I just caught this movie on cable and I was drawn into it. This is a very Hitchockian type of thriller. Blind mystery writer overhears kidnapping plot, but of course no one wants to believe him except his 2 good friends, one who wants to marry him. It had a a few chuckles along with suspense. Particulary when playwriters friend/aid is sent on a epic chase through London following a suspect. Playwriter of course nearly gets himself killed trying to figure out the pending kidnapping himself. A few colorful characters a good mystery plot, a lovelorn but smart girlfriend, a bitter playwriter who no one takes seriously and a very clever twist makes a very good movie. I wish for more nice quiet mysteries like this.
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marbleann16 February 2004
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Rob-7730 January 2000If you have worn out all your Hitchcock videos and need a good way to fill in a few hours on a rainy afternoon, this is the movie for you. A blind play-write over hears a fiendish conversation and is determined to intervene. Armed with his trusty man-servant and beautiful American female companion, this flick delivers on many levels, right up to the twist at the end.
They don't seem to make movies like this one anymore. Mores the pity. A must see for all suspense fans, plus a lovely glimpse into 50's London.
Scored it as 8/10. -
hitchcockthelegend8 December 2008Philip 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 -
dbdumonteil31 July 2009Hathaway was a brilliant director.He did never,until the very end ("the last safari")produce anything truly mediocre:from "the witching hour" to "True Grit "and "Nevada Smith,his work encompasses such classics as "lives of a Bengal lancer" "Peter Ibbetson" "House on 92 th street" "kiss of death" "niagara" "Legend of the lost",sorry if I cannot mention them all.
Influenced by Hitchcock's "rear window" (Vera Miles was a Hitchcockesque actress although she had yet to work with him in 1956 ),"23 paces to Baker street" ,on the other hand ,had on strong influence on Frederick Knott whose "wait until dark" was transferred to the screen by Terence Young with Audrey Hepburn in 1967: the scene of the "broken lights" was stolen from Philip McDonald.("Now we are equal;not afraid of the dark,are you?") "23 paces to Baker Street" should appeal to people who enjoyed the two movies I mention above;it takes place in a foggy London,with plenty of suspense and a plot which is sometimes a bit complicated and far-fetched but it does not matter:you watch it just like you read Agatha Christie's books. -
dougdoepke3 November 2012Passable suspenser despite a rather muddled script that doesn't acquaint us well with either the suspects or the plot developments. Thus the mystery part minimizes needed involvement. Johnson does an acceptable job feigning a blind man, but perhaps his biggest triumph is removing any sentimentality from Hannon's affliction. Thus the film never, to its credit, descends into the kind of treacle it so easily could have. In fact, Hannon remains understandably irascible throughout.
That tightrope struggle on the crumbling roof is a real nail-biter and the film's dramatic highpoint. But frankly the showdown in Hannon's darkened apartment lacks the skillful development of, say, Wait Until Dark (1967), to become memorable. The live London backdrop, however, adds a lot of interesting color and is well photographed. And though she's winsome as heck, Vera Miles is largely wasted in a part that many lesser actresses could have filled. Anyway, the movie's an acceptable time passer with a few good moments, but I'll bet it's not on Scotland Yard's Must-See list. -
robertconnor6 February 2006On a visit to London, an apparently recently blinded American playwrite over-hears a highly suspicious conversation which may or may not mean a kidnapping... together with his manservant and former secretary he begins to try and put the pieces together.
For 1956 this is a surprisingly twisted piece, involving both highly unconventional villain and target/victim. Delicious shots of mid-50's London (check out Barker's of Kensington), a serviceable performance by Johnson, Miles decorative but wasted (except in one scene), the glorious Parker, and Winwood hamming it up to the hilt, all add up to an enjoyable sub-Hitchcockian romp. Yes it owes a debt to 'Rear Window', but then 'Wait Until Dark' owes a debt to this! -
bkoganbing16 October 2012Van Johnson's highly developed senses of sound and odor go a long way in 23 Paces To Baker Street. Although there's no reference at all to Baker Street's most famous resident in literature, Johnson turns out to be quite the detective himself although he had two premises initially wrong.
