Five students on spring break meet at a secluded island cabin for a weekend getaway. After a night of music, drinking and getting re-acquainted the five friends are shocked to find the cabin's caretaker murdered and the only boat off the island gone.
Small Town Story is a 1953 British thriller, directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Donald Houston and Susan Shaw (in a rare bad-girl role). The film is set in the world of association football and features appearances from sporting legend Denis Compton and commentator Raymond Glendenning, as well as players from the Arsenal, Millwall and Hayes football teams. It also features the only screen acting credit of Kent Walton, later to himself become a famous sports commentator.
The film soon disappeared from cinemas and its fate was unknown for several decades. The British Film Institute included it on its '75 Most Wanted' list of missing British feature films[1] due to its perceived interest as a sporting period piece, the involvement of stars of the sporting world at the time, its curiosity value as the only known British black-and-white football-set thriller apart from The Arsenal Stadium Mystery,[citation needed] and increasing interest by film historians in Tully as a director. It has now been found, restored and released on DVD.[2]
Plot[edit]
Canadian ex-serviceman Bob Regan (Walton) returns to Oldchester, the English town where he was stationed during the war, hoping to find Pat Lane (Shaw), the girl he fell in love with. He meets up with Mike Collins (George Merritt), an old acquaintance who now manages Oldchester United, the local football club. He also renews his friendship with Collins' daughter Jackie (Margaret Harrison).
Mike tells Bob of an odd proviso surrounding the allocation of £25,000 from the estate of a recently deceased businessman and supporter of the football club – if Oldchester United win promotion to the next division of the Football League that season the money is theirs, if not it goes to the man's nephew. He remembers Bob as a skilful footballer, and asks him to sign up for the team to boost the promotion quest. Bob agrees.
The nephew Nick Hammond (Wheatley) is determined that the money will be his, and is worried that Bob's football prowess may well propel the team to on-pitch success. He is acquainted with Pat, now living in London, and persuades her to join him in a scheme to scupper Oldchester's chances. Knowing of Bob's fondness for Pat, and that Pat cares nothing for Bob, he proposes that if Pat can tempt Bob away from Oldchester and the football team, and the team fails in its promotion bid, he will give her a share of the inheritance. The mercenary Pat jumps at the prospect, begins to work her charms on Bob and soon lures him to London to be with her. He is talent-spotted by scouts, and signed up by Arsenal F.C.
In due course Bob becomes aware of Pat's true colours, seeks his release from Arsenal and returns to Oldchester, where reformed jail-bird Tony Warren (Houston) becomes his unofficial bodyguard. The end of the football season approaches with Oldchester needing to win their final home match to gain promotion. The game starts well, with Bob's goal giving the team a half-time lead. However Nick, in a last attempt to derail Oldchester's chances, succeeds in kidnapping Bob at the half-time interval. Following a car chase involving Tony and Jackie, the tables are turned and Bob is freed. He gets back to the football ground during the closing stages of the match, to find Oldchester trailing by one goal. Returning to the pitch, he scores two late goals to seal Oldchester's victory, promotion and financial windfall. As a bonus, he realises his attraction to Jackie and the couple embrace.
Cast[edit]
Reception[edit]
On its release, Small Town Story found little favour with critics. The Monthly Film Bulletin said: 'The film may find sympathy among incorrigible football fans (the matches are neatly staged and efficiently photographed) but the inadequacy of both script and direction severely limits its appeal'.[1]Kine Weekly described it as 'So-so quota support. The acting is very second eleven...it's definitely off-side'.[1]
See also[edit]References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Small_Town_Story_(film)&oldid=933740957'
Hidden Truth is an original new movie that will air on Lifetime Television this weekend, according to Lifetime’s website. Hidden Truth is directed by Steven R. Monroe and written by Richard O. Lowry. The movie thriller follows a teen girl who is murdered years after her own mother was found dead in a forest, leaving her biological father as the prime suspect. Now, her aunt must prove that her brother didn’t kill his wife and his daughter years apart. According to the Internet Movie Database, the Lifetime movie Hidden Truth stars Shawn Christian, Heidi Fielek, and Diana Hopper.
Hidden Truth Lifetime Movie Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Zoe has had a hard time in life. Her mother was found dead in a forest when she was just a child. Her father was the prime suspect in his wife’s murder but was never convicted since the police didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. Years later, Zoe is all grown up and is ready to leave the dead-end small town. After all, she has money. She’s been making some cash on the side due to her relationship with Michael, a married older man who owns the Pines Motor Lodge in town. With the money she has earned, Zoe tells her friends that she is headed to California to travel and to make her dreams come true.
Zoe’s Aunt Jamie, her dead mother’s sister, is worried sick about her. She has raised Zoe all of her life, even when her biological father didn’t take an interest in her. Trying to convince Zoe not to leave town, Zoe is hellbent on starting a new life and making it on her own. However, when her affair with Michael turns deadly, and Zoe is killed just like her mother, her father once again becomes the focus of the investigation.
Now, Aunt Jamie needs to find out what happened to Zoe and to prove her brother’s innocence. During her sleuthing, she finds out that the town has a hidden secret, one that connects the murder of the mother and daughter together.
Lifetime’s new movie could be inspired by a true story. Below, we’ve found one possibility.
Forest Murders: True Story About A Mother And A Daughter
In August 2010, the body of a woman was found by bike riders in the Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales. At the time, police had no idea who she was and dubbed her “Angel” due to the T-shirt she was wearing at the time of her death. It was estimated that she had died years before the body was found.
Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter were violently killed by the same man, say police. https://t.co/1osgnITr45pic.twitter.com/B7VtKSq71f
— The Australian (@australian) December 15, 2015
Five years later, the body of a child was found stuffed in a suitcase in Australia. She was later identified as Khandalyce Stevenson, the daughter of 20-year-old Karlie Pearce Stevenson, the same woman who was found in the forest five years prior. Authorities were convinced that the mother and daughter were killed by the same person around 2008.
Daniel Holdom: Man accused of murdering Khandalyce and Karlie Pearce-Stevenson due to return to court https://t.co/kIqMVnK8CM
— Brian Cherrie (@briansy123) March 31, 2016
Family members told police that between 2006 and 2008, the young mother hopped in her red or maroon station wagon and left her small town of Alice Springs to travel and find work.
Daniel Holdom turned out to be a bad influence on Karlie Pearce-Stevenson from the start. Another young woman who was involved in a sexual relationship with the older man while she was a teenager stated that she was glad that she broke up with Holdom when she did. Authorities say that Karlie Pearce-Stevenson was making money illegally as a drug runner. People who knew Karlie said that she was a troubled woman who had problems as a teenager.
The Back Pack Killer, Ivan Milat, inspired cult film Wolf Creek https://t.co/rHHgQ4txC8pic.twitter.com/6mPaCQc0Fl
— Brutal Ends (@BrutalEnds) May 4, 2016
Belanglo State Forest has a dark history, stemming from the case of the infamous backpack serial killer Ivan Milat, who used the forest as a dumping ground. Milat’s relative, Matthew Milat, committed a copycat murder in the same forest, where he and a friend killed a 17-year-old teen with an ax.
Hidden Truth was filmed in Mammoth Lakes, California. It is produced by Cartel Pictures and The Cartel with distribution provided by Lifetime Television and MarVista Entertainment. The executive producer is listed as Carla Woods.
Hidden Truth premieres this Saturday at 8/7 p.m. Central on Lifetime. Coming up soon, look out for the movie Deadly Trust.
[Image via MarVista Entertainment]
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