''Tiger Bay'' is a 1959 British

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

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 ...

based on the short story "Rodolphe et le Revolver" by Noël Calef. It was directed by

J. Lee Thompson John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood, best known for award-winning films such as ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'', ''Ice Cold in Alex'' and '' The Guns of Navarone'' along w ...

, produced by John Hawkesworth, and co-written by John Hawkesworth and Shelley Smith (pseudonym of Nancy Hermione Bodington). It stars

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as a police superintendent investigating a murder; his real-life daughter

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder; and

Horst Buchholz Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...

as a young

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who commits the murder in a moment of passion. The film was shot mostly on location in the

Tiger Bay Tiger Bay ( cy, Bae Teigr) was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is re ...

district of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, at

Newport Transporter Bridge The Newport Transporter Bridge ( cy, Pont Gludo Casnewydd) is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South East Wales. The bridge is the lowest crossing on the River Usk. It is a Grade I listed structure. It is one of f ...

in Newport (12 miles/19 km from Cardiff) and at

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...

in Bristol. It features many authentic scenes of the

children's street culture Children's street culture refers to the cumulative culture created by young children. Collectively, this body of knowledge is passed down from one generation of urban children to the next, and can also be passed between different groups of chi ...

and the

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

street culture of the time, along with many dockside shots and scenes in real pubs and the surrounding countryside. It marks a vital transitional moment in the move towards the

British New Wave The British New Wave is a style of films released in Great Britain between 1959 and 1963. The label is a translation of '' Nouvelle Vague'', the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others. Styli ...

cinema exemplified a few years later by ''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

''. Unusually the overall ambience is one of sympathy towards the killer, seeing him as a basically good person, and victim of circumstance.

Plot

A young Polish sailor Bronislav ("Bronek") Korchinsky (

) arrives in

, planning to propose to his girlfriend Anya (

Yvonne Mitchell Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC ...

). However, he discovers Anya gone and someone else living in the flat. The landlord reveals that Anya left several weeks ago and owes back rent, even though Bronek was sending monthly payments to her. Bronek pays Anya's debts so that the landlord will give him her new address. Meanwhile Gillie Evans (Hayley Mills), an orphaned

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

who lives with her Aunt, is playing with boys at the dockside. Bronek approaches the group, seeking help in locating the address he has been given. Gillie, who lives in the same building, walks with him. Bronek finds Anya in her new flat, but she tells him to leave. Frustrated by Bronek's long trips at sea, Anya has been seeing a married sportscaster named Barclay ( Anthony Dawson). Bronek, furious with jealousy, screams at her, and she pulls a gun from her dresser, but he takes the gun and shoots Anya dead. Gillie who had been playing in the hall with

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, hears the shouting and witnesses the murder as she peeks through the apartment door's letter box. Gillie's play with caps has also masked the sounds of the gun shots for the rest of the building. Gillie sees where Bronek hides the gun, and she takes it to use as a toy. Barclay arrives to visit Anya, but, finding her dead, quickly flees. A neighbour discovers the body and summons the police. The investigating police superintendent, Graham (John Mills), learns that Gillie was in the hall during the shooting and deduces that she witnessed the murder. However, Gillie, a habitual liar, gives an incorrect description of Bronek and does not tell Graham that she has the gun. Later, Bronek, who saw Gillie take the gun, chases her into the attic. He takes the gun from her, and they become friends. He agrees to take her to sea with him when he flees the country. Bronek plans to depart the next day on a Venezuelan merchant ship, the ''Poloma''; for the night, Gillie leads him to a hiding place in the countryside, where he entertains her by re-enacting his overseas adventures. Meanwhile, the police discover a photograph of Bronek and Anya together, sparking interest in Bronek's identity. Under police questioning Barclay admits to having visited Anya's apartment the day she was shot, making him a prime suspect. With the ''Poloma'' set to sail, Bronek persuades Gillie to let him go alone. Bronek leaves her with his metal cigarette case. Some picnickers find Gillie at the country hideout and take her to the police, where she continues to lie, identifying Barclay as the murderer. With Barclay as the suspect, she admits that she saw the crime and re-enacts it for Graham at the apartment, but accidentally reveals that she knows the killer is Polish. She still denies knowing Bronek, but by now the police know he is the murderer. Both the police and Bronek are aware of the

three-mile limit The three-mile limit refers to a traditional and now largely obsolete conception of the international law of the seas which defined a country's territorial waters, for the purposes of trade regulation and exclusivity, as extending as far as the r ...

for British legal jurisdiction. Graham drives Gillie to the

pilot station Pilot Station ( esu, Tuutalgaq) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 568 at the 2010 census, up from 550 in 2000. Geography Pilot Station is located at (61.936050, -162.883403), on the northern bank of t ...

Barry Docks Barry Docks ( cy, Dociau'r Barri) is a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. They were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alterna ...

and takes her on a

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

to the ''Poloma'' as the ship approaches the boundary of territorial waters. At this point, Gillie is obviously trying to obstruct Graham's progress. When the inspector confronts Gillie and Bronek now together aboard the ''Poloma'', they deny knowing each other. Nevertheless, Graham attempts to arrest Bronek, but the ship's captain prevents him, saying that his navigation officer has plotted ''Polomas position as just outside the three-mile limit, and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the British police. Gillie runs around on the ship trying to evade both crew and police, and falls overboard while trying to stow away on the ship in the hope of remaining with Bronek. Being the only person to see her fall, Bronek dives into the water to save her and loses his ship. The pair are rescued by the police boat sent from Barry Island. Bronek admits his guilt after Gillie hugs him, and Graham commends him for his bravery in saving her. The ''Poloma'' sails off and his chance of freedom has gone.

