variety of challenges during the day, but other than dealing with his parking ticket and trying to remember to pick up salmon for his wife, he keeps his cool and is quite likeable.

Andrew Ray, as the young constable who tickets Gideon and later dates his daughter, has what I'd call a "Patrick Wayne part" as the earnest young man trying to do the right thing who nonetheless manages to irritate his superior.

I'm always glad to see Dianne Foster; as I've shared before, her son is an oral surgeon who has treated most of my family over the years. It's interesting to me that she was in the cast despite the movie being set in England. Foster also worked with Ford that year on THE LAST HURRAH (1958). She only has a couple of scenes here but she's quite striking and does a good job.

The movie, made at MGM British Studios, was filmed by Freddie Young and the uncredited Charles Lawton Jr. At times the film's pastels almost have a Trucolor look. It's an attractive film, particularly Inspector Gideon's kitchen.

The movie was released on DVD in the U.S. as part of the 5-film TCM Vault John Ford: The Columbia Films Collection; it has an introduction by Leonard Maltin plus stills and poster galleries, but no optional subtitles.

This year I upgraded to the Powerhouse Indicator Blu-ray, which although released in the UK is Region A. The disc shares with the TCM version Maltin's introduction and some image galleries, but it has several more extras, including the choice of watching the movie with U.S. or UK titles, plus a number of featurettes; the featurettes include a brief yet informative piece on the film's London and other locations.

Unlike the TCM Vault DVD, the Indicator Blu-ray disc has optional English subtitles, which was a selling point for me along with the additional extras and upgraded print quality.

GIDEON'S DAY may perhaps be the least "Ford-like" film I've yet seen, but I liked it quite well and will definitely return to it again in the future.