''The Criminal'' is a 1960 British

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

crime film produced by

Nat Cohen Nat Cohen (23 December 1905 – 10 February 1988)William D. Rubinstein, et al (eds.''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p.171 was a British film producer and executive. For over four decades he was one of t ...

and directed by Joseph Losey, starring

Stanley Baker Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...

Sam Wanamaker Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited a ...

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life Krikor Kaloust Aslanian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գալուստի Ասլանյան) was born in Switzerland or in Co ...

, and Margit Saad.

Alun Owen Alun Davies Owen (24 November 1925 – 6 December 1994) was a Welsh playwright, screenwriter and actor, predominantly in television. However, he is best remembered by a wider audience for writing the screenplay of The Beatles' debut feature fi ...

wrote the screenplay, from a story by an uncredited

Jimmy Sangster James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a British screenwriter and director, most famous for his work on the initial horror films made by the British company Hammer Films, including '' The Curse of Frankenstein'' (19 ...

. The film depicts a harsh and violent portrayal of prison life that led to the film being banned in several countries, including Finland. It was released in the United States as ''The Concrete Jungle''.

Plot

Bannion (Baker) is a career criminal with an entourage of minor criminals and fast girls. He plans a robbery at a

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

and gets £40,000 - but in reality this is another crook's money. Word is spread of his responsibility and he is sent to

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

, where he is a well known figure. In prison the Italian boss Frank Saffron takes him under his wing and secures a move to a different block through claiming to be a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. He tells him the outside world wants their £40,000 back, but is prepared to give favours if he gets a cut. They make their plans whispering to each other during Sunday mass. When one of the weaker inmates is planted with a blade and falls to his death in a scuffle with the guards, this triggers a

prison riot A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners. Prison riots have not been the subject of many academic studies or research inqui ...

. The other prison boss O'Hara is less sympathetic to Bannion. During the riot Bannion opens the door to let the guards back in and wins favour of the prison governor. He is transferred to a low security prison for his assistance but is booed by fellow inmates as he leaves. During the transfer, it is revealed that Bannion paid £40,000 for the riot and a "fast car". The car appears and drives the prison van off the road, rescuing Bannion. However, he has been double crossed. He is taken to a

narrow boat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commer ...

where the criminals he robbed are waiting, also with his girlfriend as security. They flee, but Bannion is hit by a bullet as they escape. They reach a snowy field where Johnny shoots one of his three pursuers before being shot himself. He dies before being able to say where the money is.

Cast

{{cast listing, *

as Johnny Bannion *

as Mike Carter *

as Frank Saffron * Margit Saad as Suzanne * Jill Bennett as Maggie *

Rupert Davies Rupert Davies FRSA (22 May 191622 November 1976) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of '' Maigret'', based on Georges Simenon's novels. Life and career Military s ...

as Edwards *

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

as Mr Town *

John Van Eyssen John Van Eyssen (born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen, 19 March 1922 – 13 November 1995) was a South African born actor, agent and film production executive. He moved to Britain following the Second World War, attending the Central School ...

as Formby *

Noel Willman Noel Willman (4 August 1918 – 24 December 1988) was an Irish actor and theatre director. Born in Derry, Ireland, Willman died aged 70 in New York City, United States. Willman's films included '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), '' Across ...

as Prison Governor *

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in '' The Tomb of Lig ...

as Priest *

Redmond Phillips Redmond Bernard Phillips (5 June 1912 – 3 November 1993) was a New Zealand actor and writer, particularly of theatre and television, who worked in his native country, as well also worked in England and Australia. Biography Phillips was born i ...

as Prison Doctor * Kenneth J. Warren as Clobber * Patrick Magee as Barrows * Robert Adams as Judas *

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931) is an English retired actor and scriptwriter. He is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street'' and Ray Hilton in '' Brookside ...

as Kelly *

Patrick Wymark Patrick Wymark (11 July 192620 October 1970) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Wymark was born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited th ...

as Sol * Jack Rodney as Scout * John Molloy as Snipe * Brian Phelan as Pauly Larkin *

Paul Stassino Phaedros Stassinos (1930 – 28 June 2012) was a Greek Cypriot actor whose international stage name was Paul Stassino. Early life Stassino was born in Platres and grew up in nearby Limassol, but spent most of his acting career in England. He ...

as Alfredo Fanucci *

Jerold Wells Jerold Wells (8 August 1908 – 19 July 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Wallington, Hampshire, and died in Bath, Somerset. He appeared primarily in British comedies. Films included ''Adventures of a Plumber's Mate'' and the TV-made ...

as Warder Brown * Tom Bell as Flynn * Neil McCarthy as O'Hara * Keith Smith as Hanson *

Nigel Green Nigel McGown Green (15 October 192415 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height () and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s ...

as Ted * Tom Gerard as Quantock *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...

as Charles *

Murray Melvin Murray Melvin (born 10 August 1932) is an English actor. He is best known for his acting work with Joan Littlewood, Ken Russell and Stanley Kubrick. He is the author of two books: ''The Art of Theatre Workshop'' (2006) and ''The Theatre Roya ...

as Antlers *

Edward Judd Edward Judd (4 October 1932 – 24 February 2009) was a British actor. Biography Born in Shanghai, he and his English father and Russian mother fled when the Japanese attacked China five years later. His career was at its peak in the 1960s ...

as Young warder *

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

as Mr. Able * Bob Grant as prisoner (uncredited) *

Danny Sewell Danny Sewell (18 November 1930 – 18 May 2001) was a British professional heavyweight boxer and actor who created the role of Bill Sikes in the 1960 stage musical ''Oliver!''. He remained in the role for the original Broadway production, whi ...

(uncredited) *

Kenny Lynch Kenneth Lynch, OBE (18 March 1938 – 18 December 2019) was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was app ...

as Prisoner

Production

Joseph Losey said he was handed a ready-made script. "It was a concoction of all the prison films Hollywood ever made", he said. "Both Stanley Baker and I refused to work until they let us write our own script. Which is what we did."{{Cite news, title=FILM CRAFT: Joseph Losey talks to Peter Lennon, work=The Guardian, location=London, date=July 9, 1962, page=5 He says the producers wanted a sequence where the criminals rob a race track but he felt that had been done in '' The Killing'' (1956) so he filmed it taking place off screen. The theme is sung by Cleo Laine.

Reception

According to Losey the film was a commercial success. He said the film was banned in Ireland because so many of the prisoners were Irish Catholics. The film was reportedly very successful in Paris.{{Cite news, title=EXPATRIATE RETRACES HIS STEPS: Joseph Losey Changes Direction With His British 'Servant', author=EUGENE ARCHER, date=Mar 15, 1964, work=New York Times, page=X9

References

{{Reflist

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0053740, title=The Criminal * {{Rotten Tomatoes, the_criminal_1960
''The Criminal''
at BFI Screenonline {{Joseph Losey {{Jimmy Sangster {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Criminal, The 1960 films 1960 crime drama films British black-and-white films British prison drama films British heist films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Joseph Losey Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster Films scored by John Dankworth 1960s prison films 1960s British films