Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Good concept, poorly executed.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Out of Hammer Films, Hell is a City is directed by Val Guest, who also adapts the screenplay from Maurice Proctor's novel of the same name. It stars Stanley Baker, John Crawford, Billie Whitelaw, Maxine Audley, Donald Pleasence, Vanda Godsell, Joseph Tomelty and George A. Cooper. Music is by Stanley Black and cinematography in HammerScope is by Arthur Grant. When violent criminal Don Starling (Crawford) escapes from prison, Manchester cop Inspector Harry Martineau (Baker) correctly assumes he is on his way back to the area to collect some hidden loot from a previous job. Sure enough a serious crime rocks the city and all roads lead to Starling, but what price will Martineau pay to nail a man whose mere name strikes fear into the locals? Has some bastard been passing me snide money? British crime drama at its best, absorbing as a suspense tale, clinically unflinching in its characterisations and directed with a deft hand by the multi talented Val Guest. Hell is a City is without question a very British movie, but in the same way that greats like Brighton Rock and They made Me A Fugitive were Britannia Rule Grimarannia, so it be here where Guest makes the most of Manchester's gloomy locales to pump bad blood into the edgy narrative. It's a Manchester of creaky terraced houses, working class bars, soiled streets and the unforgiving Moors. The latter of which a visual beauty to the eye, but home of misery both in fact and fiction. A Starling in the Attic. Tale unfolds as a sort of warts and all semi-documentary police procedural. Harry Martineau is the lead man, but this is no cliché addled copper, he is a tough bastard who is not adverse to using strong arm and dishonest tactics to get results. He's a hero, of sorts, but the happiness he craves outside of his work, at home, is moving further away from him. He's not alone, either, for many of the vivid characters on show here are either life's losers, illicit gamblers, unfaithful wives, lonely hearts, or cheaters and beaters, and that's before we get to Crawford's villain. Don Starling infects everyone with his evil stink, a robber, a rapist and a murderer, he may not look much physically in Crawford's shoes, but his name, voice and mere appearance has all but Martineau in a cold sweat. If a man ain't got kids he's still fair game! The script is devoid of pointless filler and no scene is wasted, there's an air of realism throughout. Sure there's a little leap of faith to be taken at times, but nothing that remotely could hurt the movie. The performances are from the better end of the scale, with Baker excelling as a stoic, but lonely man of the force, and Whitelaw and Godsell impressively force themselves up above the parapet to be rightly noticed in a movie predominantly beefed by machismo. Could Don Starling have been played by a better actor? Yes of course. Or just have been played by someone more menacing in appearance (like Baker in his villain roles for instance)? Again, yes of course. But the more you watch the more you will see that it's a frightening portrayal because it's very human, just like that given to Harry Martineau. Some scenes shock and distress, others hold you and enthral, Hell is a City is one hell of a film and highly recommended to crime and noir fans. 9/10

Director Val Guest has said of Hell is a City, that he was very influenced by Jules Dassin's classic Naked City, and many of the location shots attest to this influence. The final pursuit scene with Martineau and Starling in combat are as thrilling as the Williamsburg Bridge scenes from Naked City with the action of the streets below serving as backdrop to the fighting men clambering high above.Inspector Harry Martineau (Steve Baker), a hard-nosed detective stationed in Manchester England, feels that an escaped thief Don Starling (John Crawford) is going to return to town to retrieve a cache of stolen jewels that he hid before he was convicted. Martineau has domestic troubles as he and his wife Julia Martineau (Maxine Audley) bicker about his role as a policeman and their childless marriage. The escaped criminal Starling arrives in town and immediately forms a gang to rob a bookmaker Gus Hawkins (Donald Pleasance), of what they think will be the minimal amount of money to get the crook out of town but what they steal is a large amount of money marked with a green ink by the bank to prevent theft. Starling accidentally kills a young girl during the robbery and while dumping the body at a deserted location the gang is spotted and Martineau instinctively knowing who is responsible, takes steps to track down as much information as he can, in many instances only steps behind the crook. On the run Starling starts going to as many places as he can for refuge, at one point hiding in the attic of the bookmaker he robbed Gus Hawkins, threatening his philandering wife Chloe (Billie Whitelaw). Starling manages to knock Hawkins unconscious sending him to the hospital and Martineau, following up on his hunch, figures out the truth and squeezes more information from Hawkins' wife Chloe. At a large coin-flipping gambling game, where some of the tainted money exchanges hands, Martineau catches up with the accomplices in the robbery and gets closer to the murderer. When Starling recovers the cache of stolen jewels from a furniture dealer he confronts a young girl Silver Steele (Sarah Branch) and draws the attention of the neighborhood and Martineau who pursues the thief to a final showdown on the rooftops above Manchester.What is admirable about Hell is a City are the great locations shots taking place in the streets, and moors of the city of Manchester. Guest sets up his camera consistently to show the actions of the protagonist and antagonists mixed into scenes of everyday life, showing how the element of crime exists as something endemic to society as a whole.The film teeters over into the world of melodrama at points but only to show how Martineau tromps into that world and drives through to get what he wants. The way that Martineau questions Chloe Hawkins shows what he knows about the woman and the ruthless methods he uses to get to the truth. The way the director sets up this relationship is masterful, by introducing Chloe as she is passionately kissing a younger man before going home to see her husband Gus we understand immediately that she is the trophy of an older wealthy man. The later scene with Starling we understand further that her philandering ways has a history as we understand that the two have had a previous relationship. Later as Martineau questions her we know that he is aware of the woman&#146s behavior, and he uses this information to essentially blackmail her for cooperation.Director Guest manipulates the mise en scene so well that we can practically feel the breeze hitting our faces on the moors. His choice of background actors at the coin-tossing gambling game says volumes about this community in England.The garage where the taxis are maintained is covered with excellent high-angle shots showing the large windows and arched ceiling of a burned out church. On the commentary tract director Val Guest talks about some of the choices for locations in the film, and his comments on this building is an interesting one. There isn't really anything that his location manager is trying to put forth with this old religious building as a garage but it certainly adds to the overall appeal of the film.The commentary tract has a goodly amount of additional perks for the film buff. Journalist Ted Newsom leads a discussion with director Val Guest that includes casting American actor John Crawford in the lead role of Don Starling and his ultimate successes with other Hammer Studio films. In particular the alternate ending is something that should impress many viewers given today's circumstances regarding leaving a positive ending on a movie.The colorful names add to the pleasure in this detective actioner. Names like Don Starling, Silver Steele, Lucky Lusk, Clogger Roach add to the background for the action in the movie.The fact that Hammer Studios left this kind of great filmmaking to go heavily into the Horror genre was probably a decision based on economics. Hell is a City is a wonderful Actioner but probably doesn't have a big effect on box office receipts like a good blood splattering slasher or vampire flick.If you like Film Noir this movie will whet your appetite! Enjoy it with a good black cup of Starbuck&#146s brew for that extra noir kick!

