I watched TCM's 87-minute broadcast of this film from June 2017. What a find! Script-wise, it continually zigs when the viewer expects it to zag. The cinematography is a mix of elements to love -- noir shadings, in-depth focus, unusual but always pertinent camera angles. And I suppose that in the context of films like Scream of Fear and The Nanny, the sober and somewhat cynical auteur side of Seth Holt comes through. George Nader pretty much carries the acting chores and does fine at it. It's a shame he never seemed to break through to the big time. I remember him, of course, in Robot Monster, also in a TV show called Man and the Challenge. Maggie Smith, in her film debut, is anything but a sexy ingenue. Her part is scripted to carry her character in an entirely opposite direction; her large eyes and muted attractiveness do add to the effectiveness of her performance. An uncut, Region 2 DVD adding 13 minutes to the film is available through Amazon UK. I would imagine that the extra footage serves to amplify the evolution of Nader's character -- this, not the suspense (though it is suspenseful), struck me as the focus of this unjustly neglected film. Give it a try!

Admirably elegant and up-to-the-minute 1958, this British crime drama, made at Ealing and released by MGM, suffers from having nobody, really, to root for. George Nader, not looking his best and underplaying to the point of anonymity, is the wily coin thief who cleverly filched a valuable collection from Bessie Love and has broken out of prison to reclaim it. He runs afoul of a nasty accomplice and nastier fate. It's compelling, and it has an arresting leading lady in Maggie Smith (whose part, though she's second-billed, is quite small), and the gray London visuals, fancy camera angles, and so-cool jazz soundtrack combine to create an evocative, downbeat atmosphere. But Nader's character is so repellent you don't want his scheme to succeed, and you're not surprised when it doesn't. It's ahead of its time in its moody, minimalist storytelling, and well worth seeing. But it's a downer.

This is atypically gritty fare for Ealing (with the distribution handled by MGM, who excised some 15 minutes so that the film could fit into a double-bill!) – for the record, I have watched a couple of established classics from them in this vein, namely IT ALWAYS RAINS ON Sunday (1947; helmed by Seth Holt's brother-in-law, Robert Hamer!) and THE BLUE LAMP (1950), and among a few I own but have yet to check out is THE SIEGE OF PINCHGUT aka FOUR DESPERATE MEN (1959), which happened to be the famed company's very last effort! Anyway, following years honing his craft as an editor and getting a hang of the business side of movie-making as well in the capacity of associate producer, Holt graduated to the director's chair with NOWHERE TO GO and, as already intimated, deliberately set out to make "the least 'Ealing' Ealing film ever made"! The result is a powerful noir (with exemplary cinematography by Paul Beeson and, accordingly, editing accompanied by Dizzy Reece's notable jazz score), which style flourished in Britain during those years – numbering the likes of HELL IS A CITY and THE CRIMINAL (both 1960) among its most notable titles, but also ACROSS THE BRIDGE (1957) which, as with the film under review, continued the prevalent practice of the time of recruiting a Hollywood leading man to enhance its commercial appeal overseas. In this case, it is George Nader: having recently watched him in the unenthusing pair of William Castle's would-be spectacle SERPENT OF THE NILE – THE LOVES OF CLEOPATRA (1953) and the low-brow Harry Alan Towers adaptation of Sax Rohmer's THE MILLION EYES OF SUMURU (1967), I frankly had little faith in his ability to carry this through; however, I was glad to be proved wrong as he made for a compelling presence here, managing the various nuances of his complex character with remarkable ease.The film immediately starts off with a suspense situation as Nader is sprung from jail by his partner (and ex-army buddy) Bernard Lee; then, we follow in flashback how he came to be there, having fleeced an ageing socialite out of the proceeds from the sale of her late husband's priceless collection of old coins – interestingly, he had practically given himself up, hoping to get 5 years but he is given double that amount…and, of course, he is not about to wait that long to reap the rewards of his gambit! However, he soon falls foul of the brutish Lee, who believes Nader had double-crossed him when, in fact, he had been unable to make the collection from the safe deposit-box due to the sudden arrival of the Police Inspector (Geoffrey Keen) who had arrested him! No longer trusting his accomplice, he surprises him at his home and ties him up and gags him; he had already demonstrated his resourcefulness by affecting a club-foot while dealing with the bank because, as he says, "nobody looks a cripple in the face". Unfortunately, Lee dies from having choked on his false teeth which were dislodged during his struggles to break free...so that Nader is now both a fugitive and a murderer! He tries to get help from a number of underworld contacts but they either 'rat' on him to the Police or else deem him "too hot", which makes him realize he has to go it alone – however, support does come his way in the form of Maggie Smith (vaguely glamorous in her movie debut) as the ditched girlfriend of the owner of the flat in which Nader had been hiding out. Eventually, she shelters him in her family's Welsh cottage (while admitting that her uncle is a Police constable!), but the dogged Keen soon turns up there to interrogate her. The ultimate irony is that Nader panics upon spying the scene from afar through a pair of binoculars – when Smith is somehow released virtually instantly! – and, caught stealing a bike, is shot by its proprietor; though he succeeds in taking off in the man's lorry regardless, he succumbs to his wounds shortly after, leaving the girl to ponder her own future.The intelligent script was written by Holt himself (actually, the only one he penned of his 6 directorial efforts!) in collaboration with eminent film critic Kenneth Tynan; while the central premise of a doomed man on the run has seen ample service over the years (the prototype being perhaps Carol Reed's ODD MAN OUT {1946}), this is still pretty much an unsung gem within the genre. For what it is worth, other influences can be identified in the early scenes of the conniving protagonist ingratiating himself with the old lady, which recall a similar ruse in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), and also the downbeat country-side ending that is redolent of both THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) and HELL DRIVERS (1957)!

George Nader has "Nowhere to Go" in this 1958 British film that also serves as the debut for a virtually unrecognizable Maggie Smith. Nader plays Paul Gregory, a Canadian con man in London who befriends an old woman (silent screen star Bessie Love) and winds up stealing her valuable coin collection. He's blatant about it, knowing that he will serve a term in prison, but he'll get the money on release. He escapes early and finds that getting his hands on the money isn't going to be easy. His partner becomes greedy, there's an accidental death, and Gregory is forced to go on the run.Kenneth Tynan and director Seth Holt co-wrote this tight script, and Holt keeps the action going and the tension and frustration building as Gregory runs out of options to get a hold of his money. The production is very good-looking as well.Handsome George Nader was a Hollywood male starlet who wound up playing Ellery Queen on television, as well as starring in two other series and doing guest appearances before concentrating on a career in German film as kind of a James Coburn type. The rumor has persisted for years that Confidential magazine was ready to publish a story on Rock Hudson's homosexuality and traded that story with Universal Studios for one about Nader instead. This rumor emerged again when Hudson died, and left money to Nader in his will. If true, Universal obviously felt Hudson was going to be more important to them. That became a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was perhaps correct. The sad thing is that a story like that mattered."Nowhere to Go" is well worth seeing.