Gideon's Day (1958)

A day in the life of a Scotland Yard police inspector (Jack Hawkins) finds him dealing with police matters such as a serial sex murderer (Laurence Naismith), a payroll robbery, a policeman (Derek Bond) taking bribes, a stool pigeon (Cyril Cusack) on the run from thugs, the robbery of a safe deposit box and the killing of a night watchman as well as domestic issues such as buying a salmon for that night's dinner and attending his daughter's (Anna Massey) concert. Based on the novel by John Creasey and directed by John Ford. This police procedural seems an atypical piece for John Ford, it was sandwiched in between the more Fordian political drama THE LAST HURRAH and the western THE HORSE SOLDIERS. It's definitely minor Ford but that's not meant as a dismissal. It's a whimsical dramedy that balances humor (which Ford keeps in check rather than the broad comedy more typical in his films) and the requisite dramatic moments one expects in a police drama. Freddie Young (DOCTOR ZHIVAGO) did the cinematography. With Dianne Foster (top billed along with Hawkins although she doesn't come in until the film's last half hour), Anna Lee, Ronald Howard, Andrew Ray and Grizelda Harvey.