The blind Johnson is an American author living in London and keeping company with fellow expatriate Vera Miles. His only living companion is his valet Cecil Parker. While enjoying a drink at a nearby pub, he overhears what sounds like a criminal plot of kidnapping. Of course when he takes his suspicions to Scotland Yard they are understandably dubious.
Without sight and not being able to write apparently even braille, Johnson records the conversation on his tape recorder and goes over and over it.
What I liked about 23 Paces To Baker Street and Johnson's performance in it is that it shows Johnson making use of his other senses which in turn give him a kind of mission in life as opposed to being bitter about his fate. On the other hand he certainly has obvious vulnerabilities which the bad guys take advantage of. There is a harrowing scene in a bombed out building from the Blitz in which Johnson is nearly killed.
Young Natalie Norwood as an unwilling participant in the plot is also a standout here. And Patricia Laffan who was both Poppaea in Quo Vadis and the Devil Girl From Mars is equally villainous here.
Nice job all around with director Henry Hathaway getting great performances from Johnson, Miles, and the British cast supporting them. -
caa8217 December 2006I saw this film a number of years ago, with someone very special, and just before the cineplex facilities effected closing the majority of the conventional, free-standing movie theaters in large cities and small. Just saw it again, after a number of years.
We sat in the balcony, and, having always enjoyed Van Johnson's work, I enjoyed this clever, interesting story even more than if the lead had been someone else.
With all of the elements and twists one finds with Hitchcock, the fact of the principal character's blindness is effective and adds a dimension to the mystery/thriller aspects of the film. (Of course, this handicap is necessary, since a sighted person would have seen what he overhears in the pub, setting-off the drama changing the story's essence. And, it adds to the quality of the story that this factor is not exaggerated or "hokey," and everything surrounding it is logical and believable.)
There are the two primary co-stars with Johnson, and absent are the greater number of characters surrounding the leads which one would normally expect to find - and the movie is better for this.
Van Johnson, who is now 90, in my opinion is underrated as a talent. He had boyish, casual good looks, and came into film as a leading man during a period when as handsome as they were, most leading men always seemed to have a pint of Wildroot or Brilliantine in their hair (e.g. Tyrone Power, Flynn, Robert Taylor).
He played light comedy, serio-comedy love stories, and serious roles with talented, versatile performances. Like Alan Ladd, although not regarded in this capacity, he'd had experience as a male chorus member/dancer in earlier career - during the era when more of the nightclub/review type of entertainment was present.
This film is interesting, with a neat, tight story, engaging characters and performances - and now that it is 50 years since its release, it also provides a nostalgic look at a film from the mid-1950's, with that period's "noir" characteristics. -
dbborroughs25 October 2008Van 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. -
This I assert is a minor masterpiece of film-making, which has long been underestimated by critics but never by fans. Its images, I suggest, burn themselves into the mind where other cinematic tales soon pale and are forgotten. To mention just a few scenes, the film presents a blind playwright describing the view of the Thames to the fiancé he left behind, a lovely nanny who isn't quite what she seems playing another nanny or perhaps not, a sightless man guiding a lost man through a fog, the same man discovering that a building's front isn't there and a battle in the darkness between a murderer and victim. The script, adapted from a tense Philip MacDonald novel by Nigel Balchin, was made into what I say is an expensive-looking and relentlessly beautiful film by veteran director Henry Hathway. Henry Ephron produced, and every element was realized seemingly by flawless skill, from understated music by Leigh Harline to the cinematography by Milton R. Krasne, to the art direction by Lyle Wheeler and Maurice Ransford, to the outstanding set decorations by Walter M. Scott and Fay Babock and costumes by Travilla. Add famed Ben Nye as makeup artist and the great Helen Turpin as hair stylist and it would be hard for this film to have gone anything but very right. The cast is headed by lovely young Vera Miles as the love interest and Van Johnson coming near something very fine as the blind playwright, Philip Hannon. Maurice Denham plays a befuddled police Inspector, and Cecil Parker tries hard as Hannon's assistant. Patricia Laffan has her best role since Quo Vadis as the mysterious Miss MacDonald, stealing every scene she is in. Other actors showing to advantage include within this strongly-made and taut fictional noir mystery Liam Redmond, Isobel Elsom, lively Estelle Winwood, Martin Benson, Natalie Norwick, and Terence de Marney. On the grounds of pace, intelligence of dialog and sheer memorability alone, this is a Top Hundred film, and the father to many stories starring blind protagonists from TV's "Longstreet" to "Wait Until Dark". There had been films about a blind central character before; but this Technicolor, attractive and exciting film was the project that brought the idea of such films to the minds of producers and viewers alike as none before had done. The mystery I believe is an interesting one, the characters believable from first to last, and the extraordinary work by Patricia Laffan and Vera Miles raise the film far above its competitors' best. It is clearly much better than "in the Heat of the Night", the obsessive "Vertigo" or even "Key Largo". And its makers accomplish its power without striving consciously to achieve it. Were it not for "Rear Window", the film might be considered the best 50's noir of all. I recommend it unreservedly.
