Daybreak (1948) User Reviews

Beauty and the Barge

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 16 December 2020]

An extraordinary, bizarrely cast melodrama which not surprisingly encountered censorship problems at the time.

Reminiscent of prewar French cinema but perfectly capturing the morose mood of a postwar Britain in which barrel organs were still heard in the street, Battersea power station still belched smoke and murderers were still woken at eight for their date with the hangman. Eric Portman was still young and dashing enough to play one of his flawed leads, waifs didn't come more chic than Anne Todd, and bad boys more saturnine than Maxwell Reed in the equivalent to the role played by Dan Duryrea in 'Scarlet Street'.

Downbeat

[AAdaSC · 6/10 · 20 April 2011]

Eddie (Eric Portman) is a hangman, who makes a confession when he comes face to face with his final victim, Olaf, (Maxwell Reed). He tells the story of how he knows the victim to the Governor (Milton Rosmer). We learn of Eddie's double life - he uses an alias and has a share in a hairdresser business with Ron (Bill Owen). We follow the story as he inherits a fleet of barges and meets with Frankie (Ann Todd). They marry and settle down on a barge where Eddie hires Olaf as a workman...

The cast are quite good despite some appalling accents. Eric Portman delivers a mish-mash of a southern/northern accent and God knows what planet Maxweel Reed thought Danish people come from! My favourite in the cast is actually Jane Hylton who has a small role as "Doris" the barmaid. It's a shame that more of a role wasn't given to her.

With regards to the relationships between the characters, why didn't Eddie and Frankie just come clean with each other? He doesn't tell her of his role as a hangman and she doesn't mention anything to him about her fear of Olaf. This leads us to believe that maybe she had a previous job as a prostitute and maybe she loves it. She certainly has an independent streak as we see this on her first meeting with Eddie. I also felt that Eddie is too old for Frankie and his marriage proposal to Frankie and her acceptance after their 3rd meeting is laughable.

The film has a very downbeat ending and my girlfriend cried - not because of any affiliation to any particular character but purely because of the film's atmosphere. It's bleak.

Stuck in my mind a long time

[desibeo · 7/10 · 25 January 2021]

I happened across this film on TV years ago (when they used to show decent, obscure old movies) and I remember while I was watching, I spent most of my time wondering if it was brilliant or if it was terrible - or what was it really all about. There seemed to be a lot unsaid (possibly/ likely due to censorship, as others here have said), but this added to its appeal too, maybe - it left much to the viewer's imagination and this only improved the movie. I will have to see it again. I'd LIKE to see it again. But where? There should be an option on imdb that shows if a movie is available on streaming/ cinema/ tv - and if not, to notify someone when it comes up. I'd add this one. My rating (7/10) is possibly unfair in either direction and likely to change after I see it again, but the fact that it stayed in my mind for over 20 years alone deserves a number of stars.

A gutting human tragedy. Memorable, but dreadfully hard to take.

[rick_7 · 30 August 2007]

This powerful British Noir is one of the bleakest films you'll ever see, but with enough empathy for its main characters to justify the gutting 'ironic' ending. The great Eric Portman plays Eddie, a barber and part-time hangman who meets a drenched, world-beaten Ann Todd in a London pub. They fall in love and soon marry, but the spectre of her lust for bad men hangs over them. When Danish seaman Olaf (Maxwell Reed, a touch stiff) takes an interest, you know things are going to go wrong, though just how wrong might surprise you. Portman is a little under-utilised in the final third – a few more scenes of him grappling with his personal demons around the gallows might have made this a classic – but Edward Rigby is strong in a pretty straight dramatic role, and Bill Owen nicely understated as Eddie's sole confidante.

Atmospheric direction and terrific performances by Portman and Todd (who generate considerable chemistry) are the main selling points of this bold, original film, though those who prefer their crime pics with an ounce of optimism should avoid. The use of a flashback structure is of questionable value – was that just the demands of convention?

(3.5 out of 4)

Small People, Big Tragedy

[boblipton · 6/10 · 2 August 2019]

Eric Portman answers an advertisement in the newspaper. His estranged father has died without a will, so he has inherited his fleet of 15 barges. Now that he has some money, he gives his half of the barber shop to Bill Owen. His other job, as a hangman, will take him about six months to work off his current obligations.

