A 3 passi dalla forca

I saw this under the title of "3 Steps to the Gallows". A better title would have been "3 Days to the Gallows," since when American seaman Scott Brady arrives in London and goes in search of his brother he finds the latter is due to be executed in three days' time for murder: he's innocent, of course. The film's scriptwriter plays the brother, and he's definitely a better writer than actor, seeming remarkably calm for someone facing imminent death for something he didn't do. John Gilling made several low-budget crime films in the 50s, and seeing this one made me want to see the others.The plot has some good twists, and there's a lot of interesting location filming. It was common practice to import minor American stars for such films, and Brady made a spirited hero, while Mary Castle, who I'd never seen before, bears a considerable resemblance to Rita Hayworth. She even sings in a nightclub, a la Gilda. The weaknesses are the way Brady wins all his fist fights (even against a professional boxer!) and the climax, in which the police turn up like the 7th Cavalry even though they had no way of knowing where the protagonists were. Very odd.

Hats off to the director, John Gilling, who delivers a fast moving, action packed movie, which has a film 'noir' dimension about it. The storyline revolves around a American naval officer, Gregor Stevens, played by Scott Brady, who is on shore leave, where he hopes to meet up with his brother, but to his horror, his brother is in prison, convicted of murder, and has three days left before he will be hanged. The muscular and athletic Brady now begins to take matters into his own hands to see if he can find out as to the actual circumstances, which has led to his brother languishing in a cell, waiting to be executed. Our hero, turned sleuth, gives an energetic and powerful performance as a 'man on a mission,' where he confronts not only several shady nightclub operators and thugs, but also the blond, sultry and deliciously beautiful Yvonne, played by Mary Castle, the resident nightclub singer. Brady has plenty of opportunity to show his physical and athletic prowess in a number of scenes where he has to chase, as well as evade several underworld henchmen, who wish to 'terminate' his interest in his hunt to find out the truth. Brady's frantic investigations, where he's diving in and out of taxis and cars, also sees him confronting some very unsavoury characters, such as 'Sartago,' the smooth and suave nightclub manager, wonderfully played by Ferdy Mayne, as well as from John Blythe, who gives a convincing performance playing the cheerful and breezy cockney boxer, Dave Leary. There are many dramatic twists and turns in this fast moving storyline, which ends with a thrilling 'Hitchcockian'' climax around Olympia in London. Although the finale is a bit far fetched, the director and the cameraman should be congratulated for creating an entertaining and riveting film, where many of the action scenes have a sense of gritty realism, set against the backdrop of London in the early 1950's. Normally, these type of quick quota B films, which were made in the 50's, with an American lead actor, were mediocre 'time fillers,' shown before the main feature, but the pacy storyline and the strong acting performances by the two main protagonists, Brady and Castle, puts this on a much higher level.

As we all know, starting in the early 1950s American mid-level 'name' actors and actresses started to find films harder to come by here, and any number of them ventured to England to make starring vehicles that might have an international market based on their marquee names. George Raft did it, as did Dane Clark, George Brent, Hillary Brooke, Lloyd Bridges, and many others. Scott Brady did, too. Most of these were released through Lippert and enjoyed reasonable success, and almost all of them are eminently forgettable. Not this one, though.

This is actually a very fast-moving and action-packed thriller, with enough mysteries woven into it for two films. Brady plays a seaman who arrives in England to enjoy some time with his brother, only to learn that his brother is due to be hanged for murder a scant three days hence. Brady's rush investigation to clear him involves many characters (every one of whom is acted, as is the British wont, like it was Academy Awards time), and there are wheels within wheels within wheels. Indeed, by the time the film ends, you realize you've been subjected to more twists than most Agatha Christie novels provide, but you accept them because they are well-presented, well-written and well-acted. Unlike most such British films with an American actor 'hook', this one is slam-bang all the way, and one particular fistfight that Brady has (there are several) with a nightclub owner and three or four henchmen goes from that manager's office, through a hallway, out into the nightclub and then onto the dance floor itself. (It's kind of like a shorter fisticuffs version of the concluding SCARAMOUCHE duel.)What makes it so impressive is that Brady is doing all his own fighting and stunts and looks terrific doing so. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is the best starring performance I have ever seen out of Lawrence Tierney's younger brother, and he was always a decent (or better) actor, although never a major star. The female interest is provided by another American temporary ex-pat, Mary Castle, as a woman of some mystery and much beauty. (In fact, in every shot she appears in, she looks enough like a blonde Rita Hayworth to be her illegitimate sister.) The film seems to involve just about constant location shooting, in boxing arenas, gyms, restaurants, foggy-but-real streets, back alleys, and finally at some kind of big British exposition or fair, and the photography is grainy, noirish, and just plain terrific most of the time. If it is all wrapped up a little too tidily in the end, well, we never complain when Dame Agatha does the same.

I give it a high 8 rating because of the pure look of the film, the very realistic physicality of it all, the terrific character actors on display throughout, and mainly I guess, because it seems to me the very best of the dozens of such British semi-quota quickies that brought over American mid-level stars for a one-film-stand in London. Given what it was intended to be, and the somewhat brutish elan with which its intentions are accomplished, this is a very considerable achievement.

As some other reviewers have mentioned, THREE STEPS TO THE GALLOWS is a highly superior British film noir which doesn't let up from beginning to end. A twisty turny mystery style plot line throws up some familiar tropes - it seems half of British crime films made during the 1950s consisted of criminal enterprises utilising nightclubs as their lairs - but runs away with them thanks to a fast pacing and a complete refusal to deviate from the thriller aspects of the storyline.

American actor Scott Brady plays a sailor who gets some shore leave to visit his brother, only to discover that he's disappeared. He soon uncovers a sinister, conspiracy-style mystery that will lead to his brother's imminent execution, so it's a race against time to prove his innocence. Along the way he tangles with femme fatales, dogged detectives, and various henchmen, often slugging it out with the latter in some engaging fight scenes.

Brady is a slightly boring main actor but the supporting cast make up for deficiencies, with Ferdy Mayne and Michael Balfour on particularly strong form. Ballard Berkeley plays a cop and must have been one of the most typecast actors of the era. Director John Gilling, who would later direct the likes of THE REPTILE for Hammer, does a sterling job, but the real star here is Welshman Paul Erickson, whose debut script is never less than compelling.

Scott Brady is a merchant mariner who gets off ship in England to visit his brother. He finds his brother in prison, doomed to hang in three days for murder, unless Brady can make his way through a murky underworld conspiracy that involves smuggled diamonds.

I find it interesting, the number of British programmers that begin with a sailor of some sort making port, hoping to see a relative, and discovering he is in jail or dead. It's a nice technique for plopping the protagonist down in a plot in a new situation, forcing him to deal not only with the plot, but the part of society he's caught up in. Usually it's a guy; Howard Hawks liked to use the situation with a woman coming into a tight-knit community of men -- Jean Arthur in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS; Angie Dickinson in RIO BRAVO are two of those movies. However, in those movies, it's the exploration of that society that is the point of the movie; sure, there's a plot, but what it turns into is a story about bonding.

Brady is good in the role, and the story is well told, but while the mystery aspect is good, it's a decent programmer, and little more... which is fine.