crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
Phyllis Kirk
Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress.
Early life
Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contracted polio as ...
and Leonard White. The screenplay concerns a river police inspector who faces a moral dilemma when a woman he knows gets caught up in jewel smuggling. It was shot at
Walton Studios
Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.on location around
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The film's 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 ...
John Stoll
John Stoll (13 December 1913 – 25 June 1990) was a British art director. He won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Lawrence of Arabia''. During the 1950s, he worked largely on low-budget British feature f ...
. It was produced as a
second feature
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
and distributed in the United States by
Lippert Pictures Lippert Pictures was an American film production and distribution company controlled by Robert L. Lippert.
History
Robert L. Lippert (1909-1976) was a successful exhibitor, owning a chain of movie theaters in California and Oregon. He was frustrat ...
.
Plot
Judy (Phyllis Kirk) is a radio operator on an American ship duped into smuggling diamonds in the belief that she was delivering cigarettes. Stopped by Customs she is in further trouble when the man who involved her is found dead in the river. Customs Detective Dan Barker (John Bentley), who has fallen for Judy has to find out whether she is guilty or innocent and protect her from the smuggling gang, especially if they think she is “going to talk”.
Cast
* John Bentley as Detective Inspector Dan Barker
*
Phyllis Kirk
Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress.
Early life
Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contracted polio as ...
Glyn Houston
Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston.
Early life
Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorgan ...
as Charlie Williamson
*
Patrick Jordan
Albert Patrick Jordan (10 October 1923 – 10 January 2020) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Biography
He was born and raised in Harrow, Middlesex, the son of Margaret, a cook, and Albert Jordan, a regimental sergeant major. An ...
as Bert Fisher
*
Ewan Roberts
Ewan Roberts (29 April 1914–10 January 1983) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor. On stage from 1935, his theatre work included a season with the Old Vic, in 1946-1947. In 1949 he appeared at the Adelphi Theatre in '' Castle in ...
as Customs Inspector J.S. Blake
*
David Hurst
David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film ''Hello Dolly! (film), Hello, Dolly'' as Rudolph the headwaiter.
Biography
Early life and career
Hurst grew ...
as Paddy McClure
*
Charles Lloyd-Pack
Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor.
Life and career
Lloyd-Pack was born at Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He was seen in several horror films produced by th ...
as John Hendrick
* Isabel George as Anna
* Margaret Anderson as Nell, Charlie's girl
* Harold Ayer as Joseph Benson, alias Alfred Gordon
* Tony Hilton as Harry, the bartender
*
Jack McNaughton
Jack McNaughton (22 December 190522 February 1990) was a British stage and film actor. As a character actor he mostly played supporting roles, but occasionally featured in major roles such as playing the male lead in the 1951 comedy ''Cheer the ...
as Hickson
* Dermot Palmer as Wayne
* Colin Douglas as Harbor Patrol superintendent
*
Bill Nagy
Bill Nagy (born October 26, 1987) is a former American football center and guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the University of Wisconsin. He was also a member of the ...
as Eddie, deckhand
* Michael Browning as Detective Perry
* Michael Balfour as Adams, sailor
*
Peter Collingwood
Peter Trevor Collingwood (6 May 1920 – 23 September 2016) was an English-born actor who appeared in theatre roles, films, miniseries and serials from 1938 to 2003 in his native England and Australia. Collingwood was known for his portrayal ...
as Surgeon
* Warwick Ashton as Constable
* Eric Corrie as Constable
Reception
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said "The programmer market, currently short of passable supporting filmfare, will find this London-localed melodrama an acceptable filler... Miss Kirk provides a casting
switch to the Anglo-American film efforts Lippert usually releases. Heretofore it has been an American male in England, and mixed up with Scotland Yard and British crooks... The plotting is contrived and everything drops too patly into place as the 70 minutes unfold." The film critic Dennis Schwartz called it "a decent adventure film involving ruthless smugglers" and noted the "great location shooting in London, a taut screenplay by Rex Rientis, and a fine acting performance by the American Phyllis Kirk."
References
Bibliography
* Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. ''The British 'B' Film''. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
TCMDB
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...