Quietly celebrating, he meets Ann Todd. They chat and a timid, misused creature is revealed. They marry and move onto one of the barges. She doesn't like his business trips out of town -- he claims it's for barge contracts; he never tells anyone what it's actually for, except Owen. She likes it even less when Scandinavian Maxwell Reed takes an interest in her that is considerably less avuncular than Edward Rigby.

With a title like this one has, you can tell it's going to be a rather heavy-handed drama, an English Shomin-Geki, and that's what you get. Both leads are acting outside their comfort zones; Portman speaks in clipped monosyllables, and Miss Todd uses a Cockney accent that fades out by the end. Still, there's some heavy-duty acting chops involved, and it works pretty well.

Daybreak

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 5 January 2023]

I reckon this has to be the best outing for Ann Todd ("Frankie") that I've seen. Here she plays the girlfriend of Eric Portman ("Eddie") who is really a hangman, but who doesn't want her to know so pretends to be a salesman to explain his frequent, and often overnight, absences from their home on a barge he has inherited. It's during one of those absences that she finds herself the focus of the unwarranted attentions of the rather uncouth "Olaf" (Maxwell Reed) and... Compton Bennett has created a clever piece of cinema here; we are given much of the bones of the story but have to come to a few of our own conclusions as tragedy ensues. According to the BBFC, the film wasn't cut at the time but it doesn't look like it - there are gaps that sort of make sense, but there are quite a few that clearly don't and that disjoints the narrative and occasionally spoils what is otherwise a complex tale. Well worth a gander.

Sad....quite sad.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 February 2021]

When the story begins, the executioner at a British prison refuses to carry out the sentence on a main awaiting his maker. To explain why, he describes a series events which make up the rest of the film.

It seems that Eddie (Eric Portman) has just inherited a barge business from his estranged father. A bit later, he meets and falls in love with Frankie (Ann Todd) and they soon marry. However, one of Eddie's employees, Olaf (Maxwell Reed), is a creepy guy who has designs on Frankie....and wherever Eddie goes out of town on business, Olaf shows up and creeps out Frankie. Eventually, he ends up attacking her. Eddie finds out but assumes she was Olaf's lover and a huge fight breaks out. What happens next...well...see the film for yourself.

While this is generally a very good film, I wish that the characters hadn't hemmed and hawed about Olaf. Frankie keeps telling her husband not to go away on business and that she doesn't like Olaf...but no more. And, oddly, Eddie doesn't even ask WHY! These seem a bit odd. Now I am not saying it's a bad film....but odd in how it handles this situation. And no, I am not victim blaming....just that the folks' actions seemed odd.

Overall, a very sad film. Well made, generally, but a real downer in most every way.

Blacker than black

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 26 February 2019]

DAYBREAK is a blacker-than-black tale of doomed romance starring none other than Eric Portman and Ann Todd. Portman plays a hangman who, in order to woo the girl he loves, hides his true occupation from her. His plan succeeds and the pair go to live on a barge for their livelihood. A love triangle develops with the arrival of a Danish workman (Maxwell Reed, best known as Mr. Joan Collins) and the story goes from there. Although cheap, this film has something quite compelling about it, not least the true bleakness of the scenario. The ending packs quite a punch and this must have been quite the picture for traumatised post-war audiences.

One of the saddest films I've ever seen

[calvertfan · 10/10 · 23 September 2002]

Daybreak is totally fascinating - the kind of movie you can stare at, open mouthed, for the full hour and a half. Ann Todd as always is wonderful, but this has to be one of her best performances by far. Apparently a lot of the movie was cut by the censors upon its release leaving gaps in the story, and you do get this sense at least with Todd's character - there's a slight hint that she may have been a prostitute but this isn't followed through and is just forgotten.

Without spoiling the ending - and don't read the plot summary before you see the film! - this is one of the most heartbreaking shows of misunderstanding ever. Todd lives with husband Eric Portman on a barge and his business sends him away for long periods of time, leaving her along with the very seedy Norwegian "Olaf", and leaving it up to the audience to guess what he does to her. One night she begs her husband to stay, or take her with him, but he can't, and yet she won't tell him why. He comes home and finds Olaf present, but unfortunately gets the wrong idea about why he is there.

