The crime thriller was far and away the most popular genre for the British "B" in the 1950s with almost 300 being released (runner up was comedy with about 100). Tempean Pictures Robert S. Baker commented that with a crime movie audiences always knew where they were, whether it was a murder, someone in danger or someone on the run.
Jimmy Hanley had been in movies since he was a teen, in fact he never seemed to be out of employment, playing spivs ("It Always Rains on Sundays"(1947)) and young constables ("The Blue Lamp" (1950)) with equal conviction, always most at home with working class characters.
Things start off with a bang in this nifty British crime yarn, not the least being that the initial robbery is performed by a sophisticated woman in a fur coat. Fred Martin (Hanley), a local cabbie gives chase and is able to relay the colour, the make of car and the registration number back to the base before his cab is put out of action due to some spikes the crooks throw out on the road. Back at the depot Fred is embroiled in more hot water - a poison pen letter arrives "warning" the cab company about Fred's unsavoury past - a prison sentence for burglary that the cab manager already knows about.
Next day an informant, "Sniffy" Taylor is found dead in his car the day he was due to give evidence in a robbery racket. Knowing Fred's criminal background Scotland Yard (who have been informed about the malicious letters) come up with a plan - Fred is "sacked" (by a very unwilling boss) and has to make it known that he is very upset and bitter about his treatment. It doesn't take long before the gang seek him out (one of the men had served time with him) and he carries the "man with a chip on his shoulder who is only to willing to make some easy money" to a tee. Things get a bit dicey when the "moll" recognises him as the cabbie who gave chase.
This is an interesting programmer (just over an hour) that raises the question of giving a person a fair go who has paid for their crime and wants to put it behind him. There is also a climax with a difference as London cabbies are mobilized to try to pinpoint the desperate Fred's car and there is also superior location shooting in and around London.
Highly Recommended.
Jimmy Hanley had been in movies since he was a teen, in fact he never seemed to be out of employment, playing spivs ("It Always Rains on Sundays"(1947)) and young constables ("The Blue Lamp" (1950)) with equal conviction, always most at home with working class characters.
Things start off with a bang in this nifty British crime yarn, not the least being that the initial robbery is performed by a sophisticated woman in a fur coat. Fred Martin (Hanley), a local cabbie gives chase and is able to relay the colour, the make of car and the registration number back to the base before his cab is put out of action due to some spikes the crooks throw out on the road. Back at the depot Fred is embroiled in more hot water - a poison pen letter arrives "warning" the cab company about Fred's unsavoury past - a prison sentence for burglary that the cab manager already knows about.
Next day an informant, "Sniffy" Taylor is found dead in his car the day he was due to give evidence in a robbery racket. Knowing Fred's criminal background Scotland Yard (who have been informed about the malicious letters) come up with a plan - Fred is "sacked" (by a very unwilling boss) and has to make it known that he is very upset and bitter about his treatment. It doesn't take long before the gang seek him out (one of the men had served time with him) and he carries the "man with a chip on his shoulder who is only to willing to make some easy money" to a tee. Things get a bit dicey when the "moll" recognises him as the cabbie who gave chase.
This is an interesting programmer (just over an hour) that raises the question of giving a person a fair go who has paid for their crime and wants to put it behind him. There is also a climax with a difference as London cabbies are mobilized to try to pinpoint the desperate Fred's car and there is also superior location shooting in and around London.
Highly Recommended.