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grantss24 June 2018A blind playwright, Phillip Hannon, is sitting in a pub when he overhears a suspicious conversation. The two people in the next booth appear to be plotting a crime. Hannon informs the police but they are convinced his suspicions are merely due to the workings of his dramatical mind. Undeterred, he sets out to work out the mystery himself. However, this puts his own life in danger.
Mildly interesting. The main plot has a Hitchcockian feel to it, reinforced by it resembling Rear Window but with a blind man instead of a man unable to walk. (Interestingly, Rear Window was released only two years previously). Unfortunately, that's where any resemblance to an Alfred Hitchcock drama ends.
While there is some intrigue, there is little tension, as director Henry Hathaway just lets things go on without upping the pace or creating any real sense of danger. The plot is far from watertight, highlighted by a final twist that, while unforeseen, doesn't entirely make sense.
This said, it is intriguing enough to not be a total waste of time. -
grantch29 May 2006Now I will go to great trouble to avoid entering a spoiler like an earlier commenter. I give this film such a high rating because of the cleverness of toe concept: a blind man overhearing a conversation which indicates a crime is afoot. A tip of toe hat to the commentator who noticed the similarity between this movie and Argento's Cat O' Nine Tails ... a similarity that immediately crossed my mind the first time I saw the Argento flick. Anyway, 23 Paces to Baker Street could easily be an Argento giallo with the clever plot twists, but it lacks the gore most Argento fans want. I enjoyed 23P in 1956 when it was new and I was my voice had not changed. The plot twists and surprises have remained vividly in my memory for 50 years. Oddly I didn't notice a resemblance to Rear Window but I was very young then. I heartily recommend 23P to Baker Street. It's most suspenseful!
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It took several viewings for me to follow the storyline; not that it's overly complex, it's merely muddled. For a suspense thriller, there's little suspense and few thrills. It perhaps could have benefitted from a more tense musical score. Yet despite all that, and some clumsily directed sequences, this is a fun, atmospheric film. If you enjoy an old-fashioned approach to whodunits, you're in for a cozy ride. Van Johnson isn't a particularly compelling leading man though he does an adequate job here. Vera Miles imbues her slenderly written character with charm and professionalism. Cecil Parker displays the same wit he showed in "The Ladykillers." The Kino Lorber Blu-Ray DVD has a beautifully restored widescreen picture, but the audio commentary is by far the worst I have ever heard.
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Prismark1024 November 2014A Hitchcock type thriller without the élan we get from the master of suspense. Its post war foggy London and visiting playwright Philip Hannon (Van Johnson) is in a bitter mood. He is living in a luxurious suite by the Thames with a butler in his beck and call but when an ex fiancée (Vera Miles) visits him his mood is not lightened.
Things tense up when he overhears a plot in a pub to kidnap a child but the police do not take him seriously, not helped that he lacks detail because he has become blind, something he has tried to hide, hence the bitterness.
However with just Miles and the butler to help they try to track down the plotters but Hannon finds himself in danger.
