The Small World of Sammy Lee
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''The Small World of Sammy Lee'' is a 1963 British crime film written and directed by
Ken Hughes Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
and starring
Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...
,
Julia Foster Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress. Life and career Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. Her first husband was Lionel Morton, once the lead singer with the 1960s pop band The Four Pennies. She is ...
and
Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natu ...
. A striptease-show compere is hunted across the seedy London underworld of Soho by debt collectors.


Synopsis and outline

Sammy Lee has five hours to pay off a gambling debt. The film was based on a 1958 television play written and directed by
Ken Hughes Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
which also featured Anthony Newley in the lead.


Cast

*
Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...
as Sammy 'Lee' Leeman *
Julia Foster Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress. Life and career Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. Her first husband was Lionel Morton, once the lead singer with the 1960s pop band The Four Pennies. She is ...
as Patsy *
Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natu ...
as Gerry Sullivan *
Wilfrid Brambell Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom '' ...
as Harry *
Warren Mitchell Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was a British actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner. In the 1950s, Mitchell appeared on the radio programmes ''Educatin ...
as Lou Leeman *
Miriam Karlin Miriam Karlin (23 June 19253 June 2011) was an English actress whose career lasted for more than 60 years. She was known for her role as Paddy in ''The Rag Trade'', a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom, and in particular for the character's catchp ...
as Milly * Kenneth J. Warren as Fred * Clive Colin-Bowler as Johnny * Toni Palmer as Joan *
Harry Locke Harry Locke (10 December 1913 – 7 September 1987) was an English character actor. He was born and died in London. He married Joan Cowderoy in 1943 and Cordelia Sewell in 1952. He was a good friend of the poet Dylan Thomas. Their friendship in ...
as Stage Manager *
Al Mulock Alfred Mulock Rogers (June 30, 1926 – May 1968), better known as Al Mulock or Al Mulloch, was a Canadian character actor. Early life Alfred Mulock Rogers was born on June 30, 1926 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the only child of Adèle ...
as Dealer *
Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...
as Maurice 'Morrie' Bellman *
Roy Kinnear Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in '' How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeer ...
as Lucky Dave *
Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''Al ...
as Rembrandt * Harry Baird as Buddy Shine *
Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's south-east ...
as Big Eddie * June Cunningham as Rita * Elmer as Lofty *
Lynda Baron Lilian Ridgway (24 March 1939 – 5 March 2022), known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is best known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom ''Open All Hours'' (1976–1985) and its sequel ...
as Yvette *
Ken Wayne Ken Wayne (1925–1993) was an Australian actor of radio, theatre, film and television. He made his film debut in '' Sons of Matthew'' (1949) and appeared in a number of movies including ''Dust in the Sun'' (1958). He was also well known for hi ...
as Barman * Kevin Brennan as Poker Player *
Billy Milton Billy Milton (8 December 190522 November 1989) was a British stage, film and television actor. Born in Paddington, Middlesex, (now in London), as William Thomas Milton, he was the son of Harry Harman Milton (1880-1942), a commission agent, and ...
as Hardware Store Manager *
Ronald Radd Ronald Radd (22 January 1929 – 23 April 1976) was a British television actor. He is perhaps best remembered for originating the role of Hunter in the television thriller series '' Callan''. In 1971, he was nominated for a Tony Award for ''Ab ...
as Big Alf


Original TV Version

The story was originally filmed for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
TV by Hughes as ''Sammy'' in 1958. This version was a one person show and starred Newley. ''Variety'' called it "a masterful piece of work."


''Eddie''

This in turn was adapted for American TV in 1958 as ''Eddie'' on ''
Alcoa Theatre ''Alcoa Theatre'' is a half-hour American anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on Monday nights from September 30, 1957 to May 23, 1960. The program also aired under the title ''Turn of Fate''. ''Alcoa Theatre'' was syndicated together ...
''. It starred Mickey Rooney and was directed by
Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper'' (1966), '' No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), '' Airport 1975'' (1974), '' Midway'' (1976), and '' Fast Break ...
. The production was censored at the last minute - during the final scene Rooney's character is beaten up, but the sponsors worried this was too violent. So instead the screen went dark for twenty seconds. ''Variety'' called it "interesting, at times exciting." Both Rooney and Smight won Emmies for the show.


Production

The original TV play was very successful and Hughes had requests to turn it into a feature, but he was reluctant, considering that the one-person aspect of the story was crucial. Eventually he decided to adapt it, but disliked the job he did. "I did everything wrong," he said. "I opened the story out in all the obvious ways. I showed what was happening at the other end of the telephone calls for instance when Sammy's end was all that was really needed." He then did another version which he liked.LONDON SCREEN SCENE: Edward G. Robinson Returns To Work --Second 'Sammy'--Sequel Plans By STEPHEN WATTS. New York Times 23 Sep 1962: 135. In June 1962 it was announced Anthony Newley would star in the film version. Newley had just achieved a London stage success in ''Stop the World I Want to Get Off'' and would shortly repeat this success on Broadway. The film of ''Sammy'' was co produced by Kenneth Hyman of Seven Arts. It was one of Seven Arts' first distribution efforts. Newley called it "the drama of the perennial loser." Julia Foster played the female lead. She says Ken Hughes was "scary... and he frightened me slightly". Foster said later when she confronted him about this, the director said he did that deliberately to make her feel more vulnerable. She appeared nude in the film which was rare at the time.


Music

Music for the film was composed by Kenny Graham; a soundtrack album did not appear at the time of the film's release, but one was later released by
Trunk Records Trunk Records is a British independent record label, which specialises mainly in lost film scores, unreleased TV music, library music, old advertising jingles, art, sexploitation and kitsch releases. It was founded in 1995 by Jonny Trunk, and ...
in 2013.


Reception


Critical

The ''New York Times'' called it "monotonous". ''Filmink'' later said "The film contains much to admire, including superb photography and acting... and a glimpse of Soho of the time. It is repetitive (Sammy tries to get money, almost gets it, doesn’t) and how much you like it will very much depend on your opinion of Anthony Newley."


Box Office

The film was a box office disaster and caused Bryanston to lose £80,000. Hughes said "nobody came near me" after the film came out.


Reputation today

Andrew Pulver wrote in November 2016 for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', at the time of the film's re-release: "It’s a genuine curiosity: the last knockings of black-and-white, beat-influenced hipster cinema before a tide of gaudily-coloured, new wave-inspired, pop art films. Ken Hughes, its director, reached back to the pre-war working-class bohemianism so perfectly captured by
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 ...
and
Gerald Kersh Gerald Kersh (26 August 1912– 5 November 1968) was a British and later also American writer of novels and short stories. Biography Born in 1912, Kersh began to write at the age of eight. After leaving school, he worked as, amongst other thing ...
".


References


External links

*
1958 TV play
at
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

The Small World of Sammy Lee
at Letterbox DVD
The Small World of Sammy Lee
at Reel Streets {{DEFAULTSORT:Small World of Sammy Lee, The 1963 films 1963 crime films British black-and-white films Films directed by Ken Hughes British crime films Films set in London 1960s English-language films 1960s British films