The Smart Aleck

The Smart Aleck
Directed by John Guillermin
Produced by Roger Proudlock
Written by Alec Coppel
Based on play Mr Smart Guy by Alec Coppel
Starring Peter Reynolds
Cinematography Ray Elton
Edited by Robert Jordan Hill
Production
company
Distributed by Grand National Pictures (U.K.)
Release date
 March 1951 (U.K.)
Running time
 58 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English

The Smart Aleck is a 1951 British crime film directed by John Guillermin and starring Peter Reynolds.[1]

Plot

Young Alec Albion plans successfully to kill his rich uncle with an ice bullet which will melt away, leaving no evidence. He gets an alibi by having the chief commissioner of police living in the same building as his chief witness.

He sets himself up in an apartment overlooking his uncle's. He invites over the new commissioner of police and tells him he has had a premonition about his uncle's murder. The murder is committed. However Alec is exposed.

Cast

Original play: Mr Smart Guy

Mr Smart Guy
Written by Alec Coppel
Date premiered 10 May 1941
Place premiered Minerva Theatre, Sydney
Original language English
Genre thriller

The script was based on a play Mr Smart Guy by Alec Coppel, who wrote it in England at the beginning of the war.[2] They play had originally been called North Light.[3]

Plot

Rex Albion wishes to take possession of a particular flat which is opposite that of his rich uncle. It turns out he plans to kill his uncle and use the chief commissioner of police, who lives in the building, as his alibi.[4]

World premiere

The play had its world premiere in Sydney in 1941. It was the first presentation from Whitehall Productions, a new theatrical company established by Coppel and Kathleen Robinson.[5][6]

The original cast was:[7]

  • Harvey Adams as the detective
  • Catherine Duncan
  • Charles Zoli as the porter
  • Nigel Lovell as Rex Albion
  • Richard Parry as Sir Randolph Towle, chief commissioner of police
  • Leslie Victor as the family lawyer Mr Gruppy
  • Grant Mclntyre
  • Charles MeCallum as Mr. Justice Abercorn
  • Frederick MoMahon as Detective Farr
  • John MacDougall

William Constable did the design.[8]

The Sydney Morning Herald reviewer said those who found I Killed the Count "such a soundly-constructed and Ingenious murder mystery will find much to entertain them in his latest offering, despite its weakness and it« lack of sustained Interest... The first act drags, and the second loses its necessary punch and development of tension because its couise of drama Is too often Impeded by comic interference. "[9]

Nonetheless the play was a popular success.[10]

The play was revived at the Minerva in August 1941 for a three week run with Ron Randell in the lead role and Muriel Steinbeck in the lone female part.[11] The Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic said Randell "failed to explore the subtle aspects of the playwrights study of a criminal exhibitionist."[12]

Radio adaptation

The play was performed on radio on the ABC in May 1941.[13] Max Afford did the adaptation and the original cast reprised their roles.[14]

The play also inspired a song by Sefton Daly which was recorded by Coppel's then-fiancée Myra.[15]

English production

The play was produced in England in 1947 under the title Strange as it May Seem.[16][17]

Production

The film was shot at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.[18]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin said "the naivety and absurdity of the story is far surpassed by the acting."[19]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b76d8ef0f
  2. ↑ "In the Theatres". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 May 1941. p. 22. Retrieved 4 September 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "MORE STAGE PLAYS". The Age (26, 852). Victoria, Australia. 10 May 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "'MR SMART GUY'". Truth (2679). Sydney. 11 May 1941. p. 32. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ ""MR. SMART GUY."". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 May 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Living Up To The "Boom"". The Age (26, 858). Victoria. 17 May 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "MR. SMART GUY". The Age (26846). Victoria. 3 May 1941. p. 20. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "PERMANENT DESIGNERS FOR THEATRE COMPANY". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 247). 6 May 1941. p. 10 (Women's Supplement). Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ ""MR. SMART GUY."". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 252). 12 May 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "IN THE THEATRES". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 267). 29 May 1941. p. 18. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "MUSIC AND DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 335). 16 August 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ ""MR SMART GUY" AT MINERVA". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 340). 22 August 1941. p. 7. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "BROADCASTING". The Argus. Melbourne. 31 May 1941. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Music AND DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 269). 31 May 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "IN THE THEATRES". The Sydney Morning Herald (32, 279). 12 June 1941. p. 18. Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "Coppel's Success". The Sun (11, 491). Sydney. 21 November 1946. p. 9 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 22 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ "Sydney's Talking About—". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 January 1947. p. 14. Retrieved 4 September 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ Chibnall, Stephen; McFarlane, Brian (Oct 23, 2009). The British 'B' Film. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 123.
  19. ↑ SMART ALEC Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 18, Iss. 204, (Jan 1, 1951): 253.
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