The Hi-Jackers

Writer/director Jim O'Connolly should be well known for two films where the cult status went to someone else: In BERSERK, Joan Crawford gets credit while stop-motion guru Ray Harryhausen and his dinosaurs ruled THE VALLEY OF GWANGI. But O'Connolly's by himself in creating two really neat, tight and entertaining B&W post-noir crime flicks derived from the British b-picture company, Butcher's, in the early/mid 1960's...

The first being THE HI-JACKERS starring Anthony Booth as an independent truck/lorry driver: victim of the titular gang faking accident scenes on the rural roadside and then stealing the cargo: in his case, cases of Johnnie Walker Red...

The essential eye candy is cute-as-a-button ingenue Jacqueline Ellis as a rogue young lady, the likes the truckers deem "Mystery," who Booth picks up at a diner before getting robbed. Their chemistry has the kind of relaxing, lived-in coziness where you want them to hook up, but they're almost too perfectly suited to, too soon...

On the other side are THE HI-JACKERS themselves: you might initially think they're actually highly professional policemen, or even classy college professors on a field trip roadside picnic...

Led by non-violent sophisticated heavy Derek Francis with two thugs from O'Connolly's followup, SMOKESCREEN, Glynn Edwards and David Gregory, they're an eclectic lot, calling the boss "Gov" and, eventually holed up at a rural estate, seem to have all the time in the world... that is, until the ingenue riskily moves in, providing a burst of 11th hour suspense, though more serene than edgy...

This fine little curio is an involving jazz-scored crime flick that, no matter what side's being centered on, moves along with well-timed action sequences blanketed by more intelligent than pulpy bouts of page-turning dialogue.

It was tough being a lorry driver back then with little in the way of creature comforts in the slow and noisy vehicles. Few motorways and to top it off the danger of being hijacked.

It had the look of a 1953 film and not 1963 but this just made it look more gritty and the transport cafe looked great, back then they were for lorry drivers only and the travelling public were likely to be barred from entry. Me and a friend had to talk our way into one as late as the mid 70s.

Well worth watching with a good plot and good acting all round. Different to see nice Dave from Minder as a very nasty baddy.

Although a B movie made on a budget nevertheless it has a well structured plot and rattles along at a good pace. Rooted firmly in the early 1960's, eg before the M6 motorway was built, it has good period external shots and the interior pieces show what was then fashionable furniture, etc. The attitude to women is also evident. My only criticism would be some of the external lighting where the lighting cameraman clearly overdid it! Shame it's only in Black & White. A good selection of actors who seem to be taking their characterisations seriously. Note also the scene at the railway station where they possibly get in the wrong carriage door and some of the real passengers look at the camera wondering what is going on.

THE HI-JACKERS is an efficient and entertaining British B-picture which ticks most of the right boxes when it comes to film-making. As a film about truck drivers it's not a patch on the excellent HELL DRIVERS but as a low budget B-movie it's a pleasing timewaster with some good action and an incident-packed plot line to recommend it. Director Jim O'Connolly later helmed the excellent horror flick TOWER OF EVIL.

A youthful Anthony Booth stars as a trucker who finds himself the victim of a gang of hi-jackers who take his truck as well as his load. He swears vengeance on the crew, and the rest of the film is a back-and-forth game between the villains and everyone else pitted against them. The cast is populated by some pretty good character actors who give engaging performances, although the likable Booth gives the best turn. The inclusion of a love interest for the hero drags the pace down a little but for the most part this works well and proves a nice time capsule of the early '60s.

Independent trucker Anthony Booth gives a lift to Jacqueline Ellis. Almost immediately, the truck is hit by some fellows who want the Johnny Walker he's carrying more than Booth does. They're led by Derek Francis, who learnedly lectures his crew on why they don't carry weapons - if someone dies accidentally, the police will have them for murder - and the tight fiscal leash he keeps his associates on - they'll spend it, and then the police will come around with hard-to-answer questions. No, he prefers to remain an ordinary, decent criminal, and live a long and pleasant life on the outside.

While Booth and Miss Ellis warily fall in together, Booth wonders how the criminals knew to hit him.... and that makes up the rest of this pleasant flick. It's nothing to win any critics' polls, but is a decent way to spend 66 minutes.