Director: Lewis Allen
Screenplay: Stanley Mann
Based on: the novel: Weep No More by Lenore Coffee
Starring: Lana Turner, Barry Sullivan, Glynis Johns, Sean Connery, Terence Longdon, Sidney James, Martin Stephens, Doris Hare, Julian Somers, John Le Mesurier, Cameron Hall, Robin Bailey, Jane Welsh
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 95 min
Year: 1958
Sean Connery would find worldwide fame as the first actor to play James Bond on the big screen. His six appearances as 007 (seven when counting the unofficial Never Say Never Again) remain iconic and include some of the franchise’s all-time best films which crafted and cemented the series formula.
That role would pave the way for a memorable screen career for Connery who would portray a number of other iconic roles across the decades. Before he donned Bond’s tuxedo, Connery appeared in around a dozen films including memorable turns in the classic British noir Hell Drivers (1957) and Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959).
Another of his early performances came in Another Time, Another Place (1958) which has just been released as a worldwide first on Blu-ray by Australian label ViaVision on their Imprint range.
Another Time, Another Place is a Second World War melodrama which sees Connery billed as being ‘introduced’ – despite it not being his first appearance – in a film that is headlined by Hollywood legend Lana Turner.
The film follows a US reporter called Sara Scott (Lana Turner), who is on assignment in London at the end of the Second World War. She starts an affair with a handsome British reporter called Mark Trevor (Sean Connery) despite being engaged to her wealthy boss Carter Reynolds (Barry Sullivan).
Sara’s romance with Mark seems to be going well and she decides to choose him over her fiancée, only to find out that Mark is married with a son. What initially follows is a ‘will they, won’t they’ romance which has some interesting twists and turns along the way.
It’s an intriguing story that had me gripped to see where the story would go with Lana Turner and Sean Connery having good chemistry. There’s an intriguing subtext about the close of the Second World War which plays as a backdrop to the melodrama between Turner and Connery’s characters for the first half.
We’re in spoiler territory now, so please skip the following paragraph if you don’t want anything spoiled.
Connery’s character dies off screen in a plane crash that we’re told about by a radio broadcast just over half an hour in. Sara goes into mourning and is placed into a hospital by her fiancé to convalesce for a few months before being convinced by Carter to return to New York. But the story takes another twist when she leaves the hospital and visits St Giles in Cornwall, where Mark had earlier told her he grew up. Here Sara meets Mark’s wife Kay (Glynis Johns) and son Brian (Martin Stephens) and spends lots of time with them without revealing her relationship to Mark. I shall not spoil anymore, but I found the story went to some interesting territory and kept me gripped.
One flaw with the film though is that I didn’t really buy Sara’s romance with and engagement to Carter, and that’s through no fault of the actors, I just didn’t buy their relationship.
Sullivan is fine as Carter but he’s not really given too many scenes or chances to make much of an impression and I didn’t feel I got to know him at all in any way, which is the opposite to Connery’s character where we learn so much in such a short space of time. Even though he’s only in about a third of the film in a role art the start of his career, it’s clear Connery will be a big star. He has a huge screen presence and plays his character well.
The film also provides some brief moments with other familiar faces, including future Carry On star Sid James as a newspaper colleague of Mark and Sara’s, Glynis Johns, who will find a huge audience as Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins (1964), in a very good performance as Mark’s wife Kay, and, in a very brief role as a doctor, John Le Mesurier. Mark Stephens also pops up as Mark’s son. He was a child actor who will be a familiar face to horror fans having appeared in Village of the Damned (1960) and The Innocents (1961) a couple of years or so after Another Time, Another Place.
But this is Lana Turner’s film and she owns the screen every time she’s on it – which is much of the runtime. She plays the playful romantic side and the more tragic aspects of her doomed romance with Mark, and her mourning after his death, perfectly and her performance is a real strength of the film.
The film has a strong atmosphere too thanks to some detailed sets and on location filming in Polperro (substituting for the location of St Giles named in the film) and Looe Railway Station in Cornwall and which is supplemented by archival establishing shots of New York and telling some brief Second World War background. It is all beautifully filmed by cinematographer Jack Hildyard and provided with a gorgeous score by composer Douglas Gamley.
Another Time, Another Place is a captivating Second World War melodrama headlined by a wonderful performance by Lana Turner and a great chance to see a pre-James Bond Sean Connery and pre-Mary Poppins Glynis Johns.
Film: 
Another Time, Another Place is available in Australia on Blu-ray now as a limited edition of 1,500 as number 564 in ViaVision’s Imprint series. It can be ordered direct from ViaVision. The transfer has plenty of detail and a natural colour scheme showcasing the beautiful black and white cinematography, but it does have minor blemishes – print damage and dirt – throughout though this didn’t distract from my overall enjoyment of the presentation. The audio is good and dialogue is clear.
Special features and technical specs:
1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray
New audio commentary by film historians Lee Pfeiffer, Tony Latino and Paul Scrabo
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono
Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Optional English HOH Subtitles
Only one extra feature is included, but it’s a very good one – an audio commentary by film historians Lee Pfeiffer, Tony Latino and Paul Scrabo. They provide a lot of background to the making of the film – which includes some very interesting tales that I haven’t gone into in this review. The commentary is a reason to buy this disc alone as it’s very insightful.
So, ViaVision have provided a light package for their Imprint release of Another Time, Another Place, with just an audio commentary included on the extras front. It’s a very good commentary, I might add, which provides plenty of context and background to the making of the film and those involved, some of which is very illuminating. The picture is fine, despite minor blemishes like dirt and print damage throughout. The film is being released as a worldwide Blu-ray first and the chance for it to get a new lease of life and to showcase one of Sean Connery’s early roles and a strong performance by Lana Turner is welcome.
Disc/package:
