Park Plaza 605 (U.S. title: Norman Conquest) is a 1953 British second feature ('B')[1] crime film directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Tom Conway, Eva Bartok, and Joy Shelton.[2][3] It was written by Bertram Oster, Albert Fennell, Knowles and Clifford Witting based on the 1950 novel Dare-devil Conquest by Edwy Searles Brookes (as Berkeley Gray).[4]

Park Plaza 605
U.S. theatrical poster
Directed byBernard Knowles
Written by
  • Bertram Ostrer
  • Albert Fennell
  • Bernard Knowles
  • Clifford Witting (treatment)
Based onnovel Dare-Devil Conquest by Berkeley Gray
Produced by
  • Albert Fennell
  • Bertram Ostrer
Starring
CinematographyEric Cross
Edited byClifford Boote (as Cifford Boot)
Music byPhilip Green
Production
company
B & A Productions (as B & A Productions Limited)
Distributed byEros Films
Release date
  • December 1953 (1953-12) (UK)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Private investigator Norman Conquest stumbles across a cryptic message being sent by carrier pigeon and his curiosity leads him to room 605 of the Park Plaza Hotel, where he meets a mysterious foreign blonde woman, and finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation with himself as the prime suspect.

Cast

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Critical reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An Involved and indifferently made thriller; the actors give the impression that they have all been there before."[5]

Radio Times called Park Plaza 605 a "fair British B-feature."[6]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Indifferent thriller with tired performances."[7]

References

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  1. ^ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "Park Plaza 605". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  3. ^ bkoganbing (11 September 1953). "Norman Conquest (1953)". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Park Plaza 605". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Park Plaza 605". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 11. 1 January 1954 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Allen Eyles. "Park Plaza 605". RadioTimes.
  7. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 359. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
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