David Yallop's "Let him have it" was riddled with inaccuracies and half - truths,consequently I approached "Chicago Joe" with some trepidation only to find that here he has got most of the facts right only for the entire movie to fall victim to the 1990's fad for faux 1940's retro,failing to grasp the most elementary fact that people during the second world war neither looked,spoke nor behaved anything like they would half a century in the future.Mr K.Sutherland is,brutally,nothing like a G.I deserter,rather he is a time - traveller visiting the past and trying to fit in to avoid discovery.Miss E.Lloyd, given the crutch of an accent to assume,does rather better as his moll/muse. In truth there was a good - sized community of American deserters centred around London and they would quickly have given "Chicago Joe" up to the Old Bill in order to divert interest away from themselves. Many of them were engaged in the second oldest profession with the sideline of rolling drunks and the less- hazardous "badger game" and the presence of an obvious psycho in their midst would have been bad for business. As "Joe"'s sad,pathetic sidekick,Miss Lloyd fulfills the promise shown in "Wish you were here",hiding vulnerability under a thin veneer of cynicism.Although perhaps not quite star - crossed lovers,they were certainly an ill - met couple,each egging the other on to further depravities until they take the final,irrevocable,step. As film makers grind their way through "Notable British Trials" they might care to study one or two of the well - known cases where subsequent investigation has given cause for concern rather than ones where the defendants richly deserved their fate.Take Dr Crippen for instance,there is absolutely no evidence that the remains found in his fireplace were those of his wife.....now that,surely,would be the starting point of an interesting movie...

I've been watching quite a few ho-hum films lately and this one doesn't quite reach even that status.We are first assured that this movie is 100% factual, and I guess it came close. I see how the story of a criminal couple on a short crime spree sold tabloid newspapers, but it just didn't make an interesting movie. It aspires to a forties look, but is too ninetiesh for me. The acting is okay, but no outstanding performances. Directing...well, not very good. Scrept's sorta blah. There's maybe one good though lurid scene in this and that isn't enough to make sitting through the movie to see.

I agree with Jack Sommersby's comment that the film was boring, although he probably knows more about directing than I. However, the film somewhat chronicles what happened in this case and I think that Keifer did an OK job of portraying Hulten. In my opinion, the film would have been much better if it had shown Hulten's and Jone's trial at the Old Bailey, his subsequent hanging at the Pentonville prison, and her being sent to Holloway prison for life.Richard Clark has an excellent Web site that is just loaded with facts about the prison system and capital punishment in the U.K. going back to the early 18th century.This film is nowhere near the calibre of "10 Rillington Place" and "Let Him Have It."

Perhaps I shouldn't be commenting on this film, as I couldn't sit through the entire showing. I rented this movie, because I am always drawn to movies of the 40's/50's era. Well, that was a mistake. Should have learned my lesson with Mulholland Falls, but this one took "bad" movie to a whole new level.There's not much to say about this movie, except "avoid at all costs".