Lost (1956, David Farrar, David Knight)

David Farrar takes the lead in this British thriller as Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Craig, desperately hunting for the kidnapped child of American diplomat Lee Cochrane (David Knight). Cochrane and his fashion-executive wife Sue (Julia Arnall) have an 18-month-old baby, cared for by their nanny (Anne Paige). But one day the nanny nips into a chemist, leaving the child unattended in its pram, and when she comes out of the shop, the infant has gone.

Distraught and hysterical, the parents bring in the police to find the baby. Unfortunately, Detective Inspector Craig has very little to go on. The only evidence of the child’s abduction is a paper bag, some pages torn from a novel, the button off a woman’s coat and some ice-cream wrappers. With painstaking care, Craig builds up a picture of what has happened, looking for witnesses and carefully weighing the importance of each piece of evidence in a struggle to find the child.

production details
UK | 89 minutes | 1956

Director: Guy Green
Script: Janet Green,

cast
David Farrar as Det. Insp. Craig
David Knight as Lee Cochrane
Julia Arnall as Sue Cochrane
Anthony Oliver as Sgt. Lyel
Thora Hird as Kelly’s landlady
Eleanor Summerfield as Sgt. Cook
Anne Paige as Nanny
Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Jeffries
Anna Turner as Mrs. Robey
Everley Gregg as Viscountess Cardale
Meredith Edwards as Sgt. Davies
Irene Prador as Mitzi
Anita Sharp-Bolster as Miss Gill
Beverley Brooks as Pam
Brenda Hogan as Sue’s secretary
Joan Hickson as Chemist
Joan Sims as Soft drink and ice cream vendor
Mona Washbourne as Librarian
Barbara Windsor as Girl at Chemist’s Shop
Shirley Anne Field as Girl Working at Taxi Garage
Eileen Peele as Henrietta Gay
Barbara Archer as
Freda Bamford as Zoe’s Mother
Robert Brown as Farmer with Shotgun
Fanny Carby as Nanny in the Park
Cyril Chamberlain as Uniformed Police Officer
Peggy Ann Clifford as Shopkeeper
Guy Deghy as Erikkson
Grace Denbigh Russell as Mrs. Robey’s Neighbour
Dorothy Gordon as Ice Cream Girl’s Friend
Fred Griffiths as Gamble
Percy Herbert as Police Constable in Phone Box
Glyn Houston as Bus Driver
Jack Lambert as Police Station Sergeant
Arthur Lovegrove as Railway Workman
William Lucas as Press Photographer
Jack McNaughton as Hotel Porter
Charlotte Mitchell as Farmer’s Wife
Hugh Morton as Doctor Fairfax
Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Gamble
John Pike as Urchin
Ewen Solon as Bus Inspector
Marianne Stone as Mrs. Marley
Alma Taylor as Mrs. Bellamy
Michael Ward as Mantilla
Ronald Ward as Military Man
John Welsh as Police Scientist
Leonard White as Sergeant Thorne
George Woodbridge as Taxi Driver