Private Information
{{short description|1952 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Private Information
| image = Private_Information_(1952_film).jpg
| caption = Original British quad poster
| director = Fergus McDonell
| screenplay = Gordon Glennon
John Baines
Ronald Kinnoch
| based_on = play Garden City by Gordon Glennon{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=private+information+1952+literary+sources+in+film&pg=PA917|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|first=Alan|last=Goble|date=8 September 2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|via=Google Books}}
| producer = Ronald Kinnoch
| starring = Jill Esmond
Jack Watling
Gerard Heinz
Carol Marsh
| cinematography = Eric Cross
| editing = Tom Simpson
| music = H.M. Farrar
| studio = ACT Films
| distributor = Monarch Film Corporation
| released = {{Film date|1952|05|01|df=yes}}
| runtime = 65 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Private Information is a 1952 British second feature ('B'){{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=The British 'B' Film |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=267–268}} drama film directed by Fergus McDonell and starring Jill Esmond, Jack Watling and Carol Marsh.{{Cite web |title=Private Information |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150030258 |access-date=5 November 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} The screenplay was by Gordon Glennon, John Baines and Ronald Kinnoch.
Synopsis
A woman battles against corruption in her local council.
Cast
- Jill Esmond as Charlotte Carson
- Jack Watling as Hugh Carson
- Carol Marsh as Georgie Carson
- Gerard Heinz as Alex
- Mercy Haystead as Iris Freemantle
- Norman Shelley as Herbert Freemantle
- Lloyd Pearson as Mayor George Carson
- Henry Caine as Forrester
- Brenda de Banzie as Dolly Carson
Production
It was made at Walton Studios.
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This film, adapted from a play and thoroughly stagey in treatment, fails with its setting – which never seems real – and with its over melodramatic choice of incidents. An exposé of administrative corruption must seem to have at least a basis of probability. Though the film is a degree better than the second A.C.T. production, Night Was Our Friend, one feels that this company, formed by film technicians themselves, should be able to produce something more worthwhile."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1952 |title=Private Information |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305817391 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=19 |issue=216 |pages=112 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
Kine Weekly wrote: "The picture means well, but it goes to such lengths to blacken the wealthy and the influential that its epidemic climax, resulting from bad drainage, can be smelt some time before the end. Yet, despite its ingenuousness and lack of surprises it definitely has its moments. These are generally attributed to Jill Esmond's forthright and uninhibited performance."{{Cite journal |date=12 June 1952 |title=Private Information |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2732586772 |journal=Kine Weekly |volume=423 |issue=2346 |pages=23 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
Picturegoer wrote: "Sincere and forthright British small-town melodrama, this "B" picture aims a straight left at corrupt officials and building contractors. ... Jill Esmond does a good job as Charlotte – her performance prevents propaganda from getting the better of straight drama. I think you'll find the film both stimulating and holding, though you do not have to be a sanitary inspector to anticipate the epidemic finale."{{Cite journal |date=6 September 1952 |title=Private Information |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1705151734 |journal=Picturegoer |volume=24 |issue= |pages=18 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Sincerity of intention not enough; film is badly acted and boring."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=362}}
It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They noted that it "develops its issue with the venalities of local government and sub-standard housing in calm and sufficient detail to establish its seriousness of purpose", which was "skillfully interwoven with the elements of personal drama". They added that "the screenplay seems to have been worked on with rather more care than was routinely the case with B films". They also praised the "carefully observed performance" by Jill Esmond, "a fine, undervalued stage actress".