With sumptuous art direction and sets, Technicolour and Vera Miles in the cast you can see why the Hitchcock comparisons are made. Van Johnson may be no James Stewart but he brings a style although he does seem a bit wooden here and there.
The finale does come across as rather absurd as our blind playwright puts himself in obvious peril but even with a capable director such as Henry Hathaway you can see that he lacks the touch to bring an extra dimension to this thriller. -
theowinthrop20 February 2005This is one of those films that work very well indeed. It is (in it's way) similar to Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, except that film gets Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter involved with more than just Raymond Burr's crime - it gets them involved with the lives of all their neighbors in that courtyard in Manhattan. Here the film pares down the involvement of Van Johnson, Vera Miles, and Cecil Parker into the solution of who is the target of a kidnapping plot, and where will it be pulled off. But the film is as full of twists as Hitchcock's best films, and has a neat twist in the final confrontation that beats out Raymond Burr's confrontation with Jimmy Stewart and Stewart's flash bulbs.
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rmax3048236 January 2010Van Johnson is a blind playwright who is visiting London with his adoring girl friend, Vera Miles, and is attended to by his valet or butler or bootle boy or whatever these guys are called, Cecil Park in another comic role.
Well, Johnson is at his wits end. Now blind, he can't see any future for his professional self, and of course he doesn't want to burden his beautiful and compliant friend, Vera Miles, with a husband who can't take care of himself. (I would.) One night at the local pub he overhears a mysterious and ominous conversation between a raspy voiced man and a frightened woman. Something about a plot, maybe to kidnap a couple of high-end children for ransom. He's not sure.
But the mystery now animates him, re-energizes his life, fills him to bursting with élan vital. He's determined to track down the apparent conspirators, though he doesn't know what they look like. He only knows which bus line the woman takes to her job as nanny, and he knows which perfume she wears -- La Nuit d'Amour or Fleur de Lys or La Petite Mort or some equally vainglorious French name.
It's dangerous work though -- for him, Miles, and Parker. There really IS a game afoot, and they discover that Johnson is on their trail. There follow some extremely tense moments, no kidding, ending with the inevitable scene in which the blind hero and the chief heavy are together in a totally dark room.
It's always interesting to have a story with a disabled hero. Howard Northrop Frye divided heroes into several kinds. Let's see. There was the high mimetic. That would be James Bond, better than anybody else around. There was the low mimetic. That's more like the typical Hitchcock hero, no better and no worse than average, like Cary Grant unable to figure out that George Kaplan doesn't exist. Then there is the ironic hero, who is dumb and naive, like Candide, or disabled like Van Johnson here -- tapping around with his cane on the edge of the fourth floor (or third, in London) of a building whose walls have been blown away, teetering helplessly over empty space.
It's pretty atmospheric and well written. Johnson is no mastermind, and he doesn't have second sight. He makes mistakes. He goes out into a street that's cloaked in fog, meets an opposition goon with a black belt in bullshit, and asks for guidance through the murk of the unfamiliar city. Later, the thug says, "Rather thinned out a bit," and Johnson agrees, although by this time the fog has lifted entirely and Johnson's reply reveals his absence of sight.
It's not on television very often and I try to catch it when it is. The name of the nanny that Johnson is searching for is "Janet Murch." I love that name. Janet Murch. It's so terribly British. It brushes elbows with Charles Dickens. It could be Doris Buckle. -
Although a definite Hollywood production with a couple of American leads, 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET is a London-set adventure actually filmed in our capital. It was shot by the reliable Henry Hathaway, whose lengthy career is studded with exciting adventures, war films, and dramas with a sheen of quality to them. This one is no exception.
As the viewer watches the story unfold, quite slowly at first, it becomes quickly apparent that this film was heavily inspired by REAR WINDOW. The structure and narrative is almost identical, with Jimmy Stewart's invalidity replaced by Van Johnson's blindness. The plot seems a little insignificant at first, but there are some strong set-pieces to keep it moving along, particularly the delightfully funny scene in which Cecil Parker's put-upon manservant tails a lead.
