Les trafiquants du Dunbar

Ealing goes to the docks in this marvellous story, about robbery, smuggling and life in general aboard a ship, docked in the old port of London. Bonar Colleano plays Dan MacDonald , a seaman on board the freighter 'Dunbar' who supplements his income, by a little harmless smuggling, when he is approached by a gang to take the proceeds of a daring jewel robbery, to a fence abroad.

Shot in and around Tower Bridge, and the area of Southwark, It shows a side of London, still reeling from all the bomb damage from the blitz.The present generation would do well to see this slice of history.

Pool of London is that city's harbor – think of Liverpool – and the title of an offbeat, satisfyingly bleak thriller from the post-war years (one scene uses the still-standing wall of a bombed cathedral as its backdrop). In fact, its location shooting preserves a dockside area, almost certainly now vanished, that had changed little from Victorian days.

Into the Pool sails the Dunbar, out of Rotterdam. As the merchant seamen on board debark for liberty, the movie starts out as a slice-of-life drama centering on two of them: Bonar Colleano and Earl Cameron (the Bermuda-born actor plays a Jamaican native). We see them link up with the women left behind, or freshly met, and watch them indulge in some harmless smuggling: Nylons, smokes, booze.

But as he makes the rounds of London's raffish nightlife, Colleano is approached to smuggle a package back to Rotterdam. He doesn't know what it is, or much care, but his avaricious girlfriend (Moira Lister) sniffs out a fortune in diamonds, taken in a heist during which a watchman was killed. Colleano, who's been pinched for petty contraband before, has arranged for Cameron to take the package on board. But now the police are on his trail....

Subdued and humane, Pool of London touches on some progressive themes (racial prejudice, interracial romance) but soon tightens its focus into an arrestingly photographed suspense story. The heist itself is carried out by music-hall acrobat Max Adrian – ironic because Colleano's the actor who came from a family of circus daredevils.

As a post-war British movie, this has it all in terms of story and setting. The backdrop in the stark, bomb-site ridden City of London, centred round the old docks by Tower Bridge, brings home the reality of everyday privations in a period of austerity before the gradual economic recovery during the 1950s. Good acting across the board from Bonar Colleano to Max Adrian. I liked Colleano in the Way to the Stars and he is just as convincing in this thriller, one of the better examples of the British (Ealing) crime film of the period.

I can see why it is sometimes called 'noir' but I think that's more to do with the effective cinematography than the storyline, which is enhanced in interest by including a Jamaican seaman. sympathetically played by Earl Cameron. As another commentator said, it is nice to see that he has consistently acted until today.

I appreciated the comments from admirers of this film who were involved in the film-making, and lived in the area where it was filmed. These kind of comments help make IMDb the informative and interesting film site it is; thank you to them.

Thoroughly enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone interested in this crucial period of British film-making.

This is one of my favourite Ealing movies. Directed by Basil Dearden who also did The Blue Lamp it is a wonderful film that has a cocktail of long lost London, racial prejudice and romance and a diamond robbery. The stars are all excellent in their roles; Earl Cameron and Bonar Colleano were never better in their careers and the leading female roles are both played wonderfully by Moira Lister and Susan Shaw. Solid support roles from Joan Dowling, Renee Asherson, a young Leslie Phillips, James Robertson Justice and Alfie Bass as well. What I can't understand is how that such a great film as this has never (to my knowledge) appeared on video or d.v.d. An oversight that needs putting right.

Quite splendid and surprisingly good British film with marvellous and evocative location shooting, mainly in and around the Tower Bridge and the docks. Fast moving, with decent story, well acted and directed, I am amazed I have never come across this before. Living in Greenwich, I was particularly thrilled to see a sequence shot in the Maritime Museum plus a shot which included a glimpse of what looked like a derelict observatory, certainly not surrounded by tourists as it is today. Also great to see the power station billowing smoke and absolutely no docklands development beyond. Earl Cameron plays the West Indian sailor who is shown getting pretty close to the action, even if he is considered, 'Just like all the rest.' Good to see he has continued to work right up to the present. Unlike the co-lead, very popular in his day apparently, Bonar Colleano, who died in a motor accident eight years after making this. Not a 'noir' as some have suggested, but a rattling good yarn and if you are interested in a glimpse of early post-war London, trams and all, this is a must.