Alias John Preston (1955) User Reviews

whacko British quota film

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 9 November 2021]

Christopher Lee stars with Alexander Knox and Betta St. John in "Alias John Preston" from 1955.

Lee plays John Preston, a newcomer to the town of Deanbridge, England. He has a great deal of money and buys a local business, a farm, and is put on several charity boards. He proposes to a banker's daughter (St. John), and she accepts.

There are some hints that an ill wind may be blowing. For one thing, he has a vigorous objection to a psychiatrist (Knox) coming to town to practice. He also blows his stack unreasonably at a restaurant. Had I been his date, that would have been it, but in this case, it wasn't.

Finally, Preston begins to visit Knox to tell him about a series of bad dreams he continues to have.

The film was directed in an overwrought fashion, with only Knox managing to underplay.

The ending wasn't a surprise, but I did like the way it was done.

ALIAS JOHN PRESTON (David MacDonald, 1955) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 12 July 2015]

This obscure psychological thriller, a typical "quota quickie" of British cinema during that period, is notable in hindsight for giving the late Sir Christopher Lee perhaps his first genuine star part; while the film's veritable protagonist, he still receives third (albeit above-the-title) billing after female lead Betta St. John (she would be reunited with the future horror icon on both CORRIDORS OF BLOOD {1958} and THE CITY OF THE DEAD {1960}) and Alexander Knox (who turns up well into the proceedings of this modest 66-minute offering in a role that is basically an extension of his character in Joseph Losey's THE SLEEPING TIGER {1954})! Other respectable names are those of cinematographer Jack Cox (responsible for Alfred Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES {1938}) and director MacDonald (who, after a promising career, seemed unable to surmount the commercial failure of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS {1949} – which led to him being reduced to helming the likes of DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS {1954}!).

Anyway, while the film under review is bracketed within the horror genre in the few reviews I could find, as I said, it really treads suspense territory – as the ambitious (and, unsurprisingly, supercilious) Lee begins to crack under the strain of a hazy past intermittently re-awakened in a series of "realistic" nightmares. While the first half is somewhat ordinary (another suitor for St. John, smitten since childhood, seems to be on hand merely as someone for her to fall back on after Lee – here in atypically romantic mode – finally goes off the deep end!), the couch sessions between doctor Knox and employer-cum-secret patient Lee (and which, more often than not, take the form of confrontations) grab the attention well enough. Similarly, though the dream sequences are necessarily not of the (perhaps expected) ethereal kind, the revelation packs a definite punch…though, in truth, the movie's title does rather give the game away too readily!

Alias John Prescott

[JohnSeal · 5/10 · 26 October 2008]

Christopher Lee stars as the mysterious John Preston, a World War II veteran of obscure provenance who settles in the rural English town of Deanbridge. Preston is a super intense type 'A' personality who intends to bring some much wanted new blood to Deanbridge, and he immediately makes a good impression on local banker Sandford (John Longden). He also makes a play for Sandford's daughter Sally (American actress Betta St. John), who's already betrothed to bank clerk Bob (Peter Grant), who has an odd trans-Atlantic accent that sets him apart from the locals. Preston's magnetic personality convinces Sally to take his hand in marriage, and he soon finds himself serving on the board of the local hospital. Indeed, everything seems to be coming up roses for young John--until newly appointed consultant psychiatrist Dr. Peter Walton (Canadian-born Alexander Knox) shows up and starts asking some probing questions. This cheap-jack Danziger Brothers production is engaging enough, but it is somewhat distracting listening to Lee speak in the odd accent he adopted for the role. It's not a bad picture, but you'll probably forget it as soon as it's over.

Why Does Anyone Trust Christopher Lee?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 August 2020]

Christopher Lee shows up in town and starts out by buying up all the local industries and Betta St. John. However, Lee could be bounded in Deanbridge and count himself king of infinite space, did he not have bad dreams.

Psychiatrist Alexander Knox takes him on as a patient and we get scenes of Lee's bad dreams. Some good acting -- except by rival in love Bill Fraser -- makes this an engrossing movie until the very end

Strange Film and Awful Accents

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 29 May 2013]

This is a strange but nonetheless entertaining film starring a pre Dracula Christopher Lee with a truly terrible mid Atlantic accent.This is matched only by a lame attempt at such an accent by Peter Grant in his sole film appearance.There is a scene in a box at a concert where Lee turns to his girlfriend and bares his teeth in a smile,where i thought surely he cant be about to bite her neck.The film becomes extremely strange with the appearance of Alexander Knox as the psychoanalyst.Lee relates to him his nightmares.At the end we learn that these are not nightmares but they are actual events.Incidentally i believe the 2 exterior shots are of Church Walk Hampstead and Kilburn High Road.it looks like the Gaumont State in the background.

Terrible Danziger rubbish that survives only as a curiosity...

