What an entertaining film! Glamour, thrills, romance, sentimentality. This is a British black and white film noir, if that's the correct description to give it, but it give a clue in the night time robbery scene, the stark prison scenes at the beginning, the clandestine meetings the leading players have in alleyways, etc. The stars all act well, particularly Kathleen Harrison as an old lag who on her release in reunited with Johnny, her little dog, who plays as leading a part as the humans here. Joan Collins in an early glamour role is as striking then as she is now over sixty years later. The leading actress is Yvonne Mitchell and her lover is the villainous Terence Morgan, a part he was adept at playing in the 1950's. I didn't want it to end, and maybe, that's the secret of a great movie, leave 'em wanting more. Films today are often too long and that's why they are rarely great any more. There is a scene where a woman very briefly walks down the stairs past Yvonne Mitchell, and I could swear it was Prunella Scales (from Fawlty Towers) but it was so brief and she's not listed.
Review of Turn the Key Softly
