Set at the end of world war two, two demobbed soldiers, Ted Peters (Richard Attenborough) and Dave Robinson (Bill Owen credited as Bill Rowbotham) remain friends and still regularly meet. But, their civilian life has gone in completely separate directions. Ted is a taxi driver and can make enough money to get by but not to be able to marry his girlfriend, a dancer called Joy Goodall (Sheila Sim) whom is currently struggling to find work. Meanwhile, Dave has fallen into the world of crime and works for a gang led by Gregory (Barry Jones) who runs the Palais de' Danse as a legitimate front. Dave tries to tempt his old army buddy into joining him saying that he can use it as a nice little earner, but Ted won't hear of it. When Dave attempts to squeeze more money out of Gregory for his part in a jewelry raid, he is shot by his right hand man Paul Baker (Barry K Barnes) as he attempts to flee the club. Mortally wounded, Dave manages to slump into the back of Ted's taxi where he is soon found dead. The police believe that Ted knows more about his old friend's underworld connections than he is letting on, which means that he becomes a marked man as Gregory and his gang decide that he must be eliminated. Ted decides to expose the gang and, to this end, Joy takes a job at the Palais de' Danse where she discovers that Gregory is planning a raid on an Oxford Street department store, Wrigley and Mastersons. Will Ted and Joy finally turn the tables on Gregory or will he be too smart for them?A taut British crime noir directed by John Paddy Carstairs; a film maker whom I have always associated with comedies such as Norman Wisdom's Trouble In Store. So I was quite surprised at just how good this was and the suspense aspect is nail-biting in places. In particular, there is a tense scene where Gregory's henchman Smithy (Cyril Chamberlain) and his thugs lure Ted into an old warehouse where they plan to kill him and plant phony evidence to suggest that he was Dave's accomplice and had murdered him. The tension in this scene is most effectively racked up by the overpowering sound of a dripping tap, which dominates the soundtrack here for dramatic effect. It was quite amusing to see Dickie Attenborough's mild mannered and somewhat naïve character get to do some punch ups with the villains too. He comes out on top in some of them as well and it was here where I thought it was stretching credibility just a little too far; because he himself gets beaten up pretty severely and it is hard to believe that after all that he would have been able to get up again and emerge triumphant against his opponents. There are moments of surprising ferocity in the film too such as Cyril Chamberlain's demise where he is run over by a truck. His killers get out to check that they have done a thorough job of it and all there is left of him is a puddle of mud on the ground!It is very well acted all round with Attenborough and Sim (his real life wife) very good as the good natured and honest young couple who unwittingly get involved with the underworld via an innocent meeting with the former's old army friend. And, in the best Hitchcock tradition, the plot unfolds in how they have to fight their way out of their predicament. The film's best performance, however, comes from Bill Owen who plays the ill-fated Dave. He skilfully portrays a happy go lucky sort of guy who becomes too over confident in his naivety when he thinks he can dictate terms to professional criminals and loses his life as a result. Barry Jones is quite good as the arch-criminal Gregory portraying him as a fairly ordinary respectable businessman who no one would think for a second is a big noise in Soho's underworld. Judy Kelly also deserves a mention as the Palais dancer Toni Masters. She becomes jealous when her boyfriend, Gregory's second in command, Paul Baker (Barry K Barnes), starts paying more attention to Joy and threatens to spill the beans on his criminal life. And, yes, of course, she endangers her own life in the process.The film is given a convincing film noir appearance by Reg Wyer's excellent b/w camerawork who creates an unsettling appearance of London's West End that adds considerably to our enjoyment and involvement with the plot.

Compo from "Last of the Summer Wine" obviously loved the East End and probably made friends with Chas 'n' Dave. That's why I saw them play at Holmfirth. It was where Summer Wine was filmed – the friendship link is complete. Compo is an East end gangster in this film. He's short in stature and makes an unconvincing tough guy. He would have been flattened in his fight scene at the beginning of the film. The same goes for his ex-army buddy, Richard Attenborough (Ted), Again, this short person would have been flattened in both his fight scenes. The fights are badly staged and very fake.There's a criminal gang running a dancehall and carrying out robberies and Dickie short-arse meddles in their affairs so he can get to the truth behind his pal Compo's demise. Guess what – he succeeds. Standard good guy v bad guy stuff. The most interesting moments of the film for me occur in the dancehall where Diana Dors hangs out. Singer and dancehall girl Judy Kelly (Toni) is the best of the cast. What is it with people cutting in on other men dancing with a girl by tapping them on the shoulder and stealing their girl away? No way! This would be disastrous and cause non-stop scuffling. I hear this was an American custom introduced in films. I can't believe this actually happened! Any info on this ludicrous concept would be greatly appreciated.

