Is this film excessive? Yes. Does image pile upon image in a cry of horror? Yes. And why is it excessive? Because it is a cry against capital punishment in England circa 1957, and Losey throws every powerful image at the dreadful thing capital punishment is. Those who approve of an eye for an eye will hate it, and the ending is so tight and appalling that I nearly cried. I am giving away no spoilers but this is a film as relevant today as it was then, with America holding on to barbarism and many other countries like China thinking that killing someone is the 'natural' thing to do. The philosophy is a murder for a murder, and in some countries it is also lawful to execute for homosexuality, drugs etc. As Andre Cayette states in his film 'We are all Murderers' (given the weaker title of 'Are we all Murderers?' in England) this film is a brutal punch against the system. 'Time without Pity' is greater than 'Yield to the Night' and 'I Want to Live' because the frantic speed of the film and its haunting images make you aware of the terror in the situation. There is no noble path to acceptance as in 'Yield to the Night' or Susan Hayward's stiff upper lip as she enters the gas chamber. What we get is a screaming young man, howling and pleading, and these cries echo in the viewer's brain or should.
The acting is superb. Never has the icy fire of Ann Todd's acting been greater; never has Michael Redgrave given his all to a role as he does in this, and even Joan Plowright in a minor role stares with a look of horror. Fortunately this film is now shown on 'Talking Pictures' and today in England, being the day when a new government has come to power, is the right day to emphatically say yet again that a) the wrong person can be hung and b) even murder, horrible though it is, never justifies the cruel procedure of murder in return.
The acting is superb. Never has the icy fire of Ann Todd's acting been greater; never has Michael Redgrave given his all to a role as he does in this, and even Joan Plowright in a minor role stares with a look of horror. Fortunately this film is now shown on 'Talking Pictures' and today in England, being the day when a new government has come to power, is the right day to emphatically say yet again that a) the wrong person can be hung and b) even murder, horrible though it is, never justifies the cruel procedure of murder in return.