''Forbidden Cargo'' is a 1954 British
crime film directed by
Harold French
Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor.
Biography
After training at the Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a production of ''The Winter's Tale''. As an ...
and starring
Nigel Patrick,
Elizabeth Sellars
Elizabeth Macdonald Sellars (6 May 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a Scottish actress.
Early life and education
Sellars was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Stephen Sellars and Jean Sutherland. She appeared on the stage from the age o ...
and
Jack Warner.
It was shot at
Pinewood Studios with sets designed by the
art director John Howell.
Location shooting
Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior.
The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...
took place in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
.
Plot
A customs officer captures a gang of drugs smugglers, assisted by a birdwatcher.
Cast
*
Nigel Patrick as Inspector Michael Kenyon
*
Elizabeth Sellars
Elizabeth Macdonald Sellars (6 May 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a Scottish actress.
Early life and education
Sellars was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Stephen Sellars and Jean Sutherland. She appeared on the stage from the age o ...
as Rita Compton
*
Terence Morgan as Roger Compton
*
Greta Gynt
Greta Gynt (born Margrethe Woxholt; 15 November 1916 – 2 April 2000) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. She is remembered for her starring roles in the British classic films '' The Dark Eyes of London'', ''Mr. Emmanuel'', ''Take My Life'', '' ...
as Madame Simonetta
*
Jack Warner as Major Alec White
*
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...
as Max
*
Joyce Grenfell as Lady Flavia Queensway
* James Gilbert as Agent Larkins
*
Eric Pohlmann
Eric Pohlmann (german: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, th ...
as Steven Lasovich
*
Martin Boddey
Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor.
He was a founder member of the Lord's Taverners charity. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority fig ...
as Sub-Director Holt
*
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...
as Director of Customs
*
Jacques B. Brunius as Det. Pierre Valance
*
Ronald Adam as Mr. Bennett
*
Ballard Berkeley as Cooper
* Campbell Gray as Luigi
*
Campbell Singer
Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist.
Life
He was ...
as Sergeant Dodson, River Police
*
Hal Osmond as Baggage Room Clerk
*
Philip Stainton
Philip Stainton (9 April 1908 – 1 August 1961) was an English actor. Stainton appeared in several Ealing comedies and major international movies. He specialized in playing friendly or exasperated uniformed policemen, but also appeared in ...
as Seaburyness Police Sergeant
*
Brian Wilde
Brian George Wilde (13 June 1927 – 20 March 2008) was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barrowclough in '' Porridge'' and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in ''Last of the Summer Wine''. His lugubrious ...
as Seaburyness Smuggler
*
Campbell Singer
Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist.
Life
He was ...
as River Police Sergeant
*
Tom Gill as Hotel Receptionist
*
Jill Adams as Michael's Dance Partner
*
Roger Maxwell
Roger Francis Hamilton Maxwell (born 21 March 1941) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party.
Early life
Maxwell was born in South Canterbury. He obtained his tertiary education at Li ...
as Bird Sanctuary Spokesman
*
Nicholas Phipps as Royal Navy Information Officer
*
Denis Shaw as Ship's Cook
*
Lloyd Lamble as Captain of Python
*
Cyril Chamberlain as Customs Officer
*
John Arnatt
John Edwin Arnatt (9 May 1917 – 21 December 1999) was a British actor.
Early life and education
John Arnatt was born in Petrograd, Russia on 9 May 1917. His parents were Francis and Ethel Marion (née Jephcott) Arnatt. He attended Epworth ...
as Customs Officer
*
John Horsley as Customs Officer
*
Arnold Diamond
Arnold Diamond (18 April 1915 – 18 March 1992) was an English character actor, regularly cast in small parts on television.
He graduated from RADA in 1936, and his stage work included the RSC, and three years in Agatha Christie's '' The Mo ...
as French Customs Officer
Critical reception
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
noted a "Modest drama," which was "enlivened by a solid cast"; ''British Pictures'' noted a "Nice cast, but dreary story";
Allmovie wrote, "Apart from the always delightful Joyce Grenfell, ''Forbidden Cargo'' is humorless ''
Dragnet'' material transplanted to the high seas"; while
Sky Cinema
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema o ...
noted a "workmanlike British thriller from the Fifties, directed by Harold French, has a documentary feel, with some crisp dialogue by Sydney Box. The suave Nigel Patrick stars as the customs investigator alerted to nefarious coastal activities by none other than the wonderful Joyce Grenfell. She is cast as an aristocratic birdwatcher who is most put out that a suspicious landing craft should disturb her nesting birds. Other stalwarts appearing include Elizabeth Sellars and Terence Morgan as brother-and-sister smugglers, Jack Warner, Greta Gynt, Michael Hordern and Eric Pohlmann, particularly good as a Polish racketeer. A pleasing period piece."
References
External links
*
*
Review of filmat Variety
1954 films
British black-and-white films
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films directed by Harold French
British crime films
1954 crime films
Films set in London
Films shot in London
Films set in France
Films shot in France
Seafaring films
1950s English-language films
1950s British films
{{1950s-UK-film-stub