''Johnny, You're Wanted'' is a 1956 British crime

second feature A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

film, directed by

Vernon Sewell Vernon Campbell Sewell (4 July 1903 – 21 June 2001) was a British film director, writer, producer and, briefly, an actor. Sewell was born in London, England, and was educated at Marlborough College. He directed more than 30 films during his c ...

and starring John Slater and

Alfred Marks Alfred Edward Marks (born Alfred Edward Touchinsky; 28 January 19211 July 1996) was a British actor and comedian. In his 60-year career, he played dramatic and comedy roles in numerous television programmes, stage shows and films. His self-title ...

. It was written by Frank Driscoll and Michael Leighton based on the 1953

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series of the same name which also starred Slater. The film features

strongwoman A strongwoman is a woman who performs feats of strength in a show or circus, or a woman who competes in strength athletics. Traditionally, strongwomen have had a special appeal, as women involved in demonstrated feats of strength were exceptions ...

Joan Rhodes Joan Rhodes (13 April 1921 – 30 May 2010) was a British performer, wrestler, stuntwoman and strongwoman. Born into poverty in London, she and her siblings were deserted by their parents. Following unhappy spells in the workhouse and with an a ...

performing her stage act. It was one of several films Sewell directed for Anglo Amalgamated.

Plot

Johnny is a long-distance lorry driver returning to London from a provincial delivery, after having taken in a show by Joan Rhodes on the way. Late at night he stops to give a lift to an attractive female hitchhiker whose car has broken down and who is in a hurry to get to back to London. Later, Johnny pulls in to a transport café to make a telephone call and buy a coffee. When he returns to his truck, the woman is gone. Assuming that in her hurry she has picked up a lift with another driver, he goes on his way, and a few miles down the road is flagged down by another driver to help with a woman who has been found lying on the roadside. It turns out that the woman is Johnny's hitchhiker, and that she is dead. Johnny goes to a vaudeville show where the assistant of Balsamo, a magician/horoscope reader/fortune teller, looks like the dead girl. Joan Rhodes is also on the bill. Johnny goes on the stage with Joan to assist her with her displays of strength. After this he speaks to Balsamo and tells him what happened. The girl worked for Balsamo for six months and was an Australian who came via Toronto. They go to the police and identify the body. The police take Johnny to the scene where the dead girl was found and then to where he picked her up. It is revealed that the girl was murdered, later sad to be strangled. Johnny then heads off on another trip and agrees to collect some magic items for Balsamo from a magic shop. He is given a package and heads back. The package is given to the Balsamo. Johnny mentions that the dead girl had a laundrette card in her purse. The police get a tip off that some drugs will be landed from across the channel. They catch some people collecting the package. The girl says she has to take the package to a laundrette. A policeman realises it may be connected to the dead girl. A policewomen is substituted for the captured girl. She goes to the laundrette with the package and a man comes in speaks a foreign language to the policewomen but when she does not understand he says he must be mistaken. They follow the man. Johnny goes to the laundrette and shows a picture of the dead girl to the manager but she denies knowing her, but Johnny thinks she did know her. The policeman goes to the magic shop but finds out nothing. The magic shop is put under surveillance. Balsamo asks Johnny to collect another box of charms from the magic shop. Johnny gets the charms and the shop owner phones Balsamo's theatre when he sees the police grab Johnny. They find the package is drugs. They arrest the shop owner and realise what has been happening. The police get Johnny to deliver the package to Balsamo. The police deduce that Balsamo's customers mail him their date of birth and at his shows buy a horoscope from him. They are given a package of drugs instead of the horoscope. The police are in the audience for Balsamo's next show and Johnny delivers the package. Balsamo's assistant grabs it from him and takes the "horoscopes" to Balsamo. He sells one to a man. Balsamo receives a message which is from the magic shop owner. He realises he has been discovered and goes to the railway station and catches a train. The man is arrested with the drugs and the police track Balsamo to the train. They get the train to slow down so they can get ahead by car. The police catch up with the train and board it. The train continues on. The police try to arrest Balsamo but he opens the door on his cabin to jump out and is hit by a train heading in the other direction. It turns out that the girl was trying to get more money. The shop owner was driving her when she ran away. After she left Johnny Balsamo collected her and killed her.

Cast

* John Slater as Johnny *

as Marks *

Garry Marsh Garry Marsh (21 May 1902 – 6 March 1981) was an English stage and film actor. Biography Born Leslie March Gerahty on 21 May 1902 in St Margarets, Middlesex, his parents were George and Laura. His elder brothers were the author Digby George ...

as Balsamo *

as herself * Chris Halward as Julie * Jack Stewart as Inspector Bennett * John Stuart as surgeon *

Ann Lynn Elizabeth Ann Lynn (7 November 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a British actress, especially prominent during the British New Wave of the 1960s, appearing in many films that represented what is known as kitchen sink realism. Lynn's career spanned ...

as Chorine

Production

Sewell called it "a stupid story."

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Based on a TV series, this film is designed to provide a vehicle for John Slater as Johnny and Alfred Marks as the joke shop proprietor. For the former, the cap fits fairly well, though his playing is monotonous and one becomes tired of the phoney "working class" jokes and atmosphere. But Alfred Marks' 'act' is artificially dragged in, and holds up a story which is otherwise reasonably efficient, though slow. Jack Stewart scores with a neat portrait of a hard-working detective." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' called the film a "well-conceived thriller ... The situations and performances are a bit forced, but otherwise interest is easily maintained."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnny You're Wanted 1956 films 1956 crime films British crime films British black-and-white films Films directed by Vernon Sewell 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Robert Sharples English-language crime films