This is a very enjoyable B-film noir which explores some of the darker aspects of life in postwar Britain. John Paddy Carstairs' direction is considerably better when it comes to the character scenes than in the limp and unconvincing fight scenes. It was produced by future Hammer stalwart Anthony Nelson Keys. The production company was Coronet Films Ltd. but I presume that it was not connected to the American company of the same name which made cult classic, incredibly judgemental social guidance short films for schools from the 1940s to the 1970s.The film stars Richard Attenborough in a great performance as Ted Peters, an at turns brave and foolhardy demobbed British Army soldier turned taxi driver who finds himself mixed up in the black market when his childhood friend and army buddy is murdered. In their first of three films together, his wife Sheila Sim is not as good as Ted's chorus girl fiancée Joy Goodall but she does the best that she can with the character, who doesn't have much personality beyond being sweet and innocent.The most interesting female character in the film is certainly the alcoholic dancer Toni, played very well by Judy Kelly. Credited under his real name Bill Rowbotham, Bill Owen is great as Ted's murdered friend Dave Robinson who was making a less than honest living on Civvy Street, as are Barry K. Barnes and Barry Jones as the black marketeers Paul Baker and E.J. Gregory. The film is also notable for featuring only the second film appearances of both Dirk Bogarde (whom Attenborough later cast "Oh! What a Lovely War" and "A Bridge Too Far") and Diana Dors, neither of whom are credited. While he has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as a policeman towards the end of the film and his face is not even very clearly seen, she has a small supporting role as the dancer Annette and quite a bit of dialogue. She certainly looked far older than 15 at the time.

whilst it has to be said that this film uses many situations that even in 1947 were clichés,nevertheless this is a well made and entertaining film.You always know what the characters are up to.So when Attenborough meets up with army buddy Bill Owen,you get the feeling immediately that Owen is up to no good.Owen is shot and then crawls into Attenboroughs cab where he bleeds to death.So unfortunately the next fare gets a rather nasty shock.Everyone seems to be playing to their type,Garry Marsh as a jovial policeman and Danny Green who enjoys taking people for a ride.The only problems are that Attenborough doesn't look too convincing in the fight scenes,and you have to wonder why the gang would try to hunt him down since it only makes him a lot more suspicious.

This film sounded interesting from the subject matter, especially the dance-hall setting: and there is some good acting from the 'heavies', Barry K. Barnes as Paul Baker, the suave, good-looking and dangerous master of ceremonies, and Barry Jones as 'Mr Gregory', the mind behind the scenes. Unfortunately I didn't find the young hero and heroine particularly involving -- they are basically blank spots in the script marked "Generic Virtuous Character" -- and as the plot begins to be twisted in their favour with more and more incredulity-straining coincidences I found my tolerance decreasing. Diana Dors catches the eye in an unbilled (and for all that surprisingly prominent) part as one of the 'professional partners' at the dance hall, and various character actors do their reliable stuff. There are moments of genuine tension: but, alas, for me at least they always involved conflict between the villains rather than the endangerment of Our Heroes which was supposed to provide excitement. I'm afraid I got much more worried by Toni Masters' possible fate at the hands of a psychotic lorry-driver -- since she is a Bad Girl and therefore has some actual character conflict -- than by a punch-up involving Ted Peters, who is bound to win by some total fluke anyhow.The film looked promising at the start, but I failed to get involved and ended up feeling manipulated instead.

Brisk, efficient British post-War crime melodrama set in London - part of the 'Spiv' movie cycle(films with roots in 30s American Gangster movies, featuring characters profiting from wartime rationing in a similar fashion to 30s bootleggers, but not so clearly glamorised as their Stateside equivalents - see also the superior NOOSE). Richard Attenborough stars as former soldier, Ted Peters, now making a living as a London cab-driver who becomes involved with a criminal gang headed by dance hall owner and criminal mastermind Mr Gregory (the seriously undervalued Barry Jones), whose henchman and M.C. Paul Baker (Barry K. Barnes) has offed Ted's childhood friend and former army buddy Dave Robinson (Bill Rowbotham, better known to U.K. audiences as Bill Owen, star of long-running U.K. T.V comedy series LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE). At Ted's behest, his girlfriend Joy (Sheila Sim) gets a job as a dancehall hostess in Gregory's dance hall as part of Ted's attempts to expose the criminal gang and the true nature of the crime lord's enterprise is gradually exposed. Punchily directed by John Paddy Carstairs, and redolent with post-War atmosphere, this is another example of the type of popular genre fare which entertained U.K. audiences in the 40s at the same time as the now revered 'noir' movies similarly engaged their U.S. contemporaries. Deserving wider acclaim, the movies from this post-War U.K. genre are valid, and diverting, social documents which often gave early exposure to burgeoning talents (in this instance, an uncredited brunette Diana Dors and a 'blink and you'll miss him' Dirk Bogarde) and should, by rights, be as revered in their country of origin as the more celebrated and documented U.S. post-War crime movies. Worth checking out, if you get the chance.