The Gentle Trap

The title suggests a romantic comedy, but it generally proves yet another bleak, nihilistic little British crime film set in pre-swinging London in which almost everyone is looking after number one while an extremely unendearing petty crook finds himself out of his depth and as usual learns that Crime Does Not Pay.

A couple of small-time jewel thieves carry out a little job on the quiet, but are soon in way over their heads when they're spotted with the swag by a powerful gang. Said bunch of baddies decide to throw the honour-among-thieves rulebook out the window and pursue the hapless duo to get from them what's rightfully theirs (alright, wrongfully theirs, but not as wrongfully as the gang that's thieving from the thieves). The gang are helped along by a couple of crooked dames who use their feminine wiles to relieve the pilfering pair... of their booty. So the morals of this little story? It's alright to steal, but not to steal from stealers. Oh, and don't trust women. Ever.

Charles Saunders directs yet another B pic, this time from quick release and fittingly named Butchers Distributors, who pretty much butchered acting, editing, stunts and all the small components that make for memorable cinema.

The screenplay by to me unknown Brock Williams seems to plagiarize all manner of other B pics of the time, but at least dialogue has its moments, especially when beautiful Dorinda Stevens appears on screen as Mary, all deception and unscrupulous desire to score a percentage of the heist's proceeds. Felicity Young plays her principled sister, who falls in love and ultimately gets her man, the locksmith turned robber at the beginning of the pic, a 3' 22" voiceless sequence that may have been inspired by France's RIFIFI, which had come out 5 years earlier, and which is easily the most accomplished and better finished part of this flick, with a great piece of music as background.

Sadly, the thieving locksmith, played by - I had never heard of him - one Spencer Teakle, failed to tickle me. The man cannot seem to get a meaningful expression, and over the course of this thankfully short movie keeps getting black eyes, and all manner of facial bruises. Well, at least he tickles the lovely Felicity, and together they tie up one of top villain Martin Benson's sidekicks in an unintentionally laughable sequence. The tying of hands and feet is so minimal that a child would have gotten out of it in a minute, and the gagging with a facial powder ball should have killed the man just with all particles that would have filled his throat.

Photography, apart from that remarkable initial sequence as the credits roll down, is run of the mill.

Average but 56' won't waste too much of your time.

Spencer Teakle is a young man who has just qualified as a lock smith. but he's got a girl and ambitions, so he decides to get into a related line of business, and assists an older man with a burglary. When his partner is run down, Teakle finds himself on the run from the police, asking sketchy acquaintances for help. They're willing, for half the take. His problem is they don't see any reason to split with him.

Like many of Charles Saunders' later films, this quota quickie has a nice story, some decent actors, and a budget that doesn't allow much in the way of cinematic frills. With Martin Benson -- best remembered from GOLDFINGER -- as the chief bad guy, it runs through its paces quickly and efficiently enough to never pall, despite an annoying score by William Davies.

I have to say that I have rarely derived such perverse pleasure from a film as from this little 60s Brit pot boiler. Filmed on a shoestring budget with acting that, at times, scarcely merits the term, this is deliciously dreadful.

Lead man Johnny, the nice boy who gets in with the wrong crowd, is played (if that's the appropriate word) by Spencer Teakle-a name with which to conjour. Mr Teakle has mastered the rare art of acting without any movement of facial muscles or variation in vocal tone,a rare talent only equalled in recent years by "greats" of the screen such as Steven Segal.

Johnny is in love with Sylvia (Dawn Brooks), who wears a dress split down the side while singing in a sleazy night club owned by gang boss Ricky(Martin Benson), who is probably the best thing in it, from an acting perspective :a truly unpleasant man, mean, violent, lustful, treacherous, lecherous.

After a botched jewel heist our hero, flees to a clip joint tun by Mary Dorinda Stevens) a lady who could be described as "no better than she should be".

Mary is sensuous, sexy, blonde, beautiful and treacherous. Just my kind of girl_and the main reason I kept watching. Her sister, Jean, played by Felicity Young, is the "nice girl", the sort your mum would like you to bring home-and, therefore, about as sexy as cold rice pudding.

Ricky's two hoods, however, steal the show when it comes to bad acting. Al(Alan Edward's) looks like he stepped out of a period sitcom, while Ted's (Larry Burns) attempt to sound tough during car pursuit, is a thing of rare beauty - sounding like someone trying to speak after a particularly unpleasant visit to the dentist.

A film of first takes (one would hope), with a script written in the pub the night before, plus a director who must been anxious to move on to something more worthwhile - like a soap powder ad-make this an unmissable treat.

Enjoy!