I had been postponing my purchase of this and another Stanley Baker crime drama, Joseph Losey's THE CRIMINAL (1960; see below), ever since their DVD release back in 2002; ironically, what eventually pushed me into ordering them was the recent death of this film's director Val Guest - at the venerable age of 94! Well, all I can say is that I was foolish to have deprived myself of it for so long; this is surely one of the best British crime films ever and, being an atypical release for Hammer, is also one of their finest non-horror efforts! During the excellent Audio Commentary included on the splendid Anchor Bay DVD edition, Guest admitted that one of his major influences (and not only on this particular film) had been Jules Dassin's innovative THE NAKED CITY (1948) and, curiously enough, one has to go back to Dassin's own NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) to find an equally hard-hitting British noir!; then again, the film was ahead of its time since it would be years before a similarly truthful depiction of a policeman's domestic life would emerge in the U.S. (THE DETECTIVE and MADIGAN {both 1968}, for instance). The film is a veritable class act in every department: Guest's direction never puts a foot wrong and his screenplay (adapted from a novel by Maurice Proctor and deservedly nominated for a BAFTA award) is truly exceptional; Arthur Grant's chiaroscuro camera-work (mostly shot in real Manchester locations) is stunning; while Stanley Black's jazzy score lends the fast-paced if rather involved proceedings the requisite urgency.Stanley Baker has one of his best leading roles as the tough cop who tries to make several ends meet - catch a dangerous criminal (American actor John Crawford, very effective) who's basically his alter ego, save his childless marriage with selfish Maxine Audley, and escape the daily temptation of a fling with the carnal (despite being middle-aged) but genuinely concerned barmaid Vanda Godsell (who also happens to be Crawford's old flame). Donald Pleasence has an important, scene-stealing supporting role as a bookmaker marked for robbery by Crawford - who had also been intimate with Pleasence's sluttish young wife (Billie Whitelaw who, despite this being her 12th feature film, was impressive enough to be up for the "Most Promising Newcomer" BAFTA award - and is even featured in a brief but startling nude scene which was promptly snipped for the U.S. version!). The rest of the cast is filled with familiar character actors, many of them members of Guest's own stock company.Among the film's best scenes are the swift alleyway heist towards the beginning (which ends in murder), the wonderful "tossing school" (an illegal form of gambling) scene which takes place on the moors, several grueling interrogation scenes (with Baker often reduced to blackmailing his hard-as-nails 'customers') and the remarkably violent rooftop climax. By the way, I wasn't as displeased as Guest was with the alternate ending included as an extra (and which he had never seen before!) - inverting a couple of scenes and adding a brief hopeful coda (not filmed by Guest) with Baker and Audley - but I totally respect the director's decision to stick with his uncompromising original vision.

No other film of this period gives such a clear indication of the attempt of British crime thrillers to become more exciting.The introduction of John Crawford as the American bad guy and one time buddy of Stanley Baker is enthralling to watch and can seem slightly odd and out of place. The opening sequences are reminiscent of British TV show 'Z Cars' and were later spoofed in Naked Gun (though not as a direct result of this).Donald Pleasance is very reliable as the Jewellry Shop owner who has much to reveal, while Baker himself plays another tough cop as he did in Blind Date (1959) and Violent Playground (1958) - the latter was also directed by Val Guest.Look out for the climactic sequences - gripping stuff and still ever so British.