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A brilliant thriller, and the more brilliant for dealing only with non-violent criminality of an advanced technical kind, as the burglar in question is a professional who has worked out a system of foolproof and almost impeccable systematization of his craft, which never can exclude the human factor, though, - and naturally,. even he must commit mistakes. There is only one casualty, the young Ian Bannen in one of his first parts, and he acts it brillantly, like Errol Flynn in his first film part was a glorious dead body and nothing else. The cinematography is also excellent, and the climax is not missing. Jack Hawkins as the leading police officer is reliable as usual, and all others are also quite on the level. It's a brilliant film on a B level but rises up to A for its excellent handiwork and keeps you busy and engaged all the way, from the smallest minor details in the beginning to a sustained suspense in the end. Almost 10 points.

Very solid brit crime drama. Fine performance from Jack Hawkins. Thankfully, not so much stiff upper lip as we were used, the humour between Hawkins and his sidekick the John Stratton bubbles along and the mechanics of the plot is nicely constructed and presented. A veritable glut of fine British actors both future stars like Ian Bannon and Stratford Johns and small part favourites like Sam Kydd and Harold Goodwin. Also keep an eye out for a young Nicholas Parsons playing a copper. If you're a resident of London it will be fascinating looking at the sites of our capital and seeing how much it has changed. An undiscovered gem worth digging out

Director Charles Frend does a splendid job with THE LONG ARM. He elicits strong performances from the entire cast (headed by the ever reliable Jack Hawkins) and the b&w photography is something to savour. I was fortunate to watch a very good DVD copy, and it brings out street scenes, landmarks of the London and Wales of the 1950s in high quality.

It is a time capsule. THE LONG ARM immediately precedes the "kitchen sink" period of the British cinema which began in the late 1950s, and you can still see very prim and proper behavior by all, young and old.

The script is predictable enough - after all it is half-documentary - but the dialogue keeps it ticking, and it includes some barbed remarks, and humor about marriage, dating, and other social concerns.

It is a well done film but perhaps the single thing that I will remember most vividly from watching it is Ursula Howells, the pretty lady who plays the part of Mrs Gilson, and who donates £5 towards Ian Bannen's widow. How beauty and a veneer of class can deceive...

Agree with all previous comments. I first saw this film on TV 20 years ago on a wet Sunday afternoon and loved it. I recorded it on VHS the next time it was shown on telly, bought it when it came out on commercial VHS and have just placed an advance order on Amazon for the DVD version which is due out in February 2008.

It's a glimpse into a lost world - 1950s Britain - and all the more charming for it. A surprising amount of location shooting adds to the authenticity. Facsinating to see the Royal Festival Hall, for example, standing alone before the South Bank was developed. I even went on a pilgrimage to Long Acre to check out Stone & Company Ltd - it's still there and looks exactly the same (the building that is)! The detective work is logical, methodical and low-tech. Scraping some clothes fibres of a car radiator is about the height of the forensic work.

Some nice touches of humour too. Example: Jack Hawkins complaining that his Sergeant is running off to a payphone to call his girlfriend. "You haven't seen her," comes the reply, "she's worth three shillings for three minutes." That must have had them blushing in the 50s.

Things only slow a bit when we're dealing with the Hawkins domestic front but that's a small complaint and was no doubt intended to inject a little social realism.

Find yourself a quiet afternoon, make yourself a cup of tea, crack open the custard creams and enjoy.

I echo Mike Wilson's views on this film, it is the classic British crime drama. Jack Hawkins is superb (and I feel that John Gregson's TV portrayal of Gideon was based on this). It even has little touches of humour which succeed in making the movie real. I would also agree with Mike that the later Gideon of Scotland Yard is poor in comparison, if Jack Hawkins had played the character in the same manner as he played Supt. Halliday, it could have been perfect. The movie has just been re-issued in the UK (Feb. 2003) on VHS.