The stakes are raised in the second half of the film with certain sequences right out of Hitchcock, who is of course a big inspiration for Hathaway. The fog-enshrouded London scenes look great and fine performances are elicited from bit players including Liam Redmond (whose friendly role hearkens back to FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) and Patricia Laffan as a femme fatale. Van Johnson was never a top tier lead but he's fine here and convincing as the blind man and Vera Miles is equally good as the Grace Kelly stand-in. The last part of the film is as suspenseful and exciting as you could hope for. -
dglink3 November 2017Henry Hathaway's fair mystery-thriller from the mid-1950's seemingly wants to repeat the success of "Rear Window." However, Hathaway is not Hitchcock, and "23 Paces to Baker Street" hinges on the audience accepting a protagonist who would independently pursue a hunch that was based on nothing more than a partially overheard conversation. The film is set in post-war London against Milton Krasner's often hazy cinematography of foggy streets and the mist-enshrouded Thames. An American playwright, Van Johnson, has lost his sight and become increasingly bitter about life; one day when drinking in a local pub, he overhears a conversation between a man and woman that implies they are plotting a crime. Unfortunately, another patron is playing a pinball machine, so Johnson only hears part of the exchange, although he does catch a whiff of expensive perfume. Viewers must also accept that Johnson has a perfect memory, because he tape records his memory of the overheard conversation word for word and returns to it as he tries to unravel the mystery. When Johnson contacts the police, they are understandably skeptical and downplay its importance. However, Johnson is convinced something sinister is about to happen; he is relentless in his own investigation and enlists the aid of his English manservant and his American ex-girlfriend.
Adapted by Nigel Balchin from a novel by Philip MacDonald, "23 Paces to Baker Street" is moderately engaging as the mystery unfolds. However, several situations are flimsily contrived, and Johnson's portrayal of a blind man is unconvincing. More an aging "boy next door" than a serious actor, Johnson is bland in the central role. He fails to explain why his hunches have such import and his motive for involvement in the mystery, other than too much time on his hands. Although the role is thankless, Vera Miles brings some charm to the unmarried-spouse part, who carries a torch for a marriage-shy man; the parallels between the relationship of Miles and the blind Johnson to that of Grace Kelly and the wheel-chair bound James Stewart in "Rear Window" are obvious. "Window's" MacDonald Carey role is ably played here by Cecil Park, who does the fieldwork that Johnson cannot perform because of his disability; however, Park's pursuit of one suspect is laughably clumsy and dependent on coincidence. Estelle Winwood as an amusing pub owner provides the comedy relief that Thelma Ritter brought to the Hitchcock classic.
While not a complete waste of time, "23 Paces to Baker Street" is a pale imitation of Hitchcock both made by and featuring lesser talents, although Miles was a Hitchcock protégé. The Master might have made something of this material, because the elements are there. However, as filmed, the movie is slick entertainment for the easily pleased and a must-see only for die-hard fans of Van Johnson. -
Lathe_of_Heaven13 June 2004I have watched this particular movie several times; of course, I most likely do that with a lot of movies that are my favorites : )
The basic story is of a somewhat embittered, well-to-do man who had lost his sight fairly recently becoming reinvigorated about life again when he thinks that he overhears parts of a discussion in a bar that may suggest that there is a murder being planned. The acting, writing and direction are superb! As the plot begins to unravel, you are truly pulled along more and more into the story; it is VERY entertaining, especially for those who like good mysteries a la Sherlock Holmes.
