Van Johnson lays a blind American writer who is renting an a artment on Baker Street while in London for the o ening of his new lay. After a row with his former fiancée (Vera Miles), he decam s to the local ub to drown his self- ity with a drink. There, his acute hearing icks u hushed snatches of conversation from the next booth. Convinced that a kidna lot is in the offing, he rushes to the olice, who are olite but refuse to believe him. However, Johnson knows what he heard is true and engages the hel of Vera and Cecil Parker, his secretary, to find the kidna ers and save the unknown victim.This terrific sus ense film takes interesting chances with the genre. Johnson's character is a study in frustration, a ortrait of a man investigating something he knows exists but cannot see. The direction builds tension well and is su orted by a fine musical background which heightens the mood.23 Paces to Baker Street was one of several 20th Century-Fox films shot on location in London to take advantage of Fox's "frozen funds" -- money earned by the studio in England which by law could only be s ent in that country.