The Marked One

Veteran director Francis Searle equips himself very well in his fabulously terse crime thriller 'The Marked One' in one of the more actively thrilling, under-documented British crime B-pictures of the 1960s. Handsome, tough-as-hobnail boots Truckie, and ex-lag, trying to go straight Don Mason (William Lucas) has his altogether noble attempts to make a new start for himself brusquely thwarted by a savage back-alley beating by burly thugs unknown, this violent altercation heralds an increasingly frantic series of threatening events, Don's estranged wife Kay (Zena Walker), and innocent young daughter being inexorably drawn into the toxic miasma of the underworld, as, sadly, Don's foolhardy past dalliances with crime are proving increasingly hard to avoid! 'The Marked one' is a consistently engaging, competently-made, brightly acted, flint-edged B-Thriller; a lean, well-sprung, moodily photographed monochrome marvel from the sin-slinging Britain of the 1960s, with the delightfully appealing, blonde-haired actor William Lukas energetically making for a compellingly twin-fisted anti-hero in his desperate, adrenalized rush to make good. This a must-see for 60s B/W crime movie buffs, and also includes a commendably sprightly jazzy score by Bernie Fenton & Frank Patten ta' boot!

This is a British Crime thriller which manages to long outstay its welcome despite the fact that it only lasts just over one hour.Lucas plays a lorry driver who is recently out of prison.It appears that he either has or knows where he can find plates for making forged banknotes.For this reason he is a very popular or unpopular man,The scriptwriter seems to have decided to throw in as many elements as he can think of for this type of thriller with the result that it is an unexciting mess.Furthermore it is not that difficult to work out the identity of the mysterious threatening voice on the telephone.Despite the fact that this film was made at MGM Borehamwood studios the production looks threadbare and poverty stricken.The producer is Tom Blakely so presumably this film had some connection with Mancunian Studios.

An early production of Tom Blakeley's Planet Pictures (soon to turn its attention to horror and sci-fi).

Superficially this looks like just another British 'B' budget crime potboiler of the period, but it has a sharp storyline worth paying attention to, bolstered by a large supporting cast of fleshed-out characters well acted.

William Lucas was an obscure British actor whose small amount of fame was as the father in an adaptation of BLACK BEAUTY, no longer the Bogart-looking tough guy from a string of early-1960's b-crimes as leading bad guys (THE BREAK), sketchy middlemen (PAYROLL) or criminals in-between (CALCULATED RISK, BREAKOUT)...

And THE MARKED ONE leans to that middle-ground... an ex convict who, with a divorced wife, young daughter and nowhere factory gig, is threatened by enigmatic prior-partners-in-crime to retrieve forgery plates that he might or might not have, providing more mystery to the character than his dire circumstance...

His daughter's threatened for an anticipated kidnapping; and when it finally happens Lucas's Don Mason's rushed through the usual neo noir cadence of asking questions: from woodwork goons including David Gregory as a goading womanizer and photographer Brian Nissan, whose model girlfriend is THE GIRLS HUNTERS ingenue Kim Tracy...

But it's our subtle hero's wife played by always-dependable British actress Zena Walker who not only steals the show but has the most to gain or lose including her daughter, her job, and the man she's born to retrieve: if only their relationship were tested more intensely, overall making THE MARKED ONES more an idea than movie.

Criminals believe that ex con Don Mason is in possession of forgery plates, to coerce him into handing them over, they threaten to kidnap his daughter Mary.

I wouldn't say this is the most dynamic looking film I've come across, very much a B movie, it's functional, it's well filmed and well produced, but it's more robust than dynamic.

However when it comes to the film's actual story and the acting, it scores quite highly. It's engaging, a good old fashioned story of blackmail, with the central character Don proving to be an interesting leading man.

A short running time helps the film's pace, it pops along quite nicely.

William Lucas is very strong as Don, very well supported by Zena Walker, she clearly had a busy agent, she was a prolific actress, talented too.

Competently well made, well acted, with a good storyline, it's a good watch.

7/10.