The Green Man (1956) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Hawkins is a contract killer hired by shady Middle-Eastern sponsors. He is paid to eliminate Upshott, a pompous London businessman, as part of a planned assassination that will take place at The Green Man hotel. The hit is orchestrated to look like an accident involving a bomb concealed in a radio.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes establish Hawkins as a professional assassin who carefully studies his targets' routines before acting.

• hawkins
• upshott
• assassination
• contract killer
• bomb

Hawkins hides a bomb inside a radio in his suitcase. The device is programmed with a timer set to explode at precisely 22:28. The radio even makes time announcements that build suspense, claiming 22:24 while the actual countdown continues in the device. The bomb is intended to kill Upshott when he sits in the hotel lounge.

Foreshadowing: Hawkins moves the trio of musicians into the bar as Upshott and Joan rise to dine, clearing the area around his target.

• bomb
• radio
• timer
• explosion
• 22:28

When Marigold visits Hawkins to warn him about the danger, his assistant McKechnie attacks her off-screen and leaves her for dead. Her body is hidden inside a grand piano in the neighboring house. William Blake discovers the concealed body later, which triggers his involvement in trying to stop the assassination plot.

Foreshadowing: The timeline establishes that Marigold's confrontation with Hawkins directly leads to her silencing, making her discovery crucial to the plot's escalation.

• marigold
• mckechnie
• body
• piano
• william blake

William Blake, a vacuum cleaner salesman, accidentally discovers Marigold's body hidden in a piano next door to Hawkins' residence. After alerting Hawkins and then Ann (whose fiancé Reginald lives nearby), William becomes determined to stop the assassination. He and Ann rush to The Green Man to warn Upshott and evacuate the guests.

Foreshadowing: William's discovery of the body is triggered by him going next door, which he does while working as a salesman.

• william blake
• ann
• vacuum salesman
• body
• warn

Ann and William search for Upshott at The Green Man but don't know which false name he will use to register. They deduce he might use the name Boughtflower, which turns out to be a mistaken assumption that nonetheless leads them to the hotel. Their incorrect guess still places them at the right location in time to stop the assassination.

Foreshadowing: This mistaken identity element is typical of the film's farce structure, where wrong assumptions drive the comedic chaos.

• boughtflower
• false name
• upshott
• mistaken identity

The hotel's wall clock shows a different time than the actual timer in the radio. When the radio broadcast announces 22:24, William realizes the wall clock is inaccurate and that the bomb is actually set to explode sooner than the hotel time suggests. This realization prompts him to accelerate the evacuation and ultimately throw the radio into the sea before it detonates.

Foreshadowing: The discrepancy between the radio time announcements and the hotel clock creates mounting tension as the deadline approaches.

• clock
• radio
• countdown
• 22:24
• timer
• evacuation

William realizes the bomb is inside the radio and is set to explode at 22:28. With no time to safely remove the device, he grabs the radio and hurls it toward the sea just seconds before it explodes. This action saves Upshott's life and prevents the hotel massacre, though the explosion occurs close enough to create chaos.

Foreshadowing: William's quick thinking under pressure stems from his earlier realization about the clock discrepancy.

• radio
• sea
• explosion
• william
• save
• bomb

The hotel waiter reminds guests they must order food before 10 pm because of the Catering Act. This seemingly mundane bureaucratic requirement becomes a moment of domestic comedy in the film, adding to the absurd atmosphere while the assassination plot unfolds in the background. It's a characteristic example of the film's dry British humor.

Foreshadowing: The Catering Act rule creates a brief moment of normalcy that contrasts with the looming danger.

• catering act
• waiter
• hotel
• food
• dinner
• rule

After the chaos at The Green Man, Reginald Willoughby-Cruft makes a public radio appearance for what should be a dramatic reading. However, his broadcast unexpectedly turns into a scathing diatribe against Ann, humiliating her publicly. This bitter tirade creates tension in their relationship before they ultimately reconcile.

Foreshadowing: Reginald's earlier discovery of Ann and William together under the bed planted seeds of jealousy and mistrust.

• reginald
• ann
• radio
• insult
• tirade
• broadcast

After surviving the night of chaos at The Green Man, Ann and William drive back toward London together. They hear Reginald's radio broadcast insulting Ann, which creates an awkward moment. However, the shared danger and emotional turmoil bring them closer, and they share a tender kiss on the road, suggesting their connection has grown into romance despite the circumstances.

Foreshadowing: Their collaboration throughout the evening, from warning people about the bomb to working together during the evacuation, builds their relationship.

• ann
• william
• kiss
• road
• romance
• reconciliation