Gefährliche Stunden in Dartmoor

It's often the case that 'B' pictures from the 1940s, 50s 60s make for very unsatisfying viewing nowadays but occasionally some titles pop up which are true gems and I'd certainly put The Break into that latter category.

Although its core premise of all-round decent guy chancing upon a violent, escaped prisoner isn't especially exceptional, this 77min b&w film finds all of its contributors at the top of their game and rises comfortably above the average fare.

As good as the isolated Dartmoor location and Brian Fahey's memorable musical score are, the real delight of this piece is the way that all of the multi-dimensional characters link in with one another, especially as they are portrayed by an excellent group of actors whose expressive faces could tell a story all on their own. William Lucas is the homicidal villain of the piece, Jacko Thomas, completely selfish and yet devoted to his sister; Tony Britton is an unlikely yet effective choice as the action hero, Greg Parker, who goes from being suicidal to fighting for his very life; Robert Urquhart is Mr Pearson, the other guest in the remote hotel who is not quite everything he seems; Eddie Byrne is Tredgar, proprietor of the hotel who is running a second, more secretive business; Gene Anderson is Tredgar's wife, whose diminished opinion of him has eroded her patience - and her loyalty; then there are Moses and Sarah, God-fearing siblings who are not wholly without sin. The plot unfolds nicely with some clever twists and a ramping up of the action as Parker becomes increasingly mired in a life-threatening situation, cut off from outside help. But can he possibly find help from among those at the hotel?

William Lucas kills the cop taking him to prison and heads to a hotel on the moors. From there, Eddie Byrne has arranged to smuggle Lucas and his sister, Christina Gregg, to Argentina. However, when author Tony Britton and a private detective show up, the plans begin to unravel.

Like many a script by Pip & Jane Baker, plot is what happens when an ill assortment of peoples' plans conflict, and this is a well written and decently executed example of that. Other performers include Robert Urquhart, Sonia Dresdel, and Gene Anderson. While Lance Comfort's direction is no more than competent, it's certainly no less, and the occasional big shot by DP Basil Emmot adds some nice punctuation to the pacing of the movie.

Two years after playing the "waif-in-peril" in the title role of 'Rag Doll', big-haired, button-eyed Christina Gregg - her fur collar pulled up against the cold - was still on the run under the guidance of director Lance Comfort in this raw, hard-edged retread of 'The Petrified Forest' with William Lucas in the Bogart role and Tony Britton as Leslie Howard (set like the aftermath of the following summer's Great Train Robbery in a deserted farm).

Cameraman Basil Emmott does a magnificent job both of the night-for-night scenes and the wintry daytime location work shot on Woking Common. And the final shot is a beaut!

THE BREAK is a typical British crime picture which effortlessly delivers the goods in a low budget way. It's one of those films where a bunch of characters are holed up in an isolated location and each have their own motivations for being there, although this time around it's a grubby farmhouse B&B which gives the film a kind of muddy, down to earth charm: a story of barns and mud-splattered vehicles, if you will.

Presiding over things is William Lucas, a violent escaped criminal in the great British B-movie tradition. Lucas plays a truly sinister and ruthless character who dominates the proceedings quite considerably. Writer hero Tony Britton is a bore by comparison, but there are some finely-judged supporting performances here from the likes of Robert Urquhart and Edwin Richfield as a farm worker.

Hard-working director Lance Comfort gets every penny of his budget up on the screen and there are no slow spots or glaring errors that stand out. The female characters have more importance to the storyline than usual and there are some exciting set-pieces including a chase through the countryside that reminded me of a scene in THE WALKING DEAD involving the Governor; a film to rival the big boys at times, then.