Purely Joyful Movie!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Surprising british noir directed by a brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti,the high point of the movies are certainly the smart dialogues between the colorful characters in special way Mary Merrall as Aggie an old woman who support the gang asking everytime a little gift,Griffith as gang's leader don't stay back on a stunning performance as cold lower class crook which apply all kind of violence to take foward his leadership,Trevor as always fine as newcomer gang who is framed few days after joined them,the escape of prision until reach in London is fabulous,very impressive british noir with class,almost a masterpiece!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9.25

utterly fantastic gangster film from the UK, relentlessly dark and sarcastic cynical and violent with a morose sense of humour doomed pilot returns from the war to become a gangster job goes wrong is framed for murder escapes from jail to clear his name but before he gets back to the city hes framed for another murder so may as well get busy and exact some revenge while hes at it.there was a slew of these British gangster films at the time as was a reflection of what was happening in British society the gangsters much like their American counterparts made small fortunes from illegal gambling activities and selling elicit goods (in england postwar rationing meant a clamouring black market for everything from food to alchaol and strikingly this film even portrays drug dealing) not as well known as the American gangster movies but similar other films of note in the genre (known in the UK as the Spiv Cycle) are Brighton Rock, Black Memory, The Dark Road, Dancing With Crime, Appointment With Crime, Silent Dust, No Tres in the Street.

This is a very gritty British example of film noir. Unlike its American counterpart, this film was filled with cursing--something you could not get away with in Hollywood. Otherwise, in many ways the film was much like an American version--nice camera angles, tough dialog and lots of not particularly handsome actors! The film begins with Trevor Howard looking for work with some mobsters. While he's keen on the idea of making some illegal money, he has some moral scruples. So, when they try to get him to deal with drugs, he refuses--and incurs the wrath of the gang leader. To pay him back, the leader arranges for Howard to be blamed for running over a cop! As a result, Howard is sent to jail to serve a 15 year sentence. However, he soon breaks out and swears revenge on the gang.Overall, the film gets high marks for realism and excitement. The end was not perfect (too many times the baddies were able to just knock the gun out of the hands of the good guys and vice-versa--I would have simply plugged them the second I got my hands on the gun!), but was still very satisfying. I particularly liked the violent ending as well as how Howard's exoneration was handled--it came as a bit of a surprise--and I like to be surprised. Good acting and direction make this one a winner.By the way, although I liked this film, there was a weird, flat performance from the wife who sheltered Howard after he escaped. While her character was exceptionally interesting, up until the final moments with her she seemed almost like she was in zombie mode! I am not sure what she and the director were trying to achieve here.

Not for the first time and most certainly not for the last I find I've been watching a different film to that seen by the majority of posters. The most blatant ineptness is the plotting. Consider: Having established that he is averse to peddling drugs, new gang-member, Trevor Howard is framed by gang leader Griffith Jones; here's how he does it; he goes with his gang on a robbery and waits in the car with the driver as Howard and some others enter the building. After a few minutes Jones smashes the case housing the burglar alarm whilst Howard and the others are still inside. The police arrive within minutes and Jones's driver runs one of them, a constable, down. NOW, wait for this: The VERY NEXT SCENE is in a prison where Howard, who has miraculously been captured, tried and sentenced entirely off screen, is serving a sentence for murder. That's not enough for this finely-crafted screenplay, not by a long shot (or even a close up) because the NEXT SCENE has Howard on the run having somehow contrived to escape without even planning to at least not in our presence. When writing is as sloppy as that no one has much chance of coming out of it ahead of the game. As Narcy, the gang leader Griffith Jones obviously enrolled for a term or two in the Charles Laughton School of Ham and if Trevor Howard and Sally Gray are adequate the rest of the cast wouldn't be out of place in Tod Browning's Freaks. So Dire It's Good.