{{short description|1957 film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox film | name = High Tide at Noon | image = High Tide at Noon FilmPoster.jpeg | caption = Film poster | director = Philip Leacock | producer = David Deutsch<br/>Earl St. John<br/>Julian Wintle | writer = Neil Paterson |based_on = novel by Elisabeth Ogilvie | starring = Betta St. John | music = John Veale | cinematography = Eric Cross | editing = Sidney Hayers | distributor = |studio=Rank Organisation Film Productions | released = {{film date|1957|4|30|df=yes}} | runtime = 109 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English }}
'''''High Tide at Noon''''' is a 1957 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock.<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/36410 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114112712/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/36410 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 January 2009 |title=BFI: High Tide at Noon |accessdate=1 May 2010|work=BFI}}</ref> It was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3544/year/1957.html |title=Festival de Cannes: High Tide at Noon |accessdate=8 February 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204234009/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3544/year/1957.html |archivedate=4 February 2012 }}</ref> ''High Tide at Noon'' was based on the first of a series of novels by Elisabeth Ogilvie, set in Maine. Location work was done in Devon.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Craig|page=76|title=The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life|publisher=Allen and Unwin|year=2005}}</ref>
The film was one of several Rank movies made set overseas to appeal to the international market.<ref name="sir john">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-john-davis/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=26 April 2025|access-date=26 April 2025|title=Forgotten British film moguls: John Davis}}</ref>
==Plot== A woman named Joanna returns to an island off the coast of Nova Scotia where she was raised, and where memories immediately stir from her past. The entire film is thereafter in flashback.
She recalls being 17 and having the attentions of three young men. She has had a previous kiss with the handsome but arrogant and aggressive Simon Breck and she agrees to meet him. When he makes a move on her she runs off. Nils Sorensen loves her, but is seen by Joanna only as a friend, not a suitor. She ultimately marries Alec Douglas, a gentle soul who reads poetry to her. All the men and all the local fisherman use small boats to fish for Maine lobster.
Economic hardship overwhelms nearly everyone on the island, particularly Joanna's parents, the MacKenzies, as the fishing community's lobster traps start to come up empty. Worse for her, Alec amasses a large debt to Simon as a result of his gambling. It seems that Alec is stealing lobster from rival pots in order to pay his debts. One night, he is drowned: it is unclear if this is accidental but Nils takes part of the blame.
Simon threatens Joanna and Nils drives him off the island, threatening to kill him. Nils offers to marry Joanna but she declines. He leaves the island soon after without saying goodbye. All three men ultimately disappear from her life. However, as the flashback ends, upon her return many years later, Joanna is pleased to once again encounter Nils.
==Cast== * Betta St. John as Joanna * William Sylvester as Alec Douglas * Michael Craig as Nils Sorenson * Flora Robson as Donna MacKenzie * Alexander Knox as Stephen MacKenzie * Peter Arne as Owen MacKenzie * Patrick McGoohan as Simon Breck * Patrick Allen as Charles MacKenzie * Jill Dixon as Matille Trudeau * Susan Beaumont as Kristy * John Hayward as Philip MacKenzie * Errol MacKinnon as Peter Grant
==Production== The film was based on a novel by Elisabeth Ogilvie which was published in 1945. The novel was set in Maine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43503095 |title=LATEST FICTION |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |volume=88 |issue=27082 |location=South Australia |date=21 July 1945 |accessdate=31 May 2025 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She wrote a sequel, ''Storm Tide'', which was published in 1947.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55893414 |title=LIFE AMONG THE LOBSTER-MEN |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |volume=36 |issue=1,834 |location=South Australia |date=19 July 1947 |accessdate=31 May 2025 |page=4 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Film rights were purchased by the Rank Organisation. The original director was Pat Jackson, who was a freelance director who had done work for Rank. Jackson called the story "very interesting, quite good". Virginia McKenna was meant to star. Jackson saw Patrick McGoohan on stage in ''Moby Dick'' and cast him in the film. Jackson said, "He was going to be the hero! And he would have been wonderful."<ref name="pat"/>
