Flannelfoot

1953
1h 14min

NOTE IMDb

MA NOTE

Mary Germaine, Ronald Howard, and Jack Watling in Flannelfoot (1953)

Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueThriller about a notorious jewel thief and murderer.Thriller about a notorious jewel thief and murderer.Thriller about a notorious jewel thief and murderer.

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5,4/10

107

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4JoeytheBrit

A host of suspects fail to enliven this British cheapie in which a police detective searches for the titular master criminal. Some familiar faces amongst the cast, but it's otherwise totally forgettable.

4Leofwine_draca

Plodding detective tale

FLANNELFOOT is yet another detective thriller from director Maclean Rogers, who also handled the similarly-themed Paul Temple films and MARK OF THE PHOENIX. This one's about a notorious jewel thief (the oddly-monikered 'Flannelfoot') who turns to murder to cover up his crimes. The police are in hot pursuit in a chase that takes them across Europe.

There's really nothing about FLANNELFOOT that makes it stand out from the crowd; everything about it is distinctly ordinary, not least the lead performance from Ronald Howard (son of the more famous Leslie). Ronald Adam is better even if he's once again typecast as a detective, and there are supporting roles for Ronald Leigh-Hunt and Graham Stark, but it's all so, well, ordinary, that you won't really care.

The plotting is chock full of the usual twists and turns and red herrings and it only really starts getting lively for the climax (and Rogers once again can't resist utilising a rooftop setting for the ending). But FLANNELFOOT has a cheap, workmanlike quality to it which saps the viewer's enjoyment.

6trimmerb1234

So who is the well known face in this smudgy British noir?

It's TV's Diana Coupland (1928-2006) '70s sitcom star and TV regular, appearing in her first film as a night club band singer. What is noticeable is how well she sings. So she should - that was her first career IMDb notes.

Ronald Adam was an excellent actor, frequently cast, and at his best, as an authority figure (Prime Minister in "Seven Days to Noon"). Once at least as baddie mastermind. Here though he is a detective, old enough to be his boss's father. The sight of him apologising to his younger boss "Sorry, Sir, I don't know what came over me" is strange one. I am guessing that this was the only in his career.

Graham Stark plays a convincing professional nark.

The film tries too hard to model itself on its American noir predecessors. Comedy band Bonzo Dog once lampooned slavish imitation of the genre: "Have you got a light, Mack?" "No but I've got a dark brown overcoat" The print shown unfortunately is very soft - if the print had been sharp and sparkling and photography seen to better advantage, I think viewers would have a better opinion of it. As it is, it is the cinematic equivalent of a long rainy afternoon, the sound track even sounds like one.

2richardchatten

A Very Poor Man's 'Ringer'

The title suggests a comedy, but is actually the alias of an arch criminal who occasionally kills someone to keep things interesting; presumably inspired by Edgar Wallace's 'The Ringer', the most recent film version of which had hit cinemas the previous year.

Set mostly in the stately home of newspaper baron Lord Wrexford, in which people spend most of the film pedestrianly lined up by director Maclean Rogers discussing the case; Rogers occasionally showing a modicum of visual imagination when somebody else gets murdered (there's a remarkably graphic shot of a dead man with his eyes open), and in the prologue set in Berlin which begins with a close-up a very young Diana Coupland as a leggy nightclub singer languidly lighting up (less surprising than it at first sounds to those who know she later dubbed Ursula Andress's singing voice in 'Dr.No').

6robert-temple-1

Better than usual British B mystery of the early fifties

There are lots of interesting location shots in this film showing early fifties London, with the scars of bombing still apparent. 'Flannelfoot' is the name given to a jewel thief because he makes no sound with his feet as he slips in and out stealing priceless gems. No one knows who he is, except that he is 'one of us', i.e. of the smart set. There are lots of red herrings, some darker red than others, swimming around in this story, where we are kept guessing until the last. My goodness, the manners and mores of yesteryear! There is one hilarious shot where four men in white dress scarves and black overcoats, clearly men of fashion out on the town for an evening, say 'We had better not call attention to ourselves,' as they seek to investigate the mystery incognito and mix with ordinary folk. Calling Michael Arlen! But this film is amusing and worth watching for those interested in old British movies and what things were like back then.

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Anecdotes
Diana Coupland'd debut.

Citations
Lord Wexford: [he enters the pub] Whisky, please, Miss, large one. 'Pon my soul, if it isn't young Harry Fitzgerald. Well, how are you my boy?
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Lord Wexford, I'm glad to see you again, Sir.
Lord Wexford: Here, have a drink. Fill that up, whatever it is.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Light ale.
Lord Wexford: Now, where have you been hiding all these years?
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Well, things weren't so good for us after father died so I don't hit the high spots like a used to.
Lord Wexford: Reformed character, eh? Well, here we are,
[he hands Fitzgerald his drink]
Lord Wexford: Well, here's joy.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Cheers!
Lord Wexford: We couldn't have met at a better time. This is going to be quite a night.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Oh, yeah?
Lord Wexford: Yes, this is where Fleet Street shows Scotland Yard what's what.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Oh, really?
Lord Wexford: Yeah, you know what these policemen are - good fellows, conscientious - but solid bone from the neck up.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Mmm... very solid, yes.
Lord Wexford: Look, keep this to yourself but my friends and I are hoping to pull off something that Scotland Yard has failed to do for months... yes, we're going to lay that scoundrel Flannelfoot by the heels.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Well, that's most astonishing.
Lord Wexford: You know I have a sort of feeling that Scotland Yard are going to look pretty silly before the night's finished.
[they both laugh]
policeman: Excuse me, Sergeant, Superintendent Carter would like a word with you on the phone.
Sgt. Fitzgerald: Oh, thanks, Pat. Excuse me, won't you, Sir?
Lord Wexford: Superintendent...? Then who...?
policeman: That's Detective Sergeant Fitzgerald, Sir.