''There Ain't No Justice'' is a 1939 British

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Pen Tennyson Frederick Penrose "Pen" Tennyson (26 August 1912 – 7 July 1941) was a British film director whose promising career was cut short when he died in a plane crash. Tennyson gained experience as an assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock in several ...

and starring

Jimmy Hanley Jimmy Hanley (22 October 1918 – 13 January 1970) was an English actor who appeared in the popular Huggetts film series, and in ITV's most popular advertising magazine programme, ''Jim's Inn'', from 1957 to 1963. Early life Born in Norwich, No ...

, Edward Chapman and

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...

. The film is based on the 1937 novel of the same name by James Curtis.

Plot summary

Tommy Mutch (Jimmy Hanley) is a garage mechanic and small-time boxer. With his family in financial difficulty he needs to find money in a hurry. As luck would have it he meets boxing manager Sammy Sanders (Edward Chapman). Sammy assures Tommy he can get him lucrative main event bouts. Tommy is promoted as the next boxing star which is reinforced with a series of convincing wins. However, Tommy discovers that the bouts were fixed by a gambling syndicate. He realises now that he has been set up by his manager and is expected to take a fall. He has little choice but to go-ahead but needs to come up with a plan. One that will guarantee a financial return for his family while also hitting the syndicates in the pocket.

Cast

as Tommy Mutch *

as Pa Mutch *

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

as Ma Mutch *

Phyllis Stanley Phyllis Stanley (30 October 1914 – 12 March 1992) was a British actress. Personal life During World War II, she shared a flat in West End of London with the Scottish heiress Jane Corby. Partial filmography * ''Leave It to Blanche'' (1934) ...

as Elsie Mutch * Edward Chapman as Sammy Sanders * Jill Furse as Connie Fletcher * Nan Hopkins as Dot Ducrow *

Richard Ainley Richard Ainley (22 December 1910 – 18 May 1967) was a stage and film actor. He was born in Middlesex, England, the son of Henry Ainley and a half-brother of Anthony Ainley. Ainley made his stage debut in 1928, initially using the stage name ...

as Billy Frist *

Gus McNaughton Gus McNaughton (29 July 1881 – 18 November 1969), also known as Augustus Le Clerq and Augustus Howard, was an English film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1930 and 1947. He was born in London and died in Castor, Cambridgeshire. He ...

as Alfie Norton * Sue Gawthorne as Mrs. Frost * Michael Hogarth as Frank Fox *

Michael Wilding Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...

as Len Charteris * Richard Norris as Stan * Al Millen as Perce *

John Boxer John "Johnny" Boxer is an Australian television and film actor and commercial voice-over best known for his role as Bobo Gigliotti in '' Pizza''. Early life He grew up in Belmore, New South Wales and attended Belmore Boys High School, where he e ...

as Mr Short * James Knight as Police Constable

Production

James Curtis adapted his own novel, ''There Ain't No Justice'' to provide the screenplay for the film. He had done so the year before for one of his own novels, ''They Drive By Night'', for the film of the same name. As with that adaptation he found himself having to remove areas of dialogue and story that would not get by the censors of the time. Many of these would be depictions of graphic violence against men rather than the sexual nature of his previous novel. This was the first film directed by Pen Tennyson, who had served as Assistant Director to

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

from 1934. He would go on to direct two further films before being killed during World War II. The film features an uncredited role by real life boxer Bombardier Billy Wells, best remembered as one of the gongmen featured in the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

films logo.

Release and reception

It was released theatrically in the UK with the slogan "Real people, Real problems, a human document". Due in part to its distinctive realistic portrayal of the boxing world it became a critical success. However, the author

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, having praised the previous year's James Curtis adaptation ('' They Drive by Night''), was not convinced. He considered the film to be timid and too refined in its depiction of the subject matter. It is available on DVD in the UK on Volume Eight of Network's Ealing Studios Rarities Collection. It is often shown at film revivals in both the US and UK and was shown in May 2010 as part of

BFI Southbank BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. His ...

's "Capital Tales" season.There Ain't No Justice, BFI "Capital Tales"
/ref> It was also shown on the London Live television channel on Sunday 13th Sept 2015.

References

External links

*
There Ain't No Justice at BFI Film Database
{{Pen Tennyson 1939 films 1930s sports drama films British sports drama films British crime drama films Films based on British novels 1939 crime drama films British black-and-white films British boxing films Films set in London Ealing Studios films 1939 directorial debut films Films directed by Pen Tennyson Films with screenplays by Pen Tennyson 1930s English-language films 1930s British films