''I'll Get You for This'' (released in the US as ''Lucky Nick Cain'') is a 1951 British thriller film by Joseph M. Newman starring

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

Coleen Gray Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ...

, and

Enzo Staiola Enzo Staiola (born 15 November 1939) is an Italian actor best known for playing, at the age of nine, the role of Bruno Ricci in Vittorio De Sica's neorealist 1948 film ''Bicycle Thieves''. He appeared in several other films including, in 1954, ...

. It was made from an adaptation by George Callahan and William Rose of

James Hadley Chase James Hadley Chase (24 December 1906 – 6 February 1985) was an English writer. While his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond ...

's 1946 book of the same name.Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013 p 146-147 The setting was shifted from

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in the novel to an Italian gambling resort. It was one of the first productions by

Romulus Films Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Fil ...

. Production was completed in 1950 but the film was not released until the following year. The sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Ralph W. Brinton. Established actresses

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'', ''D ...

and

Margot Grahame Margot Grahame (born Margaret Clark; 20 February 1911 – 1 January 1982) was an English actress most noted for starring in '' The Informer'' (1935) and ''The Three Musketeers'' (1935). She started acting in 1930 and made her last screen app ...

and future Irish star

Constance Smith Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s. Early life Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.'' The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, O ...

all make brief appearances.

Plot

American gambler Nick Cain (Raft) arrives at the town of San Paola, and befriends shoe-shine boy Toni (Staiola). He discovers he has been framed for the murder of an American Treasury agent. He escapes with Kay Wonderly (Gray) to an abandoned village, leaving her to hide out. Cain gets help from Massine (Goldner), whom he does not trust. He uncovers an international counterfeiting ring, members of which are responsible for the murder.

Cast

as Nick Cain *

as Kay Wonderly *

as Toni *

Charles Goldner Charles Goldner was an Austrian-born actor who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 December 1900, he made his screen debut in the 1940 film '' Room for Two'' and went on to appear in '' ...

as Massine *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appe ...

as Müller * Martin Benson as Frankie Sperazza *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * ''Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * ''The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono Filmography * ''The Silv ...

as Armando Ceralde * Hugh French as Miles Travers *

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', '' Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son ...

as Hans *

Elwyn Brook-Jones Elwyn Brook-Jones (11 December 1911 – 4 September 1962) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Life Brook-Jones was born in Kuching, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. After a private education, he attended Jesus College, Oxford. Hi ...

as the Fence *

as Nina *

as Claudette Ambling *

as Mrs Langley * Donald Stewart as Kennedy

Production

Raft's signing was announced in November 1949.

William Bowers William Bowers (January 17, 1916 – March 27, 1987) was an American reporter, playwright, and screenwriter. He worked as a reporter in Long Beach, California and for ''Life'' magazine, and specialized in writing comedy-westerns. He also turn ...

was adapting James Hadley Chase's novel and filming was to take place in San Remo (Italy) and London. John and James Woolf of Romulus Films were to be co-producers. (Raft would go on to make several films in Europe.) When Raft left for London in December it was announced that he would also make a second film for Kaufman, ''Montmare'', about a Paris night club owner. Joseph Newman sailed for London on January 12, 1950. Nadia Gray, Pat Roc and Joanne Dru were those offered the female lead before Coleen Gray took the role. Grey left for England i March 1950. The film was made at

Teddington Studios Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provide ...

in London and on location around San Remo on the Mediterranean coast in

northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

was initially intended to appear as Massine, but the role eventually went to

. Filming started in San Remo on April 24, 1950. Grey later said the trip to make the film "was the highlight of my life." Editing was finished by September. In January 1951 Kaufman signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for the latter to distribute.

References

Sources

* Youngkin, Stephen. ''The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre''. University Press of Kentucky, 2005.

External links

*
Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Review of film
at Variety {{Joseph M. Newman 1951 films 1950s English-language films British black-and-white films 1951 crime drama films Films set in Italy Films based on works by James Hadley Chase Films based on British novels Films directed by Joseph M. Newman Films shot in Italy Films shot at Teddington Studios British crime drama films 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Walter Goehr 1950s British films