Cast

as Police Superintendent Graham *

as Bronislav Korchinsky, a professional Polish seaman *

as Gillie Evans, a wayward young girl *

as Anya Haluba, Korchinsky's long-time girlfriend *

Megs Jenkins Muguette Mary "Megs" Jenkins (21 April 1917 – 5 October 1998) was an English character actress who appeared in British films and television programmes. Life and career Jenkins was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, the daughter of a construction ...

as Mrs Phillips, Gillie's aunt. * Anthony Dawson as Barclay, Anya's new boyfriend *

George Selway George Selway (21 February 1924 – May 1994) was an English actor who had a lengthy career in film and television. He was married to and later separated from English actress Patricia Greene, of ''The Archers'' radio serial fame. Coincidental ...

as Detective Sergeant Harvey *

George Pastell George Pastell (13 March 1923 – 4 April 1976) was a Cypriot character actor in British films and television programmes. Sources vary as to whether his real name was Nino (IMDb) or George Pastellides (BFI). His marriage record gives his name a ...

as ''Poloma'' Captain *

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 h ...

as ''Poloma'' First Officer *

Marne Maitland James Marne Kumar Maitland (18 December 1914 – March 1992) was an Anglo-Indian character actor in films and television programmes. Biography Maitland was born in Calcutta, and educated at Bedales School before going up to Magdalene College, ...

as Dr. Das * Meredith Edwards as PC Williams *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Mrs Williams * Rachel Thomas as Mrs Parry * Brian Hammond as Dai Parry *

Kenneth Griffith Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been ca ...

as Choirmaster *

Eynon Evans Evan Eynon Evans (18 May 1904 – 1989) billed as Eynon Evans and also known as E. Eynon Rees, was a Welsh writer and film actor of the 1950s, mainly known for his radio and television work. During the 1940s he appeared on the BBC radio vari ...

as Mr. Morgan * Christopher Rhodes as Inspector Bridges *

Edward Cast Edward Raymond Cast (1925–1994) was a British stage, film and television actor. Selected filmography * '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) - Crew Member (uncredited) * ''Private's Progress'' (1956) - Intelligence Officer (uncredited) * '' The One That ...

as Detective Constable Thomas * Shari as Christine, the new resident of Anna's flat.

Production

The film was based on a short story ''Rodolphe et le Revolver'' by French writer Noël Calef. In the story the witness to the murder was a young boy. Director J. Lee Thompson originally intended to film it that way and in August 1958 sent a copy of the script to John Mills, with whom he had worked on ''

Ice Cold in Alex ''Ice Cold in Alex'' is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner a ...

'' and wanted to play the part of the detective. Mills felt the right actor in the part of the 12-year-old boy would "walk away with the picture" but he liked the script and wanted to work with Thompson again. Thompson went to Mills' house in Sussex to discuss the project and wound up talking to Mills' daughter Hayley. After lunch he told Mills that he wanted to change the role of the boy to a girl and cast Hayley in the part as "the whole story will be much more moving and touching in every way." Although Hayley had not expressed that much interest in acting, John Mills and his wife agreed. Thompson decided to cast her even without testing. The role of male lead went to Horst Buchholz. Several movies financed by Rank had German stars around this time in an attempt to appeal to the German market. Filming started 15 September 1958. The film was shot on location in Cardiff, Wales and in

Beaconsfield Studios Beaconsfield Film Studios is a British television and film studio in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The studios were operational as a production site for films in 1922, and continued producing films - and, later, TV shows - until the 1960s. Bri ...

. Regarding daughter Hayley's acting abilities, John Mills said when they started filming "I simply couldn't believe what was happening. She looked as if she'd been born in front of a camera." The film has repeated sections showing the

in action, one of the few travelling bridges in the world. Although the captain and first officer of the ''Poloma'' are shown speaking Spanish the actors were both Cypriots.

Reception

Critical

''Variety'' said the film "stacks up as a lively piece of drama... no blockbuster but it is plausible and holding."

Box Office

The film was popular at the box office. John Mills said after the film there were no offers for Hayley's services from British film producers, but Walt Disney offered her the lead in ''

Pollyanna ''Pollyanna'' is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter's soon writing a sequel, ''Pollyanna Grows Up'' (1915). Eleven more ''Pollyanna'' sequels, know ...

'' (released in 1960). This launched Hayley Mills' career as a movie star. Bucholz and Thompson were to reunite in a film called ''The Rebel'' but it appears to have not been made.

Awards & nominations

* 1960 Won BAFTA Film Award – Most Promising Newcomer to Film, Hayley Mills * 1960 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best British Film, J. Lee Thompson * 1960 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best British Screenplay, John Hawkesworth and Shelley Smith * 1960 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Film from any Source, J. Lee Thompson * 1959 Won

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

9th Berlin International Film Festival The 9th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June – 7 July 1959. The festival welcomed the cinematic movement known as the New Wave and screened the work of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda and Françoi ...

Special Prize, Hayley Mills * 1959 Nominated Golden Berlin Bear, J. Lee Thompson

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * * * *
Tiger Bay
at Letterbx DVD {{Media in Cardiff 1959 films 1959 crime drama films British black-and-white films British crime drama films Film noir Films based on short fiction Films directed by J. Lee Thompson Films scored by Laurie Johnson Films set in Cardiff Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in Wales Social realism in film 1950s English-language films 1950s British films