Jackson struggled to find a suitable island off Nova Scotia or anyhere in Britain but found one off the coast of Sweden. A set was built recreating the village. When Jackson returned to Pinewood he was met by James Archibald, a Rank executive, who informed him McKenna did not approve of the script. This upset Jackson who complained about McKenna to John Davis, head of Rank. Davis informed Jackson he wanted to cancel the film because he lost faith in it.<ref name="pat"/>
Jackson then heard Davis had hired Philip Leacock to direct it and the film was made, with McGoohan as the villain.<ref name="pat"/> Jackson was offered two more films from Rank, including ''Dangerous Exile'' and turned them down. He said the whole experience "was a total disaster, for me. I mean, that really ended my film career."<ref name="pat"/>
Philip Leacock had previously directed another film set on Nova Scotia for Rank, ''The Little Kidnappers'', which shared the same screenwriter as ''High Tide at Noon'', Neil Paterson. Sean Connery auditioned for a role but was told he was "too dark".<ref>{{cite book|page=53|title=Sean Connery : a biography|last=Freedland|first= Michael |year=1994}}</ref>
The lead role went to American actor Betta St John, who had appeared in Britain on stage in ''South Pacific'', fell in love with an Englishman and decided to stay. According to Michael Craig, St John did not tell them she was four months pregnant and "by the time we finished shooting the picture we couldn't shoot below the shoulders. There were a lot of problems with that."<ref>McFarlane p 143</ref> ''Filmink'' argued the movie had "a splendid lead part for a female, and it’s ironic that a few years previously, when Rank had a staggering line-up of female stars that it put in lousy roles (Kay Kendall, Diane Cilento, Diana Dors), they’d all since moved on to greener pastures; the studio offered it to Virginia McKenna who turned it down, so they went to Betta St John, who is nice and pretty but simply doesn’t have “It”."<ref name="seven"/>
The bulk of the movie was shot at Pinewood Studios, where a huge set was built for the village. There was some location work in Nova Scotia "with a few of the cast, mainly footage of the boat landing, stuff like that," said Leacock.<ref name="McFarlane p 353">McFarlane p 353</ref> There was also location filming in Cornwall.<ref name="McFarlane p 353"/> Filming in Canada took place in September 1956 with the unit in Pinewood by October.<ref>{{cite news|title=Film correspondent|newspaper=Herald Express|date=15 October 1956|page=4}}</ref>
According to Jackson, the film "cost a lot of money."<ref name="pat">{{cite web|website=British Entertainment History Project|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/default/files/Pat%20Jackson.pdf|title=Pat Jackson interview|date=22 March 1991}}</ref>
==Reception== ===Box office=== Pat Jackson later said the film "did not do very well, how could it? A sea picture shot inside! In fact it did disastrously."<ref name="pat"/>
===Critical=== ''Variety'' called it "A long, slow-moving drama with modest marquee strength... a tough proposition to sell."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=High Tide at Noon|magazine=Variety|date=15 May 1957|page=6|url=https://archive.org/details/variety206-1957-05/page/n155/mode/1up?}}</ref>
''Filmink'' argued "it’s the sort of movie that should have been made fifteen years before at Gainsborough under Maurice Ostrer and Ted Black (not Sydney Box), or a few years later with additional sex content."<ref name="seven">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-rank-organisation-films-1957/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|access-date=14 June 2025|date=14 June 2025|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: Rank Organisation Films – 1957}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Notes== *{{cite book|publisher=Methuen|title= An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it|year=1997|first=Brian|last=McFarlane}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0050507|title=High Tide at Noon}}
{{Philip Leacock}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Tide At Noon}} Category:1957 films Category:British drama films Category:1957 drama films Category:British black-and-white films Category:Films directed by Philip Leacock Category:Films set on islands Category:Films set in Nova Scotia Category:Films shot in Nova Scotia Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:1957 English-language films Category:1957 British films Category:Films scored by John Veale Category:English-language drama films