It's a shame so much was cut from this fine film, but what is left is sufficient to garner it a 10/10. The scene especially where Todd and Portman meet is an utter delight!

Barging into their life.

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 11 March 2021]

A true film noir from start to finish ,filmed by Compton Bennett with a great virtuosity : the fight on the barge in the fog ; Olaf ,rowing the boat ashore ,staring at Frankie ,eaten with desire ; the final scene with the hairdresser , treated with a stunning economy of means, which recalls Robson /Lewton's " the seventh victim" (1943).

Ann Todd did not really convince me in "the seventh veil" (which was as cold as it was technically perfect) ,but in "daybreak " ,she wins me over : I'd never seen her so frail ,so distraught , caught in an implacable fate cobweb ; Eric Portman and Maxwell Read match her all along the way ,as a good husband whose happiness will be short-lived and as a lustful young lad.

Daybreak is a curious title; twilight ,more like!

A good example of what the trade calls "a difficult film!"

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 29 November 2017]

Eric Portman (Eddie Tribe/Mendover), Ann Todd (Frankie), Maxwell Reed (Olaf Tyson), Edward Rigby (Bill Shackle), Bill Owen (Ron), Jane Hylton (Doris, the barmaid), Garry Marsh (customer), Eliot Makeham (Bigley, the solicitor), Margaret Withers (Mrs Bigley), John Turnbull (police superintendent), Maurice Denham (police inspector), Lyn Evans (waterman), Milton Rosmer (prison governor).

Director: COMPTON BENNETT. Screenplay: Muriel Box, Sydney Box. Story: Monckton Hoffe. Photography: Reginald H. Wyer. Film editors: Helga Cranston, Peter Price. Music: Benjamin Frankel, conducted by Muir Mathieson. Art director: James Carter. Costumes: Dorothy Sinclair. Make-up: Nell Taylor. Camera operator: Bernard Lewis. Assistant director: Basil Keys. Sound recording: John Mitchell, Stephen Dalby. Associate producer: A. Frank Bundy. Producer: Sydney Box.

Not copyrighted in the U.S.A. Released through Universal- International in the U.S.A.: July 1949. New York opening at the Little Carnegie: 2 July 1949. U.K. release through General Film Distributors: 5 July 1948. Australian release through Fox: 7 July 1950 (sic). 7,389 feet. 82 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Eddie Tribe, a middle-aged, somewhat aloof but wealthy barge-owner, marries a young piece of flotsam without telling her of his two side jobs where he works under his Mendover alias: (1) barber; (2) public hangman.

COMMENT: "Daybreak" is what the trade used to categorize as a difficult film. Its theme and unrelievedly downbeat atmosphere far too grim for both the cloth cap and carriage trade, the movie's only hope of success lay with the critics. Enthusiastic reviews have solved many a problem picture. But not so with this one. My review was probably the best of the lot, although Photoplayer was never the prestigious sort of magazine that could be quoted in advertising.

Here it is: "Director Compton Bennett and scriptwriters Muriel and Sydney Box create quite an interesting and suspenseful atmosphere in this unusual melodrama — though they rather spoil it by showing the conclusion at the beginning of the film. And as a further consequence of this incredible piece of ineptitude, the film runs out of steam three-quarters of the way through and ends on a rather contrived and unsatisfying fade-out.

"But the performances are superb — though Maxwell Reed makes a little too ludicrous a lover — as is the photography by Reginald Wyer, the seedy sets of art director James Carter, and the astute film editing of Helga Cranston and Peter Pryor."

Bleak, but totally absorbing.

[ronevickers · 9/10 · 15 August 2008]

If you prefer films that are upbeat, positive and have a feel good air, then best to avoid this at all costs. However, for anyone who looks for a good storyline, with excellent casting and production values, then "Daybreak" is a rare gem. The story is both simple, and yet convoluted, but does break away from a lot of run of the mill stuff from that era of the late-40's. The only glaring problem, which detracts from making this film something of a minor classic, is the fact that it is obviously quite heavily censored. This simply results in some scenes becoming disjointed, and the flow of the film disrupted. However, this does not serve to spoil the film, but is a definite irritant. The ensemble playing by the cast is uniformly excellent. Eric Portman was always well worth watching, and Ann Todd probably produces her finest performance on screen. Edward Rigby and Bill Owen provide fine support, and that master of suppressed menace, Maxwell Reed, gives a typically dark and brooding performance, despite the dodgy Scandinavian accent! The film is not always easy to find, but is a rewarding experience for those that do find it. Just don't expect a joyous outcome!

