Silent Dust

Silent Dust
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lance Comfort
Produced by	Nat A. Bronstein
Written by	Michael Pertwee
Starring	Sally Gray Stephen Murray Derek Farr Nigel Patrick
Music by	Georges Auric
Cinematography	Wilkie Cooper
Production company	ABPC
Release date	1 February 1949 (UK) 29 December 1949 (U.S.)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£161,055 (UK)

Silent Dust is a 1949 British drama/thriller film, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Sally Gray, Stephen Murray, Derek Farr and Nigel Patrick. The title comes from lines in Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust, or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death? The screenplay was by Michael Pertwee, adapted from his own play The Paragon. The film was shot in film noir style with dramatic use of light and shadow.

A contemporary review in the Australian The Age credited it as "first-class screen fare...strong drama...(which) combines a good and arresting story with first class acting". The New York Times found the film to have "considerable merit as drama" and singled out Murray's "acutely sharp characterization" for praise, but felt that overall it was somewhat let down by "(showing) its stage heritage in a number of static sequences which rob it of much-needed vitality".

Simon Rawley is reported killed in the last days of World War II, and his blind father Robert (Murray) decides to build a cricket pavilion in his memory in the local village. His neighbour Lord Clandon (Seymour Hicks) urges him to extend the dedication to all the local men who gave their lives in the war, but Robert refuses. Planning and construction take some time and three years pass, during which Simon's widow Angela (Gray) falls in love with local doctor's son Maxwell Oliver (Derek Farr) whilst they have both been posted to Occupied Germany after the war. Robert cannot help feeling that this is disloyal to his dead son, but his second wife Joan (Campbell) does her best to convince him that Angela is entitled to search for happiness again. The pavilion is finally completed and plans are in place for the grand dedication and opening. The local police are meanwhile looking for a villain who coshed a motorist and stole his car in London, and has dumped the car in the vicinity.