Le criminel aux abois

Well I have to say I very much enjoyed this Ealing made British thriller, although I guess it was all a bit predictable as it has been described in the title.

The story revolves around a Canadian conman played by George Nader who reminds me for football fans as a Luis Figo lookalike. Good performances by Maggie Smith, making her film debut I think and Bernard Lee although I never thought of him as a violent type. A small part from the usual wooden Harry H Corbett too.

It kept my attention all the way through which is a fair achievement although as I mentioned previously it is a little predictable and has a few far fetched moments. Nevertheless a great watch.

One observation I made was how much our road system has improved since this film was made. When our main characters leave for Wales at the end Maggie tells George it will be an 8 hour journey, I can do in just over 2 if I put my foot down.

I almost skipped this film -- it was a late night offering on TCM -- but I'm so glad I taped it. Like most film noir, the story never seems to go in the direction you expect; its charm lies in this unpredictability. Unlike most film noir, however, Nowhere To Go seems both authentic and believable. In the end, Paul Gregory's self-assured cockiness is undone by surprise, deceit and suspicion.

My initial interest was to watch Maggie Smith's first credited screen role but was completely drawn in by all of the principal characters. Those more accustomed to seeing Smith in her more sophisticated roles from the 1970s onwards, will be pleasantly surprised by her ability to comfortably inhabit the role of a working class girl.

I had never seen George Nader in anything before. Too bad he never achieved the degree of greatness his talent and good looks seemed to promise. Although American born, I think he would have played a convincing James Bond.

Both Bessie Love and Bernard Lee provide strong supporting roles.

*Minor Spoilers* Slightly above average UK crime drama. George Nader isn't bad as cold, calculating thief Paul Gregory. But as a thief, Paul isn't so good. First he mismanages a scheme to remove valuable coins from a rich lady (Silent Screen veteran Bessie Love, who resembles Lesley Manville at times). Then a co-criminal, played by great Bernard Lee, tries to put one over on Paul and they both lose out In the middle of it all is young and pretty Maggie Smith...her motives are not all that clear, given the risk she takes for edgy and pushy Paul, whom she apparently fancies. The movie is very well directed by Seth Holt who knew how to keep things moving and how to keep your eyes interested in what's on screen. A sequence set in Wales, but probably not filmed there, is quite beautiful.

George Nader has "Nowhere to Go" in this 1958 British film that also serves as the debut for a virtually unrecognizable Maggie Smith. Nader plays Paul Gregory, a Canadian con man in London who befriends an old woman (silent screen star Bessie Love) and winds up stealing her valuable coin collection. He's blatant about it, knowing that he will serve a term in prison, but he'll get the money on release. He escapes early and finds that getting his hands on the money isn't going to be easy. His partner becomes greedy, there's an accidental death, and Gregory is forced to go on the run.

Kenneth Tynan and director Seth Holt co-wrote this tight script, and Holt keeps the action going and the tension and frustration building as Gregory runs out of options to get a hold of his money. The production is very good-looking as well.

Handsome George Nader was a Hollywood male starlet who wound up playing Ellery Queen on television, as well as starring in two other series and doing guest appearances before concentrating on a career in German film as kind of a James Coburn type. The rumor has persisted for years that Confidential magazine was ready to publish a story on Rock Hudson's homosexuality and traded that story with Universal Studios for one about Nader instead. This rumor emerged again when Hudson died, and left money to Nader in his will. If true, Universal obviously felt Hudson was going to be more important to them. That became a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was perhaps correct. The sad thing is that a story like that mattered.

"Nowhere to Go" is well worth seeing.

If this film had been made in 1950s France by directors named Clouzot or Melville, this Ealing production would be a regular on the revival circuit and in film school classrooms. Sadly, it's a completely unheralded film. Directed expertly by Seth Holt, who co-wrote the film with critic Kenneth Tynan, the film features an on-his-way-to-Europe George Nader as an American con man in London, looking to score by stealing a valuable coin collection (the owner is played by American expatriate and silent film star Bessie Love). His companion in crime is the docile but dangerous Bernard Lee, and there are double crosses and dirty dealings aplenty. The star of the film is Paul Beeson's amazing cinematography, always artistic but never too showy. Beeson also did sterling work for Ealing's The Shiralee (1957), and it's hard to understand how his career ended up on Harry Alan Towers scrap-heap. Dizzy Reece's outstanding jazz score (his only film work) fits the story like a glove and Maggie Smith makes her film debut as Nader's love interest. This is a great film and a true work of art.