The October Man (1947)

When a child (Juliet Mills) in his care is killed, a man (John Mills) has a nervous breakdown and attempts suicide. After a lengthy stay at a mental sanitarium, he is released. He is well on his way to a total recovery. But when a model (Kay Walsh, OLIVER TWIST) who lives next to him is murdered, he becomes the no. 1 suspect. Based on a novel by Eric Ambler, the film's premise is very Hitchcockian. An innocent man is suspected of murder and with time running out, he attempts  to prove his innocence. Ambler's screenplay is decent enough (though it could have used some sharpening) but its execution is poorly done. It lacks the wit and the suspense of the best of Hitchcock and the director Roy Ward Baker (A NIGHT TO REMEMBER) has no finesse with his cast with Mills faring the worst. He's our "hero" but his behavior is often that of a dimwit. Very good in parts but the whole is disappointing. With Joan Greenwood (wasted as the "girl"), Joyce Carey, Edward Chapman and Catherine Lacey.