MartinHafer This is a very gritty British example of film noir. Unlike its American counterpart, this film was filled with cursing--something you could not get away with in Hollywood. Otherwise, in many ways the film was much like an American version--nice camera angles, tough dialog and lots of not particularly handsome actors! The film begins with Trevor Howard looking for work with some mobsters. While he's keen on the idea of making some illegal money, he has some moral scruples. So, when they try to get him to deal with drugs, he refuses--and incurs the wrath of the gang leader. To pay him back, the leader arranges for Howard to be blamed for running over a cop! As a result, Howard is sent to jail to serve a 15 year sentence. However, he soon breaks out and swears revenge on the gang.Overall, the film gets high marks for realism and excitement. The end was not perfect (too many times the baddies were able to just knock the gun out of the hands of the good guys and vice-versa--I would have simply plugged them the second I got my hands on the gun!), but was still very satisfying. I particularly liked the violent ending as well as how Howard's exoneration was handled--it came as a bit of a surprise--and I like to be surprised. Good acting and direction make this one a winner.By the way, although I liked this film, there was a weird, flat performance from the wife who sheltered Howard after he escaped. While her character was exceptionally interesting, up until the final moments with her she seemed almost like she was in zombie mode! I am not sure what she and the director were trying to achieve here.

edwagreen A year after his hit,"Brief Encounter," Trevor Howard turned to a British gangster film of the film noir genre.Falling in with a band of crooks, Howard wants out when he sees what they're really up to. The leader of the gang, Griffith Jones, has him framed for running over a police officer and the Howard character is sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.The rest of the film deals with Howard breaking out of prison, after he is told that his girlfriend is now going with Griffith. Of course, Griffith's ex tells him all this.Griffith Jones's death scene is quite similar to that of Stephen Boyd in "Ben-Hur." The only difference is that the ending is not exactly what you want.Nevertheless, this is a taut thriller, one of the best of the film-noir genre.Sally Gray is Griffith's ex who comes to love Howard.

AlanSquier The truth of the matter is that they did a bang-up job in emulating American noir and gangster type films. Why not, the American stuff was going great guns on that side of the pond.This was pretty heavy stuff for 1947. References to cocaine, brutality towards women, and such goodies are noticeable here. Also noticeable is the noir type anti-hero magnificently portrayed by Trevor Howard, and lots and I do mean lots of shadows.A rooftop scene was undoubtedly the prototype and inspiration for later movies such as To Catch A Thief.Don't confuse this with the earlier Hollywood movie, They Made Me A Criminal, which featured John Grfield and the Dead End Kids. There's no similarity between those two films.

MARIO GAUCI This is a relatively rare example of a British film noir, but one which can hold its own alongside the more celebrated American variety. Director Cavalcanti's background in documentaries certainly served him in good stead here, bringing complete authenticity to the situations and settings. Still, thanks to Otto Heller's outstanding camera-work and lighting, he manages a number of strikingly cinematic visuals (for instance, the scene where heroine Sally Gray is beaten up by chief villain Griffith Jones).It features a splendid cast, all of whom deliver excellent performances: Trevor Howard is an unusual hero-type but totally credible; lovely leading lady Sally Gray may come off a bit too good to be true (she initially commits herself to the framed Howard merely because her gangster boyfriend has jilted her for the latter's own fiancée!) but she elicits all the petite sex appeal of a Veronica Lake (meanwhile her love/hate banter with Howard evokes memories of the Robert Donat/Madeleine Carroll pairing from Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS [1935]); Griffith Jones is a suave yet ruthless leader of a black-market ring (but who gets his just desserts in particularly gruesome fashion); Mary Merrall is Jones' elderly associate, whose level-headedness and experience keeps the violent gangster in check; a young Ballard Berkeley is a sympathetic Scotland Yard man, but who doesn't think twice about using Howard as bait to capture the entire gang; Peter Bull turns up for a bit as a police informer.The general gloominess (a mainstay of thrillers emanating from the post-war era) is leavened somewhat by its constant flurry of hard-boiled dialogue courtesy of screenwriter Noel Langley. The terrific climax is set inside the gang's 'business' office - a funeral parlor, amusingly named "The Valhalla Undertaking Co.". Still, perhaps my favorite scene in the entire film is Howard's surreal encounter with the zombie-like Vida Hope - in whose household he stumbles while on the run; she turns out to be deranged, and even tries to talk our hero into murdering her alcoholic husband (Maurice Denham)! As is typical of old films released on DVD by Kino, the quality of the print and transfer leave a lot to be desired - but one has to be grateful still, because otherwise gems such as this one would remain unavailable indefinitely...