L'indic

Surprisingly, one of the best tough-cop performances in a British film came from Nigel Patrick in "The Informers," an actor who has considerably more strength in this kind of role than all those witty, urbane characters in which he has found himself would seem to suggest...

Patrick played a detective-sergeant with a genuine London accent and showed a fierceness towards a gang of crooks which at the time (1963) was highly unusual in British pictures… It could be that the characterization was in a direct line from his Soho racketeer in "The Noose ( 1948), his cold-hearted spymaster in "Count Five and Die,"( 1958) and his police detective in "Sapphire" (1959). Somewhere inside Nigel Patrick, it seems, there is a Sterling Hayden trying to break out

Ken Annakin, a director not known for masterpieces but for comedies and trusty box office returns, takes an unusually serious approach in THE INFORMERS, a dour British noir with Nigel Patrick a police detective making his own decisions in contravention of his boss' standing orders.

Instead of collating evidence piecemeal to take the criminals to court, he decides to speed things up on his own without a word to anyone in the office, with the upshot that clever villain Frank Finlay sets him a trap that makes him look like he is on the take and seeing prostitutes on the side, and he is remanded in custody and actually suspended from duty by uncompromising police chief Harry Andrews.

Derrin Nesbitt, as ever, plays the flamboyantly ruthless criminal who resorts to underhand methods to get lovely Margaret Whiting (is she the one who sings "My Foolish Heart" and other 1950s songs?) to ensnare Patrick. Very fine acting from all, down to the smallest part.

I like the script in general and dialogue in particular, complete with cockney accents giving the film and characters considerable authenticity, and presenting an unusual angle on dereliction of police duty with the best possible intentions.

Extremely effective B&W cinematography with clever use of closeups.

A truly excellent example of the British thriller genre produced on modest budgets in the late 50's and early'60s. Nigel Patrick goes against type from his usual suave, raffish and urbane gent about town - although he's still a fairly suave and urbane Detective Inspector here, albeit a very doggedly determined one.

DI Johnnoe prefers the old tried and tested methods of crime busting, including associating with known criminals as snouts. His boss (Harry Andrews) , backed up by the weasely and ambitious Smythe (Allan Cuthbertson), is keen to do away with these old habits and trouble lies in store when Johnnoe persists after one of his snouts is bumped off.

The supporting cast is magnificent, with a roll call of superb Brit actors, many of whom were just emerging into fame at the time. In particular, Frank Finlay, Colin Blakely (both outstanding), also Derren Nesbitt, George Sewell, Brian Wilde, to name but a few. Even Peter Bowles gets an early (uncredited) turn as the mysteriously-named "Peter the Pole".

The final punch up is a little chaotic, but it doesn't detract from the overall narrative of the film which starts as a detective vs bad guys story, but soon evolves into a much deeper and engaging theme. Thoroughly recommended.

Colin Blakely tries to talk brother John Cowley into ending his career as a 'snout', an informer to Chief Inspector Nigel Patrick. He can come into the profitable junk business as a partner with Blakely. Cowley says he's never had it so good..... until the gang that's been hitting banks learns he's been grassing and kills him Meanwhile, Patrick is ordered to stop associating with criminals. He scoffs and keeps on working information his way. This is, until the gang frames him with photographs and cash from one of the recent robberies hidden in his attic. He's taken in and charged.

Ken Annakin's movie, derived from a novel by Douglas Warner, offers an examination of the limited loyalty on both sides of the battle between law and crime, with a slow series of character studies that gradually speeds up, into an exciting final fifteen minutes. Both sides have brains, and both sides make mistakes, and that makes it all the more believable. Patrick gives a fine performance as an honest cop who cuts a few too many corners.

Annakin would spend the rest of the 1960s offering bloated comedy epics. Here, he takes his time, and it really pays off.

Surprisingly tough, given that this was made in 1963, and surprisingly good British crime movie directed by the usually reliable Ken Annakin. It's based on the novel, "Death of a Snout" and it's about Police Inspector Nigel Patrick's attempt to find out who killed his number one informant. It has an excellent cast that includes Margaret Whiting, Darren Nesbitt, Frank Finlay, Roy Kinnear, Harry Andrews and Colin Blakely and Annakin makes great use of his London locations. It may not surface very often these days but it's certainly worth seeing.