Night Ride

Back in the 1930s distributors would agree to purchase films at so many pence per foot.The producer would therefore make the film as cheaply as possible.His profit being the difference between the cost of producing the film and the amount received from the distributor.I think that the producer of this film must have done quite well as precious little seems to have been spent on actors sets or writers.Wally patch a popular character actor is virtually a leading player in this film.The sets are very basic.Lorries seem to be continuously driven around a studio set.|The premise upon which the climax is set seems to me to be one of the most stupid conceit ever devised.The crooked hauliers are unable and unwilling to deliver pumping equipment to a flooded mine with trapped miners.They set out though to stop the rival firm from taking the equipment and possibly getting a new contract.What is even more ridiculous is that although they are not prepared to send lorries out in the fog to deliver equipment,they are prepared to send out lorries to stop the other firms lorries.Now you try and work that out!The only consolation to the viewing public is that it is unlikely that you will ever see this on TV.The only way to see it is by buying it from a company in America.

This 1930s quota quickie stars Jimmy Hanley as nice guy truck driver Dick Benson who with his pal Alf Higgins (Wally Patch) stop to give a stranded woman a lift one night and then later gets involved in an accident with young lady's car who turns out to be their boss's daughter and they soon get the sack.

They set up their own haulage company with financial backing from Tony Spinelli (Julian Vedey) an Italian restaurant owner. They quickly find success but their former boss is losing business from the new upstarts and begins a deliberate sabotage campaign to undermine them.

Dick meanwhile quickly loses interest in the business now that he has some money and starts to get romanced by the woman who got them the sack.

This a very low budget film, it is all just a few sets, some stage shooting and that is it. The film starts of well enough but then loses it way. It seems the script was quickly written and makes little sense.

The climax is Dick and Tony delivering equipment in the fog to help rescue stranded miners in a flooded mine as their rivals plan to thwart them.

NIGHT RIDE really is the definition of a 'quota quickie'. It's a thrill-fuelled drama set in the world of the haulage business, a topic which isn't as dull as it sounds: both THE WAGES OF FEAR and HELL DRIVERS brought the subject to life in a vibrant and exciting way, and both films are acknowledged classics.

Sadly, this poverty-row production was ahead of its time and doesn't hold a candle to either of those movies. It was directed by the prolific John Paddy Carstairs on the cheap, and most of the action takes place in a single small set. The plot isn't a bad one, but the film lacks emotional impact and thrills. It sees truck drivers Jimmy Hanley and Wally Patch falling foul of their ruthless employer so deciding to set up their own rival business with a cafe owner.

What follows is less than exciting, a drama which manages only a few decent set-pieces (the dangerous fog ride is one of them). Hanley and Patch are both solid actors but they're not at their best here. Hanley is a bit stolid while Patch doesn't get much of a chance to shine, although he's still the best thing in it. One of the worst things about the production, aside from the insipid romantic flirtings, is the performance of British actor Julian Vedey who plays an over the top Italian character steeped in stereotype. It's a performance that belongs in a farce or pantomime, and it ruins the movie.

I was almost tempted to give it 8 but the ending was too yucky. Acting was good and it breezed along. The haves and the have nots and those willing to sell out for the almighty dollar. Entertaining is the name of the game!

The young John Paddy Carstairs turns in a surprisingly gritty little drama about hauliers on the road; it's obviously tiny budget enhanced by fast editing making good use of the optical wipes that abound in British films of the thirties, and vivid night scenes shot by veteran cameraman Desmond Dickinson.

Elizabeth Kent is a fox as the high maintainance Bad Girl, while the worst performance is ironically by comedy Italian Julian Vedey, who supplied the original story.