The Large Rope

The Large Rope (also known as The Long Rope) is a 1953 British crime film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Donald Houston, Susan Shaw and Robert Brown.

The Large Rope
Directed by	Wolf Rilla
Written by	Ted Willis
Produced by	Victor Hanbury
Starring	Donald Houston Susan Shaw Robert Brown
Cinematography	Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by	Peter Graham Scott
Music by	Ronald Binge
Production company	Victor Hanbury Productions (as Insignia)
Distributed by	United Artists Corporation (UK)
Release date	December 1953 (1953-12) (UK)
Running time	72 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

Tom Penney returns to his village after serving three years in prison for an assault that he did not commit, determined to take his revenge on those who framed him. He meets hostility from most of the village including his father, but his mother is glad to see him, and his former girlfriend, Susan, who is about to be married that day, finds her old feelings for him resurface. Amy Jordan, the flirtatious married woman he is supposed to have assaulted three years ago, is found dead in nearby woods just as the wedding is due to begin, and Susan runs from the church when she hears the news. Tom is taken in by the police for questioning, but escapes, and both he and the police try to discover the killer, while most of the villagers, convinced that Tom is the murderer, form a lynch mob.

Cast

• Donald Houston as Tom Penney
• Susan Shaw as Susan Hamble
• Robert Brown as Mick Jordan
• Vanda Godsell as Amy Jordan
• Peter Byrne as Jeff Stribling
• Richard Warner as Inspector Harmer
• Christine Finn as May
• Thomas Heathcote as James Gore
• Katie Johnson as Grandmother (uncredited)
• Hilda Fenemore as Pub Landlady (uncredited)

Critical reception

The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane describe The Large Rope as an "excellent thriller", adding that it has "an arresting narrative premise and an unsentimental view of the potential mean-spiritedness of village life".

External links

• The Large Rope at IMDb