Hollywood's chronicler of Irish culture John Ford chose a British subject for this film. Gideon Of Scotland Yard is about a day in the life of a high ranking inspector in Scotland Yard. Jack Hawkins plays the hard working an often exasperated inspector who gets a lot accomplished during this particular day, but he's frustrated by both work and home problems.

Our Inspector Gideon is a happily married man to Anna Lee and has a daughter Anna Massey who is a violin virtuoso. One of the minor plot lines involving Lee giving Hawkins specific instruction to pick up a salmon at the fish market. Hawkins has far more to fry than fish during this day.

One is the sex killing of a young girl by a very creepy Laurence Naismith and the hunt for him. He's apprehended by an alert young Bobby played by Andrew Ray who otherwise manages to make a pest of himself all around with his earnest dedication to the job. The incident is similar to another sex killing in Sergeant Rutledge although in that film Ford made it the entire film.

The main plot however involves Hawkins confronting another inspector Derek Bond and telling him that their version of Internal Affairs has him nailed on corruption. Later on Bond is run down by a car deliberately and that starts Hawkins on an investigation that leads to the apprehension of some major criminals during a heist.

I have to single out Cyril Cusack who played a stoolie and just the kind of colorful character that Ford would put in one of his Irish films. He's got some nasty people after him, but apparently lives a charmed life.

A very entertaining film by John Ford, not one of his more known works, but definitely worth a look.

Gideon of Scotland Yard is a fine 1950s British detective film based on a book by the prolific writer John Creasey. It stars the inimitable Jack Hawkins as the gruff yet likable detective working hard on a number of overlapping cases during a single 24 hours in London. The film was directed by John Ford, of all people, the man best known for his epic American westerns, who brings a kind of slick stylish look to the screen.

The running time flies past because this is a very entertaining movie, one of the fastest-paced films of the 1950s I've seen. There's never a slow moment, just a building of tension, suspense, and yes, humour, which delightfully offsets the darker and more tragic elements of the plot. Watching Hawkins trying to juggle various cases, crimes, criminals, superiors, underlings, and of course his home life, is a sheer delight. An exemplary supporting cast adds to the experience, making this an all-round winner of a film.

Scotland Yard Chief Inspector George Gideon starts his day with his family. It's a day in the life and his day faces many issues along the way.

I had trouble following the various cases. I don't think it works this way. He should be concentrating on one case or he should be overseeing these various cases from a distance. Gideon is also very British and it doesn't excite me. He's calm to the point of being close to boring. The Simon bit is a great wrap around. I would have liked more with Simon and the daughter. Overall, it's a fine British police drama with some interesting comedic touches but the cases don't excite me.