Daybreak

Noir on a barge! In truth, much of Compton Bennett’s Daybreak unfolds like a romantic drama (one that lands a final gut punch like Romeo and Juliet), but Bennett squeezes maximum atmosphere from the story, which involves a barber who secretly moonlights as a travelling executioner throughout England’s prison system. Having just inherited 15 barges from his wealthy father, Eddie (Eric Portman) is determined to abandon his life-snuffing vocation, especially after falling in love with Frankie (Ann Todd), a young woman with a questionable past who not only agrees to marry Eddie but insists they live on his coziest barge on the Thames. Eddie reluctantly continues to travel to perform his hangman duties despite Frankie’s pleas (“Stay home tomorrow; you’ll be sorry if you don’t”) and despite the lingering presence of his young, voracious assistant Olaf played by Maxwell Reed (“He’s too good looking,” Frankie warns, “and I don’t want him hanging around here”). Unsurprisingly, Frankie and Olaf are soon dancing in the moonlight, which rapidly gives way to more beastly urges (despite the censors’ best efforts, it’s clear Olaf rapes her). The entanglement will end with murder charges and as much tragedy as humanly possible. Benefiting from outstanding performances by all three leads, Bennett and accomplished cinematographer Wyer make excellent use of waterfront fog to layer on the doom, a steady drip of tragic anticipation proceeding from the couple’s very first encounter during a thunderstorm.