The Hideout

This movie is determined to persuade you that London in 1956 could be just as hip as New York. The guns, gangsters and fast cars do their best but it's hard to disguise a bunch of Englishmen in tweed jackets driving Ford Prefects. The fast paced plot about smugglers who accidentally create the risk of an anthrax epidemic is really too complex for the very short running time. The real highlight is the superb black and white cinematography around London's docklands, which tips the balance to make this one worth watching.

Dermot Walsh is an insurance investigator in London about to fly out to London. He picks up Rona Anderson's case by accident and discovers it contains eight thousand pounds. He returns it to her and her brother, Ronald Howard, and finds himself in the midst of a plot involving smuggled, anthrax-laden furs and several armed thugs, all of whom want their money.

It's a fine example of what a one-hour second feature is supposed to offer: lots of plot, lots of action, and some good photography. Here, it's shots of London's Docklands -- now gone beneath Canary Wharf -- just the place where night time shooting and cinematic life are cheap. There's no stretching of any points and the characters are no more than sketches, but at this length, it's what one hopes for and, for once, gets.

This film has quite an interesting plot but it is too fast paced and very short. The anthrax element within the plot was underplayed and the main characters were unrealistic. There was a goof that made me laugh. When the ship captain held some of the characters at gunpoint he had his fingers over the top of the gun. If you know anything about guns you would realise that a semi-auto pistol cannot be shot like that. The story was rushed through, not leaving any time for the audience to get involved.

The really interesting part of this film are the shots of London as it was in 1956.At the beginning there are views of the West End at night.I remember with fondness the Lyons Corner Houses.Also the scenes taken at the docks.As one other reviewer has stated the plot is far too complex for a film which lasts 55 minutes.Reasonable cast do their best in the circumstances.

In Britain in the 1950s when going to the cinema one could expect a cartoon, Pathe News, Trailers, a "B" picture usually an hour or thereabouts, and finally "The Big Film".This was a classic "B" picture cheaply produced in terms of cast, crew and special effects.I saw it today courtesy of YouTube and it amused me for that hour or so and I awarded it 6/10.The plot concerns illegal peddling of furs which have been infected with deadly anthrax, the usual gangsters and romance this time of the sister of the bent fur dealer with an insurance investigator (Dermot Walsh).The "special effects" look unconvincing as evidenced by the primitive editing and as the other reviewer states there was a trend to "ape" American movies when it came to filming gangster films at that time.