FLOODS OF FEAR is a fine little British crime thriller with a strong storyline and a surprising emphasis on special effects footage to see it through. The disaster-based scenario reminded me a little of HARD RAIN and involves a couple of convicts escaping from their guard during severe flooding in the American northeast. Four disparate characters are holed up in a rapidly flooding farmhouse with conflict coming from inside and out. The mix of stock footage and sound effects with flooding sets and the like is very convincing and ahead of is time, while the setting and characters are generally authentic with only the odd British accent popping up. The cast is also very good indeed: Howard Keel couldn't get much taller or more rugged as the hero and Anne Heywood is incredibly sexy as the innocent woman caught up in the events. Plus we have an against-type Cyril Cusack as a sleazy prison escapee and an unrecognisable Harry H. Corbett as the guard. It's a solid little type of thriller with enough suspense to see it through from beginning to end.

FLOODS OF FEAR – 1958 This is a UK production set in the American Northeast during a rather nasty flood. A group of convicts are put to work reinforcing a levee with sandbags. The levee however gives way and everyone is sweep into the rushing waters. Two convicts, Howard Keel, Cyril Cusack and an injured guard, Harry Corbett all make it to safety. They are joined by local, Anne Heywood. The four take shelter from the rising waters on the top floor of Heywood's home. Keel immediately starts building a raft. He has no intention of returning to prison. He has murder on his mind. Keel got a life sentence for murdering his business partner, John Crawford's wife. The two had been having an affair and when she had turned up dead, all the evidence pointed at Keel. Crawford and Keel had been partners in a river tug outfit located just down the river. Corbett does his best to protect the girl Heywood, from the unwanted attentions of the oily Cusack. Cusack arms himself with a large blade and hints that Corbett will get his soon. Keel finally gets his raft done only to have Corbett swipe the thing in order to get away from Cusack. The rising waters soon push the rest of the house off its footings and into the river. Keel, Cusack and Heywood manage to survive by holding onto a piece of the roof that breaks off and serves as a raft. As luck would have it, they find a small boat and transfer to it. Keel soon grows tired of the rat, Cusack, and his constant attempts at Heywood. He fires the rodent off the boat at the first bit of land they come to, before continuing towards his "date" with Crawford. Heywood realizes that Keel is not the vicious murderer she had thought him to be. Keel simply wants the truth to come out about the crime he was sent up for. Keel lands Heywood at a safe spot and carries on. Guard Corbett has made it to safety and contacts the local law, Eddie Byrne. He tells Byrne that Keel intends to murder Crawford if he can reach him. Byrne hands Corbett a revolver and assigns him a couple of National Guardsmen to escort him to Crawford's place. Now we find out that Cusack has knifed a would be rescuer, and stolen his small motorboat. Cusack plans on reaching Crawford before Keel. Cusack intends a bit of blackmail. He believes Crawford to be the real murderer as well. Cusack is sure Crawford will pay for the warning about Keel, as well as for Cusack to keep his silence about the murder. Heywood has also reached the local law. A quick word with Byrne has the Sheriff send Heywood and a couple deputies racing to Crawford's in case Corbett might need help. Guard Corbett and the two National Guardsmen have by this time reached Crawford's tug boat pier. Corbett warns Crawford about Keel's break out, and his planned attempt on Crawford's life. Soon Cusack comes puttering out of the rain in his little motorboat. Everyone mistakes him for Keel, and Cusack collects several bullets before being collared. Heywood arrives with the extra men, everyone now just sits and waits for Keel to put in an appearance. Keel however is already there, and has been watching everything for the last 20 minutes. He sneaks under the dock and enters Crawford's office. He gets the drop on the man and proceeds to give Crawford a most vicious beating. He cannot however bring himself to kill Crawford. He turns himself in to Corbett. Corbett, who has been busy questioning Cusack, tells Keel that enough questions as to his guilt have been raised, that a new trial is likely. There are some fairly intense moments in the film and Keel is surprisingly good in a non-musical role. What throws the viewer off to a degree, is the rather ineffective American accents used by the UK members of the cast. It would have worked better being set in the UK. Having said that, the film as a whole, works quite well. There are several noir touches throughout, murder, revenge, infidelity being the foremost. And the raging waters do well at replacing the alleys and dark streets of an urban setting. Both are empty to the man on the run. The look of the film also works with D of P Christopher Challis, supplying a nice assortment of black and grey tones. The four time BAFTA nominated Challis did some top fight work with, THE SMALL BACK ROOM, FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG, CHANCE MEETING, NEVER LET GO, SINK THE BISMARCK, ARABESQUE, VILLAIN and EVIL UNDER THE SUN as examples of his work. The director, Charles Crichton, is best known for the films, HUE AND CRY, THE LAVANDER HILL MOB and A FISH CALLED WANDA. He also touched on suspense with HUNTED and THE THIRD SECRET. (b/w)

I have seen this film several times since its first airing on TV in the 1960s, and I ALWAYS watch it .... it's a very compelling feature, firstly because we see Howard Keel (a popular American singer/actor in many famous Hollywood light musicals of the 1950s) and Harry H Corbett (the British co-star of BBC-TV's long-running 1960s comedy "Steptoe & Son") in non-typical roles.Secondly, the problem of being trapped in a flood, or even any natural disaster, makes for a viable dramatic background in a story of revenge and suspense. Filmed in Britain, but set in Canada, the movie points out how Nature can upset, without warning, the various plans of humans. In this particular case, it is the aim of Howard Keel to track down John Crawford, playing the man who framed Keel for the murder of his (Keel's) wife, and then took over Keel's business! Without repeating what others have said here, yes, there are some moments of outrageous melodrama typical of the cinema scene of the late 1950s, mixed in with some very exciting moments. Keel's ambition to mete out the well-deserved ultimate punishment (in Keel's mind) on Crawford is eventually mitigated by the love of the new woman in his life. All very convenient, and acceptable "for dramatic purposes".What I found unconvincing was the fight scene at the end, where Keel and Crawford rained what seemed like hundreds of blows on each other's faces and bodies, while they struggled, rolling from shack to shack. Keel got the last few blows in on Crawford's face, which by now should have been mangled into pulp.This potentially great drama ends with an almost comedic line, when some medically-unqualified labourer takes a quick glance at the bleeding, bruised and battered head of Crawford and announces to the awaiting crowd; "He's gonna be all right!" Of course, this movie's final scene fits in with the credo of those days that all films should have a "happy" ending. The fact that Keel set out with full premeditation to kill this man, but only ended up scarring him for life, does not deter the audience from accepting him as the hero of the film.As I said, the action and adventure in this movie are compelling, but the morals are somewhat flawed.

What a picture! Howard Keel taking on a major flood, several arch enemies and a girl to boot. Everything about this picture was simply amazing and fantastic. You felt the characters' desperation as they fought against each other and against the raging flood waters. Keel was in his element in a way that he never was before except maybe in his dual role in "Callaway Went Thataway." Granted, I have drooled over Keel in many of his musicals and still get a pleasant shiver down my spine when I hear him sing and belt out "Bless Your Beautiful Hide," but it were these dramatic roles that really set him apart. I only wish he made more of them. The final fight was one for the record books and Keel's athleticism throughout the entire film was tremendous. I recently saw "Floods of Fear" on TCM and can honestly say that for the first time in years, when the movie ended I nearly screamed. I wanted more Keel and more of the action. It was that kind of film. Good job, Keel and bless YOUR beautiful hide!