Good story - marred by censorship.

[r_d_marchant · 5/10 · 20 February 2012]

The acting in this film noir is mostly wooden - Ann Todd apart. The best parts were probably left on the cutting room floor,courtesy of the censor. What's left is just the husk of a compelling story from Monckton Hoffe. The fight scene was atrocious and unconvincing, but the film is saved from itself because of the eeriness of the rain-soaked scenes, presumably shot at Hammersmith near the Riverside Studios. Shots of the Palais De Danse and the Rialto seem to give credence to this assertion. Bill Owen is his usual matter-of-fact self, and ends this sad story. The sound quality has suffered over the years - the opening music especially. All the criticism apart, the life on-board a barge and views of Gravesend riverfront before demolition to make way for soulless housing development are good reasons to buy the DVD (if you can find one)- and keep a strong drink handy for the ending. You have been warned.

Good in parts

[lucyrfisher · 23 September 2011]

This film is compelling for about the first third. British films could do naturalism so effortlessly then. I love the interiors - shabby rooms that still have (50-year-old) Victorian wallpaper, or fireplaces badly converted to ineffective gas fires. And the barber's shop with clients popping in and out and exchanging banter (the street it's in, though, is obviously a set with an omnipresent barrel-organ and someone always cycling carefully by). But then Ann and Eric go and live an idyllic, free, gypsy-like outdoor life on a Thames barge... There are some lovely shots of the riverbank with warehouses and cranes (now dull yuppie flats). The "living on a boat" fantasy was common in the late 40s/50s. Ann Todd as a happy wife seems to regress to childhood, skipping about wearing dungarees and flat shoes and being abominably cute. And the plot starts to roll... I rather like Maxwell Reed as a rule, even though he is wooden and 10 feet tall. But really, his Danish accent!

Barge drama with Eric Portman and Ann Todd married for good and for worse

[clanciai · 10/10 · 6 August 2019]

Although Eric Portman never makes a sympathetic character, never is likeable and usually makes crooks and villains, if not murderers, he always makes a lasting impression, and he is at his best in tragedies, the darker the better. This is a typical barge drama, you have seen it innumerable times before, an intimate marriage disturbed by a third part leading to inevitable disaster, but here the dreadfulness of the business is augmented by superb acting, espcially by Ann Todd, who makes a perfect character in all her simplicity and sincerity. She really loves Eric and wastes his tenderness on him, while he has to attend to his business, which is very questionable, while a third part naturally sees his opportunity, a very base fellow, of which you can't expect anytting good in ihis constant impertinence.

The film begins with Eric's final confrontation with him, leading to obligatory flashbacks, leading to the inevitabvle catastrophe. Compton Bennett earlier made "The Seventh Veil", another advanced psychological drama of higher wits and intelligence than this one, but nevertheless this one is on the same level, if not even more interesting by the very suggestive cinematography. . You have to admit it: this is a film that will stay in your mind forever.

Dull and implausible

[johnshephard-83682 · 4/10 · 7 September 2020]

I can only assume that all the interesting and believable parts of this film were cut by the censor, as what's left doesn't work at all. Eddie, a middle-aged, uncharismatic barge business owner/barber and part-time hangman, has a chance meeting with young, attractive loner, Frankie, who appears to have some kind of past from which she is escaping. On Sunday they go to the cinema, and on their third meeting Eddie says 'will you marry me?' and she says 'yes, I love you very much.' At this point you immediately have trouble taking anything that follows seriously, since the central relationship is so absurdly implausible. Once married, Frankie is transformed into a happy-go-lucky housewife (bargewife actually,) with a new vitality, and a new accent (accents, in general, are not among this film's strengths). Eddie hands over his barber shop to his colleague Ron, and concentrates on the barge business, and a bit of hanging people on the side, unknown to Frankie. Trouble arrives in the form of Danish sailor, Olaf, handsome and lustful, who exploits Eddie's hanging absences by seducing Frankie, who might be realising that she's married a geriatric dullard who doesn't float her boat. Eddie returns early one evening, doesn't like what he sees, and takes Olaf on deck to give the bounder a good thrashing. After the obligatory punch-up, Eddie is pushed overboard, and can't be found. The police arrive, and treat Frankie as a suspect despite the fact that witnesses have just described how they saw the whole thing. The police go on deck, and Frankie takes the opportunity to shoot herself, as she can't believe she got involved with such a terrible script. The next morning, Eddie emerges onto the shore, having somehow survived a night in the Thames, and by this time his 'murder', and the arrest of Olaf, is already news in the papers. Olaf must hang, but Eddie can't go through with it, and instead decides to hang himself, and thinks that his barber friend Ron would appreciate it if he was the one to find the body hanging in his shop the next morning.