[matthewmercy · 2/10 · 7 August 2018]

Well-known to the actor's fans as one of Christopher Lee's first starring roles, but not particularly widely seen, this threadbare Danziger Productions thriller is pretty awful stuff, even by its' makers' very low standards. Lee plays a standoffish businessman and WWII veteran who fetches up in a small Home Counties industrial town and starts investing in failing factories, and is before long accepted as a leading member of the community and prospective husband for local beauty Betta St. John. Unfortunately, he turns out to have a pretty murky past, which only comes to light when he's probed by Alexander Knox's psychoanalyst...

From the description above you'd be forgiven for thinking this might be a worthy British variation on Shadow of a Doubt, but you'd be wrong. It is not only crummily made and largely badly acted (this is the most mid-Atlantic sounding English village I've ever heard of, as the Canadian Knox, as well as the American St. John and some useless pinhead called Peter Grant as her disgruntled ex-suitor, all make no attempt to sound British, whilst Lee himself for some reason adopts an American accent of his own that is far less polished than the one he managed for The City of the Dead a few years later - and let's not even get started on Patrick Holt's attempt to sound French), it makes hardly any sense, and describing it as a thriller is actually a massive cheat. Lee might be a disturbed murderer, but aside from losing his rag a bit with a waiter and being a dick with several other people a la Franklyn Marsh, he doesn't actually do anything hugely unpleasant before voluntarily wandering into Knox's office and pretty straightforwardly revealing everything; certainly there's no indication that St. John is ever in any physical danger from him - he never even raises his voice to her. Even the final twist falls flat because though it was presumably meant to have some kind of Outer Limits-style ambiguity to it, it just seems badly scripted and inexplicable. Also, the YouTube version I watched was in terrible shape; very blurry and crackly, it looked and sounded like someone had spent decades using the reels for makeshift dustpans in the basement of the BFI, and I'm not sure if a better print is even available these days.

Horror fans may want to check this out because Lee is of course worth watching in one of his earliest starring roles, trying hard to be a compelling on-screen presence even though you can see the film draining in the life out of him with each subsequent scene. Quatermass 2's Lomax, John Longden, gives easily the best performance as St. John's father, but as he's surrounded by almost complete ineptitude on every side that isn't saying much.

Good but rushed.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 4 April 2024]

"Alias John Preston" has elements that would make for an exceptional film, however, I don't heartily recommend it because the story is very rushed and comes in at just over one hour.

John Preston (Christopher Lee) is a real force of nature! He arrives at an English town and in the mood to buy and soon has gathered a small fortune. This appears to be because he's driven, supremely confident in himself and has few scruples. He also is disdainful of personal problems and psychiatrists...thinking they are for the weak and that he's above that sort of thing. In light of this, it seems VERY strange that he suddenly begins seeing a psychiatrist, and he's really, really nervous. Again and again, he talks about dreams that haunt him and the once supremely confident man seems on the edge of insanity. What's next?

This story is good and Lee is fine as the brooding sociopath. But the story goes by too quickly...especially towards the end. This manages to take a lot away from the interesting idea for the story. Worth seeing but it easily could have been much better.

"Do you want me to do a cartwheel and make a speech?"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 10 February 2018]

John Preston arrives in the fictional small town of Deanbridge and begins to rise financially and socially and eventually gets engaged to the local banker's daughter. Everything is going well until he starts to have dreams about murder. A newly arrived psychiatrist Dr. Peter Walton gets involved with his nightmares. A low budget quota film that proceeds along without creating much excitement or thrills.

In a starring role Christopher Lee is unfortunately saddled with an odd accent which diminishes his effectiveness somewhat but does look appropriately confident or haunted when necessary. Dr. Walton is played well by Alexander Knox but he only appears later on in the film which is a shame as the few scenes between Lee and Knox are the best in the film. The rest of the cast pale in comparison to Lee and Knox.

Bearable but rather on the slow side.

The Pretentious Mr. Preston.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 7 November 2018]

This weird overacted psychological melodrama is a convoluted mess of a movie that takes forever to reveal any reason for being. Christopher Lee tries to develop an interesting troubled character, but falls flat due to the messy script he's forced to deal with. As the quietly sinister titled character, he spends the first three quarters trying to keep a hidden face behind the title character's obvious madness, but it all explodes when he begins to see psychiatrist Alexander Knox, a friend of his fiancee, Betta St. John. Lee tries to explain frightening dreams that he's been having, and what comes out indicates that these dreams involving murder and a possible second personality responsible. By the time all is revealed, it's too little, too late for the audience to care, but fortunately, the film is short so that the audience won't feel cheated by wasting their time.

Romance thriller in the Hitchcock manner.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 21 March 2024]

This UK Alfred Hitchcock like thriller drama is rather dull, boring, but not that uninteresting, mainly - if not only - because of the presence of Christopher Lee, who could not have had another kind of role in such a plot. The film is not that easily available, i would say totally forgotten and, for gem diggers and lovers, it may be seen as a pretty good gem to discover. David Mac Donald was more famous for his CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS and some other adventure fims. But you have to be fond of such psycho dream like topics; I am not. So this is not my cup of tea at all. The ending could have been better.