La lunga mano

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.

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...

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.

The Long Arm is an excellent film in my opinion, for 2 main reasons. Firstly it captures all the elements of a typical 1950s British film, with typical London landmarks, familiar faces from other movies, and accents and a way of life portrayed from that era prior to the onset of the society-changing 1960s. Secondly the movie provides, for someone watching for the first time, a thrilling plot with several twists which keep you interested right to the end.

Hawkins is superb as the central character - with the investigation of a hit-and-run murder obviously a more serious crime in 50s London than nowadays. This is the sort of film to watch if you are off work on a midweek afternoon.

This is a superb police detection drama, with Jack Hawkins as the warm-hearted focus of a rather complex crime saga. The best supporting performance is by Ursula Howells, who brilliantly conveys neurotic menace and desperation in just a few scenes. The young Ian Bannen is killed off very quickly, but already in this early appearance we can see his superior qualities working on screen. This 1956 British film is clearly an attempt to emulate the 1940s and 1950s Hollywood films such as 'The House on 92nd Street', directed by Henry Hathaway, since it also portrays stolid and patient police work, shown in loving detail. There are no 'noir' elements to this drama, and the crime is just crime, with no psychology or angst. The plot has some intriguing novelties. In the first safe robbery at the beginning of the film, the thief remains at the scene of the crime and pretends to be a night watchman, lets the police in, shows sympathy and bewilderment, and then makes his escape after they have gone. The whole case really is a brain-teaser, and well worth viewing by any chess player or detective enthusiast. It is a superior British film of its genre.