Mr. Denning Drives North (1951)

★ 6.0 1h 33m IMDb

When well-off aircraft designer Denning finds his daughter's current boyfriend is a nasty character he tries to buy him off, ending up hitting him and causing his death when he falls. Instead of calling the police he dumps the body in a lonely spot on the road to the North, making it look like a hit-and-run accident. Weeks later there is still no report of the body being found, and Denning starts to go to pieces. When he lets his wife into his secret the two start making enquiries, possibly making things worse.

Mr. Denning Drives North

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Cast

John Mills
John Mills as Tom Denning Died 2005 · The Watts Naval Training College, North Elmham, Norfolk, England, UK Sir John Mills, CBE (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 1908 – 23 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. On screen, he often p...
Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Calvert as Kay Denning Died 2002 · Chelsea, London, England, UK Phyllis Calvert (18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002) was an English film, stage and television actress. Born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, she trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and...
Eileen Moore
Eileen Moore as Liz Denning Age 94 · London, England, UK Eileen Moore was born in August 1932 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for An Inspector Calls (1954), The Green Man (1956) and Les Misérables (1967). She has been married to Michael Ant...
Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker as Chick Eddowes Died 1993 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. He is father to actress Zoë Wanamaker. Descr...
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom as Mados Died 2012 · Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary Herbert Lom (born Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru; 11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012) was a Czech-born British film and television actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 193...
Raymond Huntley
Raymond Huntley as Wright Died 1990 · King's Norton, Worcestershire, England, UK Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downs...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 8/10 Jan 03, 2017
The Denning Desperation.

Mr. Denning Drives North is directed by Anthony Kimmins and adapted to screenplay from his own novel by Alec Coppel. It stars John Mills, Phyliss Calvert, Eileen Moore, Sam Wannamaker and Herbert Lom. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and cinematography by John Wilcox.

A splendid collage of murder mystery, noir and thriller - with a slice of Hitchcockian black humour thrown in for good measure, Kimmins' film deserves to be better known. Plot finds Mills as the Mr. Denning of the title, who after accidentally killing what he believes to be his daughter's unscrupulous boyfriend, dumps the body and then finds himself in a whirl of stricken conscience and panic.

To say more would be to spoil the fun for there are plenty of interesting roads on which the story travels, but it's safe to say the investigation of the missing body is gripping and has a delicious slice of ironic fate about it. Cast are excellent, particularly Mills, with the leads boosted by a roll call of British greats in supporting roles. Frankel provides a very lively musical score and Wilcox's photography has the requisite tonal accompaniments for the unfolding plot. Hats off also to Kimmins, who keeps a tight hold on things to let the drama flow naturally without histrionics.

From a nifty expressionistic opening to a very cheeky and fulfilling finale, this very much is one for murder mystery, noir, thriller fans to seek out. 7.5/10

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