They Came To A City (1944)

Nine disparate strangers from different walks (and class) of life find themselves lost when they come upon an imposing structure looking down far below to a city. Based on the play by J.B. Priestley and directed by Basil Dearden (KHARTOUM). This isn't a movie, it's a Marxist lecture accompanied by barely moving pictures! As if we're backward children unable to grasp the film's concept, it's verbally hammered into us. Best to watch it with a bottle of aspirin nearby. It's based on a play and outside of a newly added framing device featuring J.B. Priestley as himself, the actors wander around the massive but impressive set expounding their personal viewpoints and philosophies as if they were profound. While I'm more sympathetic than not to Priestley's ideology, as cinema this is a dry experience. While on one level, I can admire its ambitious undertaking (even though it seems like an extended TWILIGHT ZONE episode), its execution is irritatingly self important. The nine strangers are played by Googie Withers, John Clements, Raymond Huntley, Renee Gadd, A.E. Matthews, Mabel Terry Lewis, Frances Rowe, Norman Shelley and Ada Reeve.