I find it astonishing that anyone can take this film seriously, let alone give it 10 starts. Nothing about is credible, it's slow-moving (not in a good way). lacks any kind of tension or drama, Eric Portman and Anne Todd do their best in thankless parts, Maxwell Read hams it up as the ne'er-do-well Olaf, and the rest of the cast are stereotypes, from cardboard coppers to the 'salt of the earth' barmaid. But the biggest flaw of the lot is the fact that the story is told in flashback by Eddie, who manages to describe events at which he was not present, and knew nothing about - did nobody spot this huge anomaly during production.

If this were a quota quickie, you half expect al these endearing gaffes, but this film seemed to have higher ambitions. Let's blame the censor.

I hope the hangman finally found his peace?

[ouzman-1 · 10/10 · 6 May 2019]

Reading some reviews I am astonished that this masterpiece of film noir has been perceived/received by them as awful?

Yes it is awful insofar that this is a riveting, dreadful, awful story. Take in the period setting of the old River Thames. The wonderful acting of Eric Portman, Ann Todd and dear old Compo Simmonite (Bill Owen). Yes the character Olaf is overplayed but other than that this is an incredible film, that the Censor fatefully delayed.

A masterpiece? Quite possibly if they can find the film removed by those real criminals - the British Board of Film Classification. I love the fact that the lead hides a terrible secret and has a double life and that old London Thames is found deep within the fabric of the celluloid. It's poignant insofar that it is a forgotten time, of recent past. Love bound within the confines of the hangman's noose. Intrigued enough to want to see it? I hope so.

I AGREE WITH THOSE GIVING IT TEN.

Hanging Around

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 23 September 2014]

According to Quinlan this film was held back from release for 2 years because of problems with the censor.Since producers normally worked in co operation with the BBFC this does seem rather strange.Watching the film now and comparing it say with No Orchids For Miss Blandish it is difficult to understand what problems might have arisen.A more likely reason is the sheer grimness of this film.If it was made in 1945 it was hardly likely to appeal to an audience who had only recently been under attach from V2 weapons.So presumably the producers put it on the shelf waiting for a more appropriate moment to show.The film starts with Portman as the hangman approaching the cell of a condemned man and the mood goes down from there,if that is possible.The story is rather a mess and the pairing between Portman and Todd unlikely in the extreme.The ending is about as downbeat as you will ever find.Definitely not a film I would ever wish to see again!

Don't go into this expecting something happy and peppy and bursting with love.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 5 June 2022]

This is a film that I had high expectations for based on reviews, and I will have to say, had I expected a tragedy, I might have waited to watch it. Ann Todd is truly heartbreaking in this, reminding me a lot of Greta Garbo in "Anna Christie", and giving one of the best performances of 1948. It's unfortunate that the structure of this film makes it a bit cumbersome to fully get into, especially after her rescuer, husband Eric Portman, has left to go on business and she's left behind with handyman Maxwell Reed. Of course Portman catches them together and misunderstands the situation, resulting in tragedy that leads to more tragedy.

The film starts off with someone in prison, and I thought that prologue could have been taken out. Portman meets Todd in a diner, offers her a meal and a ride (and not expecting anything in return), and the cynical Todd, first leary of him, begins to lighten up, and eagerly accepts his proposal of marriage. They live aboard his barge that he is having fixed up, and everything is fine until Reed comes into the picture. This seems very much like a 1920's play, but has a definite 1948 gritty feel to it with some very gritty sets. It is the type of film that you do not want to watch before you go to bed because it will leave you feeling too depressed to sleep.