L'incendiario

Had no idea if I was going to enjoy this film which is in black and white and was filmed on location in Liverpool, England in a very depressing area with a great deal of problems. Truman, (Stanly Baker) is a detective and is reassigned to another position which is, Juvenile Liason Officer who is now in charge of trying to stop juvenile crime in the City of Liverpool. Truman is not too happy about his assignment but does get involved with young twin children named Mary and Patrick Murphy who have been stealing things in the local stores and meets up with their older sister, Cathie, (Anne Heywood). Johannie Murphy, (David McCallum) is the older brother and he is a ring leader who is causing many problems in the City of Liverpool. Johannie has some mental problems which cause him to enter a school with a gun and starts a major problem and gets himself deeper and deeper in trouble with the police. Peter Cushing, (Priest) plays a great supporting role and even falls off a ladder that is pushed by bad boy Johannie. There is some brief romance in this film also between Cathie and Detective Truman. This film is very different and explodes towards the end of the film. Enjoy.

Stanley Baker plays a Liverpool police detective who is reassigned to a special Juvenile Liassion Department, which takes this film into the world of a large public housing project teeming with youth of all ages who are seemingly teetering on the edge of becoming responsible adults or the criminals the movie portrays, played quite well by David McCallum and the other tough actors who play his hoodlum friends and followers. There's an awesome opening shot of McCallum and his boys within the confines of the project, and the film interjects Baker into this world through his relationship with two childhood twins who play McCallum's younger siblings, and their older sister, whom Baker begins to fall for. Things get a little bit unbelievable as the film progresses, but the focus on alienated youth bopping along to a rock and roll song isn't half bad, and the conclusion, which seemed to me to be too much of a stretch, was still shockingly well done.

Sadly when you watch a film that is 60 years old, you may be lucky if only one or two members of the cast are still alive. As of April 2018, Violent Playground has several members of cast not only alive but still performing such as David McCallum, Michael Chow, Tsai Chin, Freddie Starr and Melvyn Hayes.

Director Basil Dearden as he did in Sapphire and would go on to do in Victim, makes a melodrama dealing with social issues.

Set in post war Liverpool, Stanley Baker plays Detective Truman, he is unmarried, has no kids and he is assigned to work in the with a juvenile division, something he is not keen on. His brief is to stop youngsters living in the poverty ridden part of the city, entering a life of crime.

He ends up dealing with a pair of young twins who were caught shoplifting. Truman is comfortable at first dealing with the kids but as he takes them home to their block of flats he comes to a bunch of older unruly youths such as their older brother Johnnie (McCallum) who might be behind a string of arson in the city. Truman also gets involved romantically with Johnnie's sister.

Johnnie is rather unhinged, in the past he was feted a hero but the film climaxes as Johnnie holds young children in a school hostage in an armed seige.

The film is not totally convincing as it seems the director is uncomfortable in how to deal with the social justice aspects of the story. It wants to be The Blackboard Jungle but it does not get there. Many of the actors have non Scouse accents which is a surprise as McCallum was supposed to be an early British actor influenced by the method acting techniques. Baker's character gets too comfortable, too early as a Juvenile officer, able to understand the issues facing the young kids, although that might be just to expedite the story. Some of the scenes of the youths enjoying rock n roll music and dancing to it just looks silly, making a link to music and juvenile delinquency.

VIOLENT PLAYGROUND sees tough detective Stanley Baker assigned to a new role after falling foul of his boss; he's directed to head up a juvenile crime prevention scheme. Baldwin fears that his new role will be anything but interesting, but things turn out otherwise as a sub-plot involving an arsonist terrorising the streets of Liverpool becomes mixed up with the main story.

This is a gritty, ahead-of-its-time thriller that mixes social drama with a hard-hitting crime flick. It's surprisingly modern in feel, with tight, character-based drama mixed with action, ranging from car chases to hostage scenarios and of course one or two fiery set-pieces. Basil Dearden's black-and-white photography is crisp and clear and he makes sure to elicit strong performances from his cast members.

Baker is one of those underrated actors who sort of got forgotten about after his death, aside from his role in ZULU, of course, but he's very good given the right material and VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is perfectly suited for his talents. Baker is supported by an engaging cast, including Anne Heywood's love interest and Peter Cushing's priest, and it's worth looking out for future stars Tsai Chin and Freddie Starr in more minor parts. The best actor of the lot is David McCallum in a real star-making turn as the disturbed delinquent whose storyline propels the narrative. Altogether VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is a pacey and engaging piece of film-making which mixes drama and thrills in an effective way.

1958's "Violent Playground" hasn't seen much airplay over the years, one of Britain's earliest answers to "Rebel Without a Cause" or "The Blackboard Jungle" (children in jeopardy too often a disturbing reality). The Johnny Luck recording "Play Rough" is heard over the opening credits (and throughout), as Det. Sgt. Jack Truman (Stanley Baker) switches from a case of arson to the Juvenile Liaison Division, unaware that his 'firebug' will soon reveal himself among them. Filming on location in the Gerard Gardens tenement of Liverpool (demolished in 1987), any clichés that pop up scriptwise are averted by strong performances, as the two young twins are surprisingly well played by real life twins Brona and Fergal Boland (never to do another film). Real life siblings Michael Chow and Tsai Chin (Lin Tang opposite Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu) are also cast as brother and sister, while the leads are portrayed by Anne Heywood and David McCallum, still seven years away from THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. but already displaying a smoldering, sullen presence on screen (if perhaps at 24, too old for a teen). Other commentators have complained about the love interest, but it's not that intrusive, while a surprisingly ineffective Priest, Father Laidlaw, is essayed by rising Hammer star Peter Cushing, who at least informs Baker's officer about some of the characters' backgrounds (the two actors would reunite for 1962's "The Man Who Finally Died"). Other Hammer faces on view include Clifford Evans, George A. Cooper, and Melvyn Hayes, the young Baron in "The Curse of Frankenstein," who again worked opposite Cushing in 1959's "The Flesh and the Fiends" and 1979's "Touch of the Sun."