{{Short description|1958 British film by Montgomery Tully}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = | image = The_Long_Knife_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1958).png | caption = Australian daybill poster | director = Montgomery Tully | producer = Jack Greenwood | writer = Ian Stuart Black | based_on = novel by Leslie Truss | starring = Joan Rice<br>Sheldon Lawrence | editing = Geoffrey Muller | color_process = Black and white | studio = Merton Park Studios | distributor = Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors | released = {{film date|df=y|1958|8||UK}} | runtime = 57 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''The Long Knife''''' is a 1958 British second feature ('B')<ref name="Chibnall">{{Cite book |last1=Chibnall |first1=Steve |title=''The British 'B' Film'' |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=100}}</ref> crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Joan Rice, Sheldon Lawrence and Victor Brooks.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Long Knife |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150035354 |access-date=17 June 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-01-15 |title=BFI {{!}} Film & TV Database {{!}} The LONG KNIFE (1958) |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/40658 |access-date=2025-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115093134/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/40658 |archive-date=15 January 2009 }}</ref><ref name="one">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=12 January 2025|access-date=12 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-one-1905-56/|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part One (1905-56)}}</ref> It was written by Ian Stuart Black based on the 1956 novel of the same title by Leslie Truss.
==Plot== Young nurse Jill Holden gets involved with an extortion gang targeting Mrs Cheam, one of her patients. Jill is implicated in a murder, and is helped by Mrs. Cheam's American lawyer Ross Waters. When Mrs. Cheam is murdered Jill becomes a suspect but is able clear herself with Ross's help. The real murderer is revealed to be a woman disguised as a man.
==Cast== * Joan Rice as Jill Holden * Sheldon Lawrence as Ross Waters * Dorothy Brewster as Angela * Ellen Pollock as Mrs Cheam * Victor Brooks as Superintendent Leigh * Alan Keith as Doctor Ian Probus * Arthur Gomez as Sergeant Bowles
== Critical reception == ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "Well turned-out crime thriller which suffers from an unlikely nurse as a heroine and a denouement which connoisseurs of the detective story might well consider obsolete."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1958 |title=The Long Knife |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305821604 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=25 |issue=288 |pages=129 |id={{ProQuest|1305821604}} }}</ref>
''Picture Show'' wrote: "Joan Rice and Sheldon Lawrence are convincing in the leading roles."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=10 January 1959 |title=The Long Knife |volume=72 |issue=1867 |pages=10 |id={{ProQuest|1879631391}} |journal=Picture Show}}</ref>
In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Competent, lively thriller holds the interest, isn't too long."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=339}}</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0051877}}
{{Montgomery Tully}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Knife, The}} Category:1958 films Category:British crime films Category:Films directed by Montgomery Tully Category:1958 crime films Category:1958 English-language films Category:1958 British films Category:English-language crime films Category:British black-and-white films