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.

Richard Attenborough is the lead in this excellent UK film.Attenborough plays a cab driver who gets involved in the murder of a friend. Attenborough, gives a mate from his army days, Bill Owen, a ride and drops him at a dance club. He then goes into a nearby café for a drink and a sandwich.Owen, is a member of a robbery and black-market smuggling gang. He is at the club to collect his end of a 50,000 pound jewel heist. His boss, Barry Jones, runs the club as a cover for his crime activities. Jones, along with his number two, Barry K. Barnes, meet Owen in his office. They hand him a small packet with 50 pounds. Owen is not happy at all with this. Owen growls, "That is all I get for a 50,000 pound job?" Owen starts towards Jones who quickly produces a pistol. Owen sees the gun, stops, picks up the cash as if to pocket it. Jones lowers his piece and Owen decks him with a solid punch. Barnes decides Owen is no longer an asset to the gang and shoots Owen in the chest. Owen gets a punch in on Barnes and then staggers out. Owen makes it into the street and manages to collapse in the back seat of Attenborough's still parked taxi.Barnes, who has followed him out into the crowded street, sees Owen climb into the taxi. He decides there are too many witnesses to risk a second shot. He watches as Attenborough comes out of the café and drives away.Attenborough, has a date with his dancer girlfriend, Shelia Sim. He has no idea that Owen is dead on the back seat.He meets Sim for their night out on the town. He opens the back door of the cab for Sim, and a rather dead Owen falls out. A handy copper puts the call into Scotland Yard.Yard Inspectors, John Warwick and Gary Marsh give Attenborough and Sim a grilling. The detectives want to make sure they had nothing to do with the murder. Owen was just a buddy from the Army. He had dropped him off and had no idea Owen had returned to the taxi. The Police show the two a signed photo they had found. It shows Owen and a woman. Attenborough and and Sim shake their heads. They have never seen her before. The Police tell them they are free to go. .The next night, Attenborough and Sim decide on a bit of detective work of their own. They hit the dance club to ask if anyone knows Owen. Not 10 feet in the door and they see the woman from the photograph. The woman, Judy Kelly, is the singer in the club band.Barnes, who is also the M.C. for the club, recognizes Attenbrough from the night before. Why is he here wonders Barnes. He grabs the boss, Jones, and tells him that maybe Owen had talked before he died. Jones says that if Owen had talked, John Law would have put the pinch on them by now.Sim, gets herself hired as a floor dancer so she can keep an eye on Kelly.Several days go by, and Barnes still insists Attenborough needs to be dealt with. Jones calls in one of the gang, Cyril Chamberlain, and tells him to hire a couple of "heavy boys" and dispose of Attenborough.Chamberlain hires Attenborough's taxi and has him drive to a warehouse. Once there, Chamberlain asks him to help carry out a box for a return trip back to town. Once he gets our boy inside, the heavy lads pop out with the blackjacks etc.Attenborough, manages to get a few licks of his own in and escapes. The Yard is called and they come to collect him. By the time Marsh and Warwick arrive, the nasty types have hit the road. Chamberlain reports to Jones he has botched the hit. A less than amused Jones has another gang member take Chamberlain for a ride. Needless to say this ride has a less than happy ending for Chamberlain.Attenborough is at the Yard explaining what had happened when Sim calls. She has overheard a talk between Jones and Barnes about a robbery set for that night.The Police decide to stake out the robbery site and grab the gang in the act. The gang shows and the Police swarm them and apply the cuffs. Barnes though, evades capture and phones Jones to warn him. Jones empties the wall safe and gets ready to flee the country. He has also discovered that Sim was the one who ratted out the gang.The Police and Attenborough pile back in their cars and speed to the club. Jones comes out with a gun planted in the middle of Sim's back. The Police pull up and Jones starts blasting. Attenborough works his way behind Jones and tackles him, saving Sim. A cuffed Jones is hauled away while Attenborough and Sim embrace.This well-paced, rather violent film, features some very nice camera work. It was on the whole, a very pleasant surprise.The director was John Paddy Carstairs. THE SAINT IN London is the only other film of his I've seen. The D of P was Reg Wyer. He lensed, THE UPTURNED GLASS, MY BROTHER'S KEEPER, SO LONG AT THE FAIR, HIGHLY DANGEROUS, STREET CORNER, WHEEL OF FATE, EYEWITNESS, THE WEAPON, and THE INFORMERS.Attenborough had roles in BRIGHTON ROCK, BOYS IN BROWN, THE MAN UPSTAIRS, EIGHT O'CLOCK WALK and 10 RILLINGTON PLACE. Look close and you will see an unbilled Dirk Bogarde and Diana Dors in the crowd.(b/w)