''The Heart Within'' is a 1957 British

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

David Eady Sir David Eady, KC (born 24 March 1943) is a retired High Court judge in England and Wales. As a judge, he is known for having presided over many high-profile libel and privacy cases. He was called to the bar in 1966 and became a Queen's ...

and starring James Hayter, Clifford Evans and

David Hemmings David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1966 mystery film ' ...

. A Jamaican dockside worker goes on the run in London suspected of the murder of another Jamaican.

Cast

* James Hayter as Grandfather Willard * Clifford Evans as Matthew Johnson *

as Danny Willard *

Earl Cameron Earlston Jewitt Cameron, CBE (8 August 19173 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the Britis ...

as Victor Conway * Dan Jackson as Joe Martell * Jack Stewart as Inspector Matheson * Betty Cooper as Miss Trevor * Gloria Ann Simpson as Violet *

Frank Singuineau Francis Ethelbert Dominic Singuineau (4 August 191311 September 1992) was a Trinidadian actor of stage and screen who worked in the United Kingdom, where he moved from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s.Stephen Bourne"Obituary: Frank Singuineau" '' ...

as Bobo *

Pauline Henriques Pauline Clothilde Henriques OBE JP (1 April 1914 – 1 November 1998), known to all as Paul, was a Jamaican-born English actress. In 1946, she became the first black female actress for British television. She was also the first black female J ...

as Ella * Janice Hughes as Dilli * Denton De Gray as Gow * Wally Thomas as sergeant * Glynn Edwards as 1st constable *

Ivor Salter Ivor Charlie Salter (22 August 1925 – 21 June 1991) was an English actor who appeared in character roles in numerous United Kingdom television productions and films from the early 1950s until the 1980s often appearing as a police constable. H ...

as 2nd constable * Frank Pettitt as 3rd constable * "The Kings of the Caribbean" steel band as musicians

Critical reception

'' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote "With some good camerawork, a London docks setting, and cautious but not unenterprising use of its West Indian characters, this film has a more convincing air than most thrillers of its type. Unfortunately, the effect is somewhat handicapped by an over-melodramatic and stereotyped climax and by some indifferent playing. Earl Cameron and David Hemmings play agreeably, though, as the West Indian and the cockney boy who befriends him. Background music is effectively provided by a West Indian steel band." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Variably acted, quite pleasing racial-problem thriller." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' wrote "Well-acted presentation of a man accused of murder because of the color of his skin...Intriguing effort given power mainly through the handling of the theme of prejudice."

References

External links

* *
''The Heart Within''
then-and-now location photographs a
ReelStreets
1957 films 1957 drama films Films directed by David Eady British drama films Films set in London 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Edwin Astley {{1950s-UK-film-stub