23 Paces to Baker Street is a 1956 American DeLuxe Color mystery thriller film directed by Henry Hathaway. It was released by 20th Century-Fox and filmed in CinemaScope on location in London. The screenplay by Nigel Balchin was based on the 1938 novel Warrant for X by Philip MacDonald.
The 1939 British film The Nursemaid Who Disappeared was also based on MacDonald's novel.
Plot Philip Hannon is a blind playwright who lives in a London flat with a spectacular view over the River Thames between Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Station. One day, he overhears part of a conversation in a pub that possibly involves a plot to commit a crime. He tries to contact Inspector Grovening, who offers no help, so Hannon, his butler and his American ex-fiancée Jean seek to bring the kidnappers to justice. Their sleuthing soon leads them to a nanny agency with dire repercussions.
Cast
Van Johnson as Phillip Hannon Vera Miles as Jean Lennox Cecil Parker as Bob Matthews Patricia Laffan as Miss Alice MacDonald Maurice Denham as Inspector Grovening Isobel Elsom as Lady Syrett Estelle Winwood as Barmaid Liam Redmond as Mr. Murch Martin Benson as Pillings Natalie Norwick as Janet Murch Terence De Marney as Sergeant Luce
Reception In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote:
See also List of American films of 1956
References
External links