The Long Haul

There is a sort of inevitability about casting Victor Mature and Diana Dors. That is if you the reader have any passion for 1950's films as I do. They were larger than life then, and their physicality alone caught people's attention back then even if it does not now. Imagine the star of ' Demetrius and the Gladiators ' and the star of ' Passport to Shame ' meeting in a dream and insisting on their acting together and you have it. A dream for many came true to them as well as us, both with the male and female audience. Ken Hughes was a good director for them, and the screen is in stark and beautiful black and white showing off their mutual acting and physical abilities. Typecast as bad girl we all loved back then, but good at heart even when she kills in ' Yield to the Night ' (arguably her best performance) Dors shows yet again how well she could handle her sexual allure and her skills as a fine actor. Victor Mature in his rough, beat up good looks, and his equal power as a very strong actor make as I said a perfect match. And Hughes given a complex Film Noir plot does not let the audience down with trucks burning up the asphalt quite literally and corrupt men manipulating the weak and the good. No spoilers but Mature is a married man, but despite falling in love with Dors, duty to a mistaken marriage haunts him to the film's end. I enjoyed every minute of this very thrilling and sexy film (more so if the censor would have allowed) and it is well worth seeing once, and maybe more than once. Not a great film and a little bit derivative of others it somehow holds its own, and corruption in the long haul trucking business shows well the underside of British life in the mid-1950's.

I've just seen the 88m version of this film on a 'Hollywood Movie Greats' video and feel compelled to add my opinion because I feel the other reviews don't do this film justice. The Overlook Film Encyclopedia of the Gangster Film (edited by Phil Hardy, 1998) calls it an 'impressive...tough, exciting movie that, for its time, is remarkably full of nasty and sleazy characters...' They go on to mention the uniformly good performances including Diana Dors who is 'excellent'. In fact, if you're a fan of noir, Diana Dors, and Victor Mature, this is a triple whammy. Dors is lovingly lit throughout, weather with gleaming blonde hair giving her an almost angelic allure when Mature first realises he's a goner as he looks at her, or whether weeping in the shadows of a car's backseat; by the final scene only the truly cynical will be left unmoved by her performance. Okay, there's nothing particularly new or genre-bending in the script, but the relationships,whether amatory, or detailing the struggle of a fundamentally honest man trying not to succumb to the corruption of the low-lifes surrounding him, are more than adequately depicted. Perhaps the longer version has some slack; many films are improved by trimming. Well-written, well-shot, well-acted, well - what more do you want?

The Long Haul is directed by Ken Hughes and Hughes adapts the screenplay from the Mervyn Mills novel. It stars Victor Mature, Diana Dors, Patrick Allen, Gene Anderson and Peter Reynolds. Music is by Trevor Duncan and cinematography by Basil Emmott.

Harry Miller (Mature) is an American serviceman who after the war has relocated to Northern England to live with his British wife and their son. He hankers to get back to America but his wife is not keen, so he takes up a truck driving job and quickly learns that corruption and under the table deals are the order of the day. Refusing to bend to that way on account of his moral fibre, this puts him on a collision course with violent racketeer boss Joe Easy (Allen), more so when he steps in to help Easy's girlfriend, Lyn (Dors), during an altercation and Lyn becomes quite smitten with Harry.

Gritty and grimy Brit noir that pulses with violence, simmering sexuality and big roaring lorries! By the time of film's release, the plot device of a returning soldier finding things less than worth fighting for had been done to death, but in the case of Hughes' movie it has a relocation slant that gives it a bit of zest. This gives the pic a rock solid foundation from which to tell its tale, and in the main it delivers all the requisite requirements for the film noir buff.

Narratively it revels in film noir tropes, not content with the confused ex-soldier angle, it throws in a classic femme fatale (Dors sexually charged) and a trick up its sleeve that puts some extra oomph into the culmination of story. The look is a suitably shadowy world of wet winding roads and smoky road side diners, while the dockside scenes are so excellently filmed you can practically smell the damp and salt wafting across the working class backdrop.

Some supporting performances are, shall we say too keen, and some of the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, but this is well worth a spin for anyone interested in British noir. Mature and Dors, both under rated actors in their day, are great value as characters desperately trying to find some solid meaning in life, while Allen has a great time playing the cigar chomping - square jawed - bastardo Joe Easy. Check it out, a better than average Brit noirer, pushing boulders and trying to move emotional mountains, indeed! 7/10

Although other comparisons have been made, the American film that this British noir film seems to bare the biggest resemblance for me is the Dick Powell-Lizabeth Scott-Jane Wyatt classic Pitfall. The same plot situation is at work here in The Long Haul with Mature caught between wife Gene Anderson and the voluptuous Diana Dors. The way Dors was coming on to him who could blame Vic for stumbling a bit.

Mature plays a recently discharged American GI who married a British bride and they have a son. He wants to go to America, she wants to stay in the UK. Mature acquiesces temporarily and gets a job as a truck driver handling the big rigs. The truck drivers in Great Britain seem to have the same work ethic and style as they do on this side of the pond.

But a string of bad luck forces Mature into a smuggling operation with Patrick Allen whose girlfriend is Diana Dors. Circumstances bring Mature and Dors together and with those two Jayne Mansfield like weapons of mass destruction she's sporting those who are attracted by same would find it impossible to resist.

The Long Haul with Mature giving it some American box office appeal is a pretty good noir thriller. Though the framework of the story is Pitfall like the ending comes out somewhat different. After over 50 years the film holds up very well for today's audience.

And Diana Dors's appeal is eternal.

Harry (Victor Mature) and Connie have a horrible marriage. You don't realize to what extent when the film begins...but there are definite signs they are having trouble when she refuses to move to the States when Harry's hitch in the service is over...and they HAD agreed on this move. Harry gives in and later his resentment comes out...in the form of a sexy receptionist, Lynn (Diana Dors). However, there is much more to the story...in fact, the main thrust of the film is Harry's job with a trucking company in the UK. It's run by a real creep, Joe Easy (Patrick Allen) and the guy isn't above faking hijackings of his trucks (so he can sell the loads), slapping folks about and even murder!! So how does Harry fit into all this?

In many ways, this film has a very noir feel to it. However, unlike most American noir pictures, pretty much everyone in it is a jerk! Connie is a poor excuse for a wife, Harry's moral compass becomes more and more bent through the course of the film and everyone has an aura of sliminess about them. This is NOT a complaint...more an observation. If you are looking for heroes...well, you won't really find any here....just jerks and bigger and nastier jerks! My complaint isn't really this...it's the ending when, inexplicably, there is some selflessness! Still, an exciting British film...and worth seeing.