The opening sequence of a young man and his son having an outing goes awry quickly, giving the wrong impression of the type of film you are about to see. It is 1941 and with the blitz, Bernard Lee decides to send his son to America. Twenty years pass, and Lee is in prison for murder, having been accused of killing a woman he had a liaison with who revealed she was pregnant. Son Van Johnson returns to Liverpool while his ship is being prepared to turn around and goes to see his father but is denied access. Several other incidents keep Johnson detained, and before long, he's on the run from the local law, hidden by skittish librarian Vera Miles and finding obstacles at every turn, as it appears that the law is hiding something and seems to know more about the murder than they are letting on. There's a floozy femme fatale (Jean Kent) who is holding onto an important piece of evidence, a picture postcard, as well as some influential members of society who seem to be being protected, all at the expense of the embittered Lee who when released plans to drink himself into a permanent stupor.
A gloomy story with some gloomy settings makes this British film noir a rather dour film to enjoy, but it is a good film nevertheless, building up in suspense after a rather slow start. The characters are all dark and moody, with one of the key witnesses (Emlyn Williams) a drunken lout who seems to know that Johnson's cause is a loosing battle and is just along the ride for free drinks wherever he can get them. The backstory involving the overly sensitive Miles takes forever to unravel, but the sequence involving the loose living Kent is deliciously sordid. This isn't a film that I'm likely to revisit because as good as it is, it's a rather nasty view of society at its worst, but there are some truly chilling moments that make it worth seeing for students of the noir genre. Johnson seems wrong for the part he's playing, obviously 10 years old, and doesn't seem remotely British, even if he was pulled away from his place of birth at a young age. The conclusion seems to leave some unanswered questions, but considering the situation, that is quite realistic.
A gloomy story with some gloomy settings makes this British film noir a rather dour film to enjoy, but it is a good film nevertheless, building up in suspense after a rather slow start. The characters are all dark and moody, with one of the key witnesses (Emlyn Williams) a drunken lout who seems to know that Johnson's cause is a loosing battle and is just along the ride for free drinks wherever he can get them. The backstory involving the overly sensitive Miles takes forever to unravel, but the sequence involving the loose living Kent is deliciously sordid. This isn't a film that I'm likely to revisit because as good as it is, it's a rather nasty view of society at its worst, but there are some truly chilling moments that make it worth seeing for students of the noir genre. Johnson seems wrong for the part he's playing, obviously 10 years old, and doesn't seem remotely British, even if he was pulled away from his place of birth at a young age. The conclusion seems to leave some unanswered questions, but considering the situation, that is quite realistic.