A film of super quality. Great direction and cinematography but probably a nightmare for the sound crew doing London location shooting…must have required extensive post-production work in the studio. The actors are all well chosen in that they are totally believable…even down to Michael Ward's camp cameo pianist "…who ME?". There are usually complaints about women with cut-glass accents appearing in films of that era and sounding out of place, but this was post-WW2 and lots of young, and not so young women who'd earned independence in the services or the war factories, or had become war-widows weren't quite ready to go back to mummy…so they got city jobs and lived in or shared bed-sits and tried to enjoy life in Austerity Britain. This film shows that in spite of what hindsight historians would have us believe, not everyone went round looking glum. They still wanted pleasure in life in spite of severe rationing...and in spite of the five and a half- to six-day working week. In the absence of TV, with only the radio to rely on, people went out to pubs, clubs, dance-halls, variety shows, the theatre and the cinema. They didn't embrace austerity, they needed a break from it. All of which is beautifully reflected in this film. The plot is no real surprise, the acting is more than adequate for a low-budget film, but the addition of location filming around the city streets, the bomb sites, the wharfs, the cobbled alleys, the dockyard taverns and the hustle and bustle of a busy port give this film a sheen that makes it rise above expectations.A long overdue release, that finally came in 2009, the film is a face-spotters delight. I do firmly believe that Bonar Colleano, had he lived, would have had a great career as a character actor in the UK.

As a post-war British movie, this has it all in terms of story and setting. The backdrop in the stark, bomb-site ridden City of London, centred round the old docks by Tower Bridge, brings home the reality of everyday privations in a period of austerity before the gradual economic recovery during the 1950s. Good acting across the board from Bonar Colleano to Max Adrian. I liked Colleano in the Way to the Stars and he is just as convincing in this thriller, one of the better examples of the British (Ealing) crime film of the period.I can see why it is sometimes called 'noir' but I think that's more to do with the effective cinematography than the storyline, which is enhanced in interest by including a Jamaican seaman. sympathetically played by Earl Cameron. As another commentator said, it is nice to see that he has consistently acted until today.I appreciated the comments from admirers of this film who were involved in the film-making, and lived in the area where it was filmed. These kind of comments help make IMDb the informative and interesting film site it is; thank you to them.Thoroughly enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone interested in this crucial period of British film-making.

American born Bonar Colleano carved out a more or less successful career in British films - even, improbably, starring opposite Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire on the London stage. Despite that prestigious credit he wasn't really leading man material and despite his top billing here it is more of an ensemble piece. Basil Dearden may well have had a bee about Race in his bonnet as he explored the subject again in Sapphire and utilised Earl Cameron - the token black man in this movie - yet again. If anything this is yet another reminder that Ealing did more than churn out comedies. Susan Shaw, who married Colleano, tried her hand at a 'good' girl for a change, having established herself as more or less the opposite in such films as It Always Rains On Sunday. Max Adrian is hopelessly miscast as an acrobat turned burglar and the best performance comes from Renee Asherson. Today its main interest is in its location shooting in a long-vanished London.

I worked on this film as an apprentice electrician,working for Hays Wharf in To0ley street London s.e.1I was about 16 at the time,and used to put cargo lights on the dockside cranes for the night shoot.They were shot at Mark Browns wharf,which was adjacent to Tower Bridge,and a part of the Hays Group.I can remember Bonar Colleano,and he was always very polite to all of the people attending,always had a cheery Hi,for everyone,a very nice chap.a lot of the scenes on the boat were shot on Sundays or Saturday afternoons,but the ones that were shot on working days were a bit hectic as there were Dockside cranes working overhead,plus Lister trucks dashing about moving the produce to the different warehouses.I also attended the shots where they had been out for the evening and came home to the old house.This was shot in a road called Wilds Rents and was next to Tooley Street,and is in fact still there,but not the houses.The ship was actually the Jaroslav Dowbroski,and they used to paste a paper name on her before she came under Tower Bridge.I have a DVD copy of the film and it still brings back memories.I was surprised at the amount of racial prejudice in the film when i saw it at a much later date,i don't think that this film could be made to-day without some protest.It was however a very good reflection of the times,as there were very few (coloured) people in this country,and those that were were mostly Seamen.The austerity of Post War Britain is also very stark,and a reminder of the hard times just after the 2nd world war.I lived in Bermondsey,and we suffered the heaviest Bombing of any of the London Boroughs,57 continuous nights from 10.30pm until 5.30 am,during which time there was much devastation in the borough.All in all i loved this film for its stark reality and portrayal of the times,plus the easy going acting of Bonar and James Robertson Justice.All in all very well type cast,and a good performance by all.Bill K