488:(1958) did that of Liverpool, but in the coin-tossing game on the dingy moor outside a little factory town it has a most striking outdoor sequence, thanks in great measure to Arthur Grant's stark photography and the choice of extras who really look their parts. ... Elsewhere, Val Guest's script and direction maintain a hectic pace, with frequent scene changes, mobility of camera and performers, and much rapid, loud, intense dialogue, all making most recent American gangster films seem weakly constructed and slow-moving. There is a perpetual feeling of barely suppressed savagery, submerged in the excitement and rush of the early scenes, but undisguised later with a near-rape and the hunting and shooting of the deaf-mute blonde, Silver – almost the only character who is neither depraved nor at least coarsened."
31:
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wrote: "Any
British crime picture that forswears the sleazy bars and pseudo-luxury flats of London and the sinister country houses of the Home Counties deserves some welcome, even if the road to the industrial North is by now well and diversely pioneered. This film may not re-create the atmosphere of
448:
In a 1988 interview, Val Guest said: "Mike
Carreras fell for the book, he liked it very much and gave to me to read, then he bought the rights from ABP ‘cos they were never going to make it, and we made it on location, and the whole thing was this Detective Inspecor Martineau … and this very
300:
Committed but seen-it-all police inspector Harry
Martineau rightly guesses that after a violent jailbreak a local criminal will head home to Manchester to pick up the spoils from his last job. Martineau is soon investigating a murder during a street robbery which seems to lead back to the same
472:
wrote: "The tale is fiction, but its types, expertly portrayed by a hand-picked cast – Stanley Baker adds another commanding portrait to his already long and impressive gallery as the hero – thoroughly convince, while apt asides, embracing sentiment and sex, subtly punctuate the rough stuff.
463:
said "Val Guest’s taut screenplay, allied to his own deft direction, has resulted in a notable film in which the characters are all vividly alive, the action constantly gripping and the background of a provincial city put over with authenticity."
449:
human detective, tough, rough, but human with his own problems at home, with a wife who nagged, falling for a barmaid who was part of his investigation, it was a real slice of life, putting the police down as human beings."
473: ... The picture sharply cross-sections north country life and effectively employs warm sentiment and shrewd comedy touches to underline violent action, culminating in the villain's spectacular apprehension.."
533:
said: "A persuasively sweaty crime thriller set in
Manchester ... The atmosphere is persuasively seedy and downbeat, and there's a striking performance by Billie Whitelaw".
301:
villain. Concentrating on the case and using his local contacts to try to track the gang down, he is aware he is not keeping his own personal life together as well as he might.
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said: "Guest's dialogue is abrasive and unsentimental, the editing (to a modern jazz score) rapid without being self-consciously smart, the accents mostly convincing."
525:
said: " turn in fierce performances and Guest's direction gives the movie a splendidly wrought realism, capturing a nasty underworld
Britain rarely envisioned since."
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said " With its panoply of bantering barmaids, silver-tongued felons and lush wives, a clipped camera style and hard-boiled sensibilities (which seem a little bit
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writes: "With its tough approach and patchwork of small scenes, this exciting thriller was the forerunner of much
British TV cops-and-robbers to follow."
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Dictionary of British Cinema - Alan Burton, Steve Chibnall - Google Books
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745:(7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 456.
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355:Geoffrey Frederick as Detective Devery
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713:French, Philip (18 November 2012).
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795:Thomas, William (1 January 2000).
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1421:Films shot in Greater Manchester
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364:Charles Houston as Clogger Roach
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276:, it was made by British studio
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1306:When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
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1242:The Day the Earth Caught Fire
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288:films and resembles American
1381:1960s English-language films
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1411:Films shot at Bray Studios
1371:1960s crime thriller films
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741:Halliwell, Leslie (1989).
702:(312): 64. 1 January 1950.
628:"Interview with Val Guest"
280:and filmed on location in
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1401:Films set in Manchester
1042:Miss Pilgrim's Progress
1010:I'll Be Your Sweetheart
918:at BritMovie (archived)
853:Manchester Evening News
797:"Hell Is a City Review"
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397:as commercial traveller
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278:Hammer Film Productions
263:novel of the same title
183:10 April 1960
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1026:William Comes to Town
743:Halliwell's Film Guide
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1194:Further Up the Creek
626:Fowler, Roy (1988).
261:, based on the 1954
194:1 May 1960
1426:1960s British films
1274:Where the Spies Are
1114:Break in the Circle
1074:Life with the Lyons
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1018:Just William's Luck
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512:British Sound Films
346:as Furnisher Steele
1234:The Full Treatment
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1106:The Lyons in Paris
1082:Dance, Little Lady
972:Films directed by
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692:"Hell Is a City".
671:"Hell is a City".
652:. 31 December 1959
485:Violent Playground
453:Critical reception
407:Alister Williamson
334:as Julia Martineau
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491:Writing in
469:Kine Weekly
437:Doris Speed
431:John Harvey
419:Philip Bond
386:Dickie Owen
119:James Needs
75:Produced by
38:Directed by
1361:1960 films
1355:Categories
1154:The Weapon
770:. London:
577:23 October
554:References
444:Production
425:John Comer
282:Manchester
215:96 minutes
198:1960-05-01
187:1960-04-10
146:Production
1298:Toomorrow
974:Val Guest
858:4 October
832:4 October
806:4 October
726:4 October
656:4 October
290:film noir
274:Val Guest
257:starring
202: (UK)
148:companies
113:Edited by
52:Val Guest
42:Val Guest
894:AllMovie
826:Time Out
611:13 April
530:Time Out
388:as Bragg
239:£115,000
228:Language
125:Music by
85:Starring
58:Based on
903:at the
650:Variety
460:Variety
231:English
220:Country
196: (
185: (
1341:(1982)
1333:(1976)
1325:(1974)
1317:(1972)
1309:(1970)
1301:(1970)
1293:(1968)
1285:(1967)
1277:(1965)
1269:(1964)
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1250:Jigsaw
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801:Empire
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522:Empire
409:as Sam
236:Budget
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