If I may throw in a bit of a sort-of non sequitur here, (at least as far as any huge similarities in the two movies,) but, it's interesting, at least to me, to note the similarity of character between Van Johnson's blind detective here, and Karl malden's character in Dario Argento's "Cat O' Nine Tails" where he also plays a blind 'detective'. Just a thought, nothing serious, (however, that is also a very good mystery, just a little heavier content due to being more recent and from Argento, of course : )
That's about it; have fun watching it.... You will : ) -
johnnyboyz18 July 2011In the immediately post-Rear Window world that was 1956, Henry Hathaway's 23 Paces to Baker Street arrives with the promise of murder and other varying versions of foulness being afoot that are either overheard or overseen by that of our gallant hero; his suspicions, amidst a sea of oppositional voices headed by that of those close to him, driving the thrills and spills of a film following our lead taking the basics of a case that he has to go on into a full blown uncovering of nastiness. In Hitchcock's wondrous chiller, the lead was denied his mobility in the form of a broken leg, although could observe anything he wanted and everything he felt he needed via that pair of handy binoculars he owned; the film rich in context in that way, used periodically around as a basis of educational starting points in regards to the notion of characters "looking" within the frame. In Hathaway's film, such an idea is subverted in the providing of us with a lead able to get around, although hindered by blindness; with it additionally going the Hitchcockian thrill of a character being able to see what he sees and being unable to act on it - replaced by someone thinking they've heard something and then getting caught up in a proverbial web once the physical getting out and undertaking of a misadventure kicks off. In short, it isn't as tense and it isn't as claustrophobic in that restricted way you felt Rear Window was, but we can work with it.
That lead is Van Johnson's Phillip Hannon, an American playwright living in London basking in the success of some decent past plays already under his belt and in the process of finishing yet another. Only, he isn't; the man is cynical and often embittered, living alone bar with his faithful butler Bob (Parker) in an apartment which handily overlooks most of London's more easier iconography. Milling around is an ex-secretary whom doubles up as a former flame, that of Jean (Miles) whose implication that he knows him all too well occurs when she advises Bob on helping him in certain department. In being blind, Phil must dictate into a microphone his work by explaining the purer details on both the setting and character traits, before providing the folk with dialogues occurring therein; something that takes its toll on a current work which he's in constant means of writing and rewriting. When out one evening at a sparsely populated public house, the film's catalyst occurs; some silhouetted characters, one rather laughable in their shady complexion, mumbling to one another just the other side of a thin glass pane. We're not sure what it is about, but it sounds sordid enough to send our Phil into all sorts of discomfort when he paints images of kidnappings and chaos, the likes of which, according to the voices, are merely days away thus providing the film with a sense of urgency in that regard as the clock supposedly ticks down.
Primarily, the film's chief source of ambiguity as to whether these people talking in this public house, of whom nobody else heard nor really saw, were engaging in the sorts of things Phil accuses them of, lies with whether or not we entrust Phil to be entirely 'with it'. As a man whom specialises in characters; high-drama and extravagantly fictitious scenarios, we question whether he is to be entirely trusted during a process of injecting these faceless shadows with personas and traits, one instance of text-reading ability seeing him deduce that the female shadow must have been a rich woman due to a scent prominent purely with expensive perfume.
Indeed, Hathaway goes to certain lengths to create a portrait of the man as somebody a little fragile as he limps on with his work and thus, is perhaps not entirely believable. The instances are juxtaposed by that of the manner in which Phil describes with rue, but spectacularly accurately all-the-same, a scene on the river Thames as he shares a boat ride with some of his friends; his capturing of the boats and the buildings and the way the weather lies contributing to something which, despite being unable to see, alludes to an ability to configure fitting, accurate descriptions of what it is he senses in his presence. One of the reoccurring morsels of genius in Hitchcock's Rear Window was the ambiguity surrounding whether or not everything might have been in the lead's imagination, a sense of doubtfulness I didn't necessarily feel as aware of in 23 Paces to Baker Street as a film providing us with a lead; giving us this would-be sordid founding and then playing out its narrative in a fashion that didn't suggest it would lead anywhere else bar a denouement complete with a twist and a standard, building-blocks imbued finale.
