Gideon's Day (film)

Gideon's Day
US film poster with the US title
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	Michael Kilanin
Screenplay by	T. E. B. Clarke
Based on	Gideon's Day by John Creasey
Starring	Jack Hawkins Dianne Foster Cyril Cusack Andrew Ray
Music by	Douglas Gamley
Cinematography	Freddie Young
Edited by	Raymond Poulton
Distributed by	Columbia Productions
Release date	25 March 1958
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Gideon's Day (originally released in the United States as Gideon of Scotland Yard) is a 1958 police procedural crime film starring Jack Hawkins, Dianne Foster and Cyril Cusack. The film, which was directed by John Ford, was adapted from John Creasey's novel of the same name. It was released in the United States as Gideon of Scotland Yard.

Although this is the first film to feature the named character of George Gideon, Jack Hawkins had already played a very similar role in the British film The Long Arm two years earlier.

The film follows a day in the life of Detective Chief Inspector George Gideon of the Metropolitan Police. His day starts when he received information that one of his officers has been taking bribes. Despite his hectic schedule, his wife reminds him his daughter has a violin recital that evening; she also tells him her aunt and uncle are coming for tea before the concert. This becomes a recurring theme throughout the film, as Gideon is continually hampered in his efforts to finish work and return home.

On the way to Scotland Yard he drops his daughter off at the Royal College of Music, but is stopped by a young constable for running a red light. Once at his office, he calls in the detective whom a "snout" [i.e. informant] has told him is taking bribes and suspends him. Gideon then gets word that an escaped mental patient from Manchester is on his way to London. Meanwhile, an audacious gang is robbing payrolls.

The mental patient is soon arrested, but not before he has killed the daughter of his former landlady. Gideon wants to congratulate personally the policeman who made the arrest, only to discover it's the same overzealous young officer who gave him a summons for his early morning traffic offence. Various jobs then preoccupy the chief inspector while his detectives continue to investigate the bribery case. News then arrives that the suspended policeman has been run down by a car - a vehicle that fits the description of one used in the earlier payroll jobs. After Gideon visits the dead officer's wife, evidence soon emerges that links the dead detective to a woman who went to clubs he frequented.