Rendez-vous avec le crime

... Just transpose the James Cagney of "The Public Enemy" into immediately post-war Britain and make him a loner, but a bit of an enigma at first. But as the film rolls on you will not like what you learn about Hartnell's character, Leo.

Leo is recruited by a couple of gangsters - Loman and Hatchet - who use a dance hall as a front, to do a smash and grab job at a jewelry store. Things go terribly wrong when a protective awning in the display window falls on Leo's wrists and he is then apprehended by the police and does time. The gang does not stand behind him as they had promised after Leo gets caught but, seriously, what could they have done but get caught themselves? But Leo is the type to hold a grudge. When he gets out of jail he goes straight to Loman and says to pay the debt they owe him - the imprisonment and permanent damage to his wrists - they should give him a job. He is rebuffed and thrown out. And from there Leo becomes the original Darkman minus the burns and decides to frame the framers, so to speak.

The film is - I think - being intentionally vague about what Leo did before he was caught and imprisoned. The beginning might even have you believing he might have been a musician, as I could not see what his obsession was with the permanent damage to his wrists. That is probably so that he initially has the sympathy of the audience. And they don't really change that characterization much until a true sympathetic character - a dance hall girl, worn down by life at a young age, who is impressed by Leo's kindness and attention in the face of his excon "just one mistake" underdog status - appears.

This film has something you would not see in American films at the time since Britain never had an all encompassing production code like the US. In this film the something that you would not see in American movies is an almost openly gay couple who have pretty prominent roles, with one member of the couple being particularly flamboyant for the time.

One thing that this film does that you would see in 1946 American films? This British noir, one year after the war is over, when Britain is still largely in ruins, has completely erased the war. Apparently the crime syndicate in the film, the police careers involved, and the dance hall girls along with that noir lifestyle have histories that seem to go back five years without mention of warfare.

I'd recommend this one. It doesn't have any stars that most Americans will have heard of with maybe the exception of the always interesting Herbert Lom, but everybody does a commendable job in a film with a plot that will keep your interest and plenty of atmosphere.

William Hartnell (Leo Martin) feels he has been set up in a jewellery robbery that goes wrong. He is caught and sent to prison and then emerges keen on confronting his pals that let him down, ie Raymond Lovell (Gus Loman) who now owns a successful nightclub and chauffeur Victor Weske (Hatchett). He commits a murder and frames Lovell with blackmail by using Lovell's gun. However, Lovell's gun actually belongs to gang mastermind Herbert Lom (Gregory Land) and Lovell, in turn, blackmails Lom. Robert Beatty (Rogers) is the detective responsible for solving this murder and he pursues Hartnell and the dancehall hostess Joyce Howard (Carol) who Hartnell has been spending all his time with.

While the story is quite entertaining and has some clever moments, eg, the orangeade scene and it's later significance, the cast let things down. The worst offenders are the VERY unconvincing baddie Alan Wheatley (Noel), Joyce Howard, Raymond Lovell and William Hartnell. There are also minor characters that irritate. In fact, the film is only saved by Herbert Lom and Robert Beatty - a completely different league to the others. Not because they are doing anything outstanding but because they are capable of a competent, believable performance.

Alan Wheatley - convincing as a flowery homosexual but utterly wrong as a gangster. Awfully camp dialogue delivery. Joyce Howard - laughably bad at acting. Terrible diction. Raymond Lovell - another unconvincing gangster. Miscast as heavy with a lisp. William Hartnell - trying too hard to be tough. Pitches his voice in a semi-shout which can be hilarious (eg, when Howard asks his name, he shouts at her "Leo the Lion") but is mostly annoying.

Overall, the film is OK while you are watching but it needs a cast transplant. It has the potential to be a good film but this lot ruin it somewhat.

If you like your noir unfettered with Hollywood trimmings, then this fare is for you. A jewel robbery goes bad and the man caught takes the fall for the whole gang. William Hartnell is the hood who expects to get some action after he gets out of prison, but he is shunned by his former mates.

Joyce Howard stars as his dance hall girlfriend, who remains loyal to him despite his rather obvious flaws. Herbert Lom plays a crime boss of questionable sexual identity, but his henchman is playing clearly for the other team. The film never explores their relationship.

The production values are minimal, but then again, so is the story line, so it fits nicely. A good piece of noir.

This decent British noir is about a petty crook who gets out of prison and is caught between the police looking for a murderer and the crooks who got him put in prison in a smash and grab job. It is a lot grittier than American noir. William Hartnell is very believable as the ex-con and Joyce Howard is fine as the not-too-bright dance hall girl who believes him. American noirs seem to have a sheen of glamor in comparison to this underclass melodrama.

There is a strong homosexual component to the underworld in this movie, with Herbert Lom as an effete foreign crime boss; his chief henchman plays his role as flamboyantly homosexual, just shy of a British comedy. The whole thing looks shot cheaply, which adds to the grime, and the direction and actors don't seem to do full justice to the script, but the net effect is decent. Worth a look.

William Hartnell is part of a smash & grab crew led by Raymond Lovell. When Hartnell smashes a jeweler's window, a protective gate drops on his wrists, breaking them, and the crew takes off without him before the police arrives. After serving time in prison, Hartnell wants to get even with Lovell and his crew, by framing him for the murder of his chauffeur, using Lovell's gun. He establishes an alibi for himself through dancer-for-hire Joyce Howard, but police inspector Robert Beatty thinks Howard is a bit too eager to support Hartnell's alibi and digs deeper. Lovell's gun however belongs to Herbert Lom, art dealer by day, Lovell's criminal boss by night. So rather than getting even with Lovell, Hartnell now has to deal with the police, as well as Lom.

Hartnell ('Brighton Rock', the first Doctor Who) plays his character as tightly wound as possible (or incredibly stiff, depending on your point of view), which works well for me. Every time you sorta start to feel sympathy for him, he does something mean again (despite caring for Howard, he still deceives and lies to her to save his own skin). Lom ('Night And The City', 'Hell Drivers') is great as a suave crook. They are the standouts in an otherwise decent but unremarkable cast. I wish Joyce Howard's character wasn't written as naively as it is, it doesn't work too well with the 'street wise' side of her character.

The movie starts out great with a quick set-up and some really nicely done shots, including extreme Dutch angles and shadow-rich scenes. I was hoping for a precursor to the awesome 'Brighton Rock' already, but after a while things start to lose steam. There are still plenty of shadows and decent shots, but the plot becomes unnecessarily muddy and even slow in places. It is however gritty, both in Hartnell's character as in the overall feel. Not a bad effort from director & writer John Harlow (who also directed/wrote a couple of Sexton Blake movies) but it doesn't live up to the great first 10-15 minutes. 6.5/10