Verrufene Straße

I enjoyed this short, British B film, though David McCallum as ever comes across as a bit too small to be a villain.

The high point of the film is fairly early on, when the gorgeous Jill Ireland as the star stripper , takes to the stage and strips down to her stockings, basque and heels.

The rest of the film is entertaining enough and shows views and lifestyles in London that have long since disappeared.

Good stuff!

Four years before becoming a man from UNCLE, David McCallum is a punk in London. His father spends most of his paycheck on beer, and so McCallum has taken to mugging old ladies. Now, however, he's killed one, and the police are looking for him. Add in stripper Jill Ireland, and her boyfriend just come back in a stay in prison for a job he had pulled with McCallum, and suddenly Dave is looking to get out of town.... but he's purely a city creature.

There's clearly a liberal edge to this movie, as McCallum's vicious nature can be attributed to a bad environment, rote uncaring parents and bad companions. yet in order to make that point, there needs to be some sign of possible reform, and director Charles Saunders is more interested in showing us the censor-compliant strippers at the local grindhouse; McCallum is a lost cause, vicious and blaming his bad choices on everyone except himself. With no reason to sympathize with this marauding creature, why should anyone care what happens to him?

JUNGLE STREET is a low rent British crime film from prolific director Charles Saunders. It has a fair share of problems but nonetheless works thanks to some strong acting from the leads and the narrative itself, which is a fun mish-mash of timely themes and the occasional bit of suspense.

The film incorporates some of the burgeoning 'kitchen sink' drama genre into its running time in its depiction of the home life of youthful tearaway David McCallum, a man who despises his family and his whole class and wants to make something better for himself. This means turning to crime to make ends meet, and you can guess how that ends up. Like a lot of low budget British crime films, much of the action centres around a nightclub, or rather a strip club in this instance.

This is where much of the padding comes into it. The first half of the film in particular is full of tame striptease sequences which show no nudity but are nonetheless quite racy at times. They go on forever and they parade many attractive actresses around which is no bad thing really, particularly when the chief stripper is the young and lovely Jill Ireland, a really arresting presence here.

The plot is further complicated by police investigation and the release from jail of a seasoned criminal, played with relish by Kenneth Cope. Cope and McCallum have some good scenes together which makes the story work. There's an inevitable heist sequence which is well directed and an effective climax. No classic, but more than watchable for what it is.

I first thought it was produced by the Danzigers or Butchers companies, the two major British B companies concerning B thrillers or crimes, and also the best. Because during the early sixties, Uk film industry gave us hundreds of such little crime dramas. This one is certainly not spectacular but worth seeing, as many other ones too; for instance John Lemont's SHAKEDOWN or FRIGHTENED CITY. UK crime film industry was not only LEAGUE OF THE GENTLEMEN or PAYROLL. It is even more social than crime, because showing young punks who still live with their folks. With some kitchen sink elements. No tough gangsters here. I have tenderness for this movie and it is also the opportunity to see David McCallum and his actual life wife Jill Ireland, several years before she meets Charles Bronson...But that's another story. David Mc Callum is terrific in this petty pink role, not the good and brave lead character. The contrary of the typical hero. Violent and coward. I love this because it changes.

We all know that Ducky looks like a young Illya Kuryakin. But see this picture just to see an even younger Illya who speaks with a Cockny accent.

There are other reviews which summarize the picture better than I could. I will say this though. The Adam and Eve club is supposed to be a low class, low money, dive. It can't afford good acts. That's why the girls acts are bad.