Desafío al miedo

This film is a remarkably unsentimental look at life for the less fortunate in post-war Britain. There are no tour-de-force performances, but this is not a film that demands them. A group of down on their luck men, finding work, love and friendship where they can, do what they have to do to earn enough money to keep them from crime (more or less), particularly when faced by venal employers who cheat and lie to them daily. There is no union for these men, no legal recourse, no Health and Safety Executive, they have nothing except themselves and the tenuous camaraderie they forge in the down and out bed and breakfasts they have to live in. Driving trucks to ferry gravel from a quarry to a building site, they cut every corner and take their own, and every other road user's, life in their hands as they struggle to get that one more run, that might get them one more pint in the pub. A veritable "who's going to be who" of British actors - Sean Connery, David McCallum, Herbert Lom (okay, Czech, but work with me...), William Hartnell (far from the lovable Dr Who), Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan and Sid James (in a rare straight role) all grimly play men on edge pushed to their limits - and sometimes beyond.

Oh yes - until 1965, there were no speed limits on British roads outside urban areas, which in some respects explains the lack of police.

Although the film belongs to Baker and mcgoohan there are plenty of other famous faces to spot. yes, sid james only ever played one character in all his films- that of sid james- but its an interesting romp nonetheless. I have it on good authority it was filmed around Stanwell moor, west London, and the trucks are "kew" dodges. something no-one has picked up on is that the sequences showing the trucks traveling at speed are obviously speeded up, these old motors were incapable of exceeding 45 mph, even more so carrying 10 tons o gravel (they were only 7 ton design weight) The plot is believable though, the practice of paying drivers "per trip" was and still is a common practice, especially in the tipper sector (obviously to encourage more runs) I know, I worked for a firm remarkably similar to Hawletts. someone has commented on the "coincidence" that all the drivers sleep at the same lodgings- this too was common in the 50's, before the advent of sleeper cabs, drivers would simply find "digs" for the night. also fewer people had their own car in those days, so wouldn't it make sense to sleep close to the job? Made on a small budget in an era where you would need to watch your Ps and Qs and also tone down any scenes of violence, its a classic in my opinion. In those days you'd actually probably be very grateful to be behind one of these wagons, the speed limit for trucks was only 20mph back then!

An oddball movie, a hybrid of (would be) Hollywood tough-guy melodrama and UK kitchen sink sensibility. And yes, starring Dr Who, The Prisoner, 007, Man from UNCLE and many more. Certainly the greatest cast of cult actors ever to appear together, well, ever. This movie is terrible and magnificent in equal measure. To me it is staggeringly watchable. The premise is seriously skewered yet endearing all the same: 1950s English truckdrivers behaving like 1850s American outlaws in a Never Never Land where trucks are allowed to habitually run at 80mph down country lanes without so much a peep from the plod.

McGoohan is a star turn here and Peggy Cummins makes for a surprisingly un-frigid lead (look, the UK film industry in the 1950s didn't do sexy -what do you mean Diana Dors? - proves my point!!). But the film belongs to Baker - brooding, smouldering, moral, vengeful, utterly magnificent. We don't make them like him, or like this any more.

The harsh life of a group of lorry drivers. Tension and excitement are the order of the day with this gritty British film.Most of the main players in this film went on to greater success: Stanley Baker is superb as ever. A very atmospheric film with a tense and dramatic end. If you like old British B&W thrillers, this is a must-see.

The trucking crew reads like a who's who of male British-based acting talent. Baker, Connery, Sid James (who was a superb straight actor), Lom, Gordon Jackson, etc, under the foremanship of Patrick McGoohan. Back home minding the shop we have David McCallum and in the office, ripping them all off is William Hartnell.

I love the road scenes be they shot at normal speed or otherwise. The language had to be toned down for censorship reasons, otherwise you would find McGoohan calling Baker something a little stronger than yellow belly.

With a cast like that you would expect to see some great performances; and you do. But since Patrick McGoohan has the best role, he stands head and shoulders above the rest as the mad Irishman who swigs Guiness at the wheel, and who can lose a fight and still have his cigarette sticking out of his mouth.

I love this film.