Daughter of Darkness (1948 film)


Daughter of Darkness is a 1948 British film, with macabre overtones, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed and – in the central role – Siobhán McKenna. Released in January 1948, it was based on a then ten-year-old play by Max Catto called They Walk Alone. An expensive film for its day, it was shot at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London, and on location. McKenna was offered a Hollywood contract following her memorable performance, but heeded the counsel of Laurence Olivier to remain in theatre work.

Plot

In the small Irish town of Ballyconnen, Emmy Baudine is a beautiful but disturbed young woman who works for the local priest. When the carnival comes to town, she encounters Dan, a handsome young boxer – and lays his face open with her fingernails when he attempts to seduce her. Hurriedly packed off to Yorkshire by Father Corcoran, Emmy is taken in by a farming family and manages to suppress the strange feelings of fascination and revulsion that she experiences in the presence of the opposite sex. Until, that is, the carnival comes to town and she finds herself face to face with the vengeful Dan.

Cast