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!
