Waste of time

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

TIME WITHOUT PITY is a British drama with some unusually dark and well-drawn characters in the cast. The lead actor is the great Michael Redgrave (DEAD OF NIGHT) who plays a washed-up alcoholic who arrives in England from Canada when he learns that his son has been accused of murder and is due to be hanged shortly.Redgrave believes that his son is innocent and must work to uncover the real culprit and bring him to justice before his son hangs, but it won't be an easy job, especially when the stress of the situation gets to him and he begins drinking again. As such, TIME WITHOUT PITY is a rather depressing and grimly realistic movie despite the contrivances of the plot; it feels more like THE LOST WEEKEND than a thriller in its depiction of the depths the human spirit will sink to.The supporting cast is very good including a stand-out turn from a young Leo McKern. Renee Houston, Lois Maxwell, Ann Todd, and Joan Plowright are the females of the cast, while Peter Cushing plays a lawyer just before he made the big time in THE CURSE OF FRANKNSTEIN, and there's a brief role for fellow Hammer actor Richard Wordsworth. I wouldn't call this a perfect film by any means, but the twist ending is particularly good and worth the wait.

When a film goes wrong, I find it's often a tossup as to who is to blame - the actors or the director. And what it comes down to, is whether it's one actor not doing a good job, or multiple actors not doing a good job. The former is likely the fault of the actor; the latter is likely the director's fault. In this film, I believer it's the director's fault.Certainly, Michael Redgrave is guilty of serious over-acting in this film. And to top it off, he seems very awkward throughout the film. Bill Williams as Lee CrenshawLeo McKern is also guilty of serious over-acting in this film. Paul Daneman seems terribly awkward, as well.On the acting front, that doesn't mean that every performance is bad. Ann Todd and Peter Cushing do well here.The story itself is decent, although trying to cram everything into a 24 hour time frame seemed awfully unreasonable. A 2-3 day story arc would have worked better and been more realistic.I've never been very impressed with British films from this era (they've gotten very good in recent years). And, I'm not very impressed with this film. It had potential, but the acting and direction ruined it. The one really high point -- a clever ending.

An unfairly overlooked movie by highly talented Losey.a noir,noir,film,often desperate ;the movie seems governed by the rhythm of the clocks,their infernal ticking (even Big Ben joins in).The ticking obsesses the unfortunate father David ,arriving in England after living in Canada.He has found his son sentenced to death ;and there's only one day left.A race against time begins .The young man seems indifferent at first sight;he resents his father being here ,accusing him of having left him on his own,and he does not feel like living anymore .Should he die tomorrow,he does not care .David knows he would never be able to get over it ;distraught,he begins a difficult investigation (sometimes a bit implausible).A smart but very cruel ending tends to indicate that love is the strongest after all.Time without pity indeed.Well acted by Redgrave and the others

This Emlyn Williams play about the relentless search for truth intertwines craftily in and out of the lives of some very imperfect human beings and builds to a surprising but inevitable ending.Redgrave, McKern, Todd, Plowright, Maxwell, Daneman and the rest of the cast all do well to bring this gritty black and white puzzle into focus. The son played by Alec McGowen was a bit over-the-top at times but then his character's madness required that.It's not a masterpiece...but I don't expect there are too many of those around. But what it does provide in dramatic tension elicits interest and compassion from the viewer until the very end.The Tristram Cary music must be cited here for its unflinching power to shake us up and take notice of the action on the screen. If there is any masterful work here it is the music.The only qualm was the less-than-satisfying editing which tended to bring the down the tension-building instead of heightening it.Yes, it was a low-budget movie...it's a cop-out to say that in view of the fine acting of the magnificent cast which redeemed it many times over.I'd recommend this to fans of film-noir, classic thrillers, mysteries and the British cinema.