For the best part, the film has fun with its premise and provides us with some decent set pieces; Bob the butler going after a certain somebody through the hustle and bustle of a busy London shopping day one of them. Another instance, in which the decaying buildings born out of wartime shellings that are yet to be dealt with act as the setting, sees a quite frightening sequence in which someone needs only walk a few feet in the gloom of the evening to fall to their deaths. The film is peppered with the sounds of steamers and their fog-horns anonymously blaring through the often nightly set haze and rearing from the locale of the nearby river; the tooting of the tug boats usually accompanying them in what is a morbid internal soundtrack overlying proceedings and accentuating the sleaze and depravity rife within this London's underbelly. Hathaway has by no means directed a dud, and those supporting the lead do well in standing around acting estranged at Phil's accusations, but one could do an awful lot better if one is yet to be exposed to Hitchcock. -
footy-5819914 December 2015My mother was a mystery buff and that rubbed off on me big time. She and I often watched late night mysteries. 23 Paces to Baker Street was one of my all-time favorites. This mystery, based upon the book "Warrant for X" by the great Philip MacDonald (who also authored The List of Adrian Messenger, among other great stories). The film version contains some rewritten material but the mystery is delivered intact. Performances by Miles and Johnson are a bit hammy, Cecil Parker more than makes up for this by his brilliant portrayal of Bob, Hammon's long-suffering man-servant. I have very fond memories of Mama, and every time I see this film, I am transported back in time to that rainy, late night, when we watched it together, trying to guess whodunit.
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mark.waltz23 October 2017When a successful playwright looses his eyesight, he retires to London and becomes a recluse, only coming out to go to a local pub and the theater one of his plays is running at. At the pub, he overhears a plot being hatched, and thanks to old flame Vera Miles comes back to life as he works with Scotland Yard to figure out what it's all about. The senses of the blind are well utilized as his wits take over where his eyes cannot. But there's danger about as his bitterness continues to guide him and Miles begins to feel disillusioned by his increasing distance.
Starting off slowly but picking up steam, this is one of those thrillers where the clues don't come often, but when they do, they are extremely important. A tense moment has Johnson nearly falling to his death in an abandoned building, and the sinister villain, remaining unknown other than a voice only Johnson has heard, closes in. Obviously influenced by "Rear Window", this is memorable on its own merits, with Johnson giving one of his best performances. Elsa Lanchaster is amusing as an eccentric (what else?) Barmaid, while a cast of well known British character actors play a variety of droll characters. -
TheLittleSongbird29 June 2011Okay, 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
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MissSimonetta12 June 202123 PACES TO BAKER STREET plays like a riff on REAR WINDOW. An ordinary man thinks he's witnessed a crime (or in this case, the premediation of a crime) and enlists the help of his estranged girlfriend and an older helpmate to solve it. However, instead of being confined to a wheelchair, the protagonist is newly blinded and must rely on his other senses to solve the mystery.
Van Johnson's impression of blindness is a bit shaky (sometimes he plays up the newly blind angle, while at others he acts like a man who's used to his impairment) but he never aims for easy maudlin pathos, which is nice-- in fact, both the script and Johnson take a risk in making him so unpalatable at times that he risks losing audience sympathy, but it makes the character interesting, especially when the crime-solving revives his joie de vivre.
As for the crime elements, there isn't much in the way of urgency or danger for about 90% of the runtime, which keeps the movie from being truly nail-biting, but 23 PACES is more about the foggy, old-school London atmosphere than blowing your mind with a complex, clever plot. There's a weird coziness to the story and characters, giving it a different vibe from the ironic cool of Hitchcock's work. -
SnoopyStyle3 January 2021In London, blind American playwright Phillip Hannon (Van Johnson) is struggling despite having a hit play. Jean Lennox (Vera Miles) is desperate to reconnect with him but he wants to be alone with his manservant Bob Matthews (Cecil Parker). She's his former secretary turned ex-girlfriend. At a bar, he partially overhears what sounded like a kidnapping plan. The police is unconvinced and it's left to the trio of amateur sleuths.
I like the starting premise perfectly fine. It's a good premise. I was trying so hard to pay attention to the conversation. It really pulls the audience into the story. Two issues soon become apparent. The first is the half-listened conversation. Somebody needs to list all the big clues so that the audience can participate in the mystery solving. I followed it for a little while but the film eventually loses me. The more egregious problem is that Phillip insists on being alone all the time while trying to solve the case. It's stupid and it's frustrating to have smart people be dumb. He is very dumb which makes this movie just as dumb. He should never be alone and Jean would be barely better as protection. They need muscle who can see. It gets too dumb and I have to abandon all hope.