Friday, November 23, 2018

Hell is a City (1960)

Before I forget, I'd like to recommend a TV channel. Not something that happens everyday, but I have a bit of a soft spot for Talking Pictures TV. It's on Virgin 445, Freesat 306, Freeview or Youview 81 or Sky 328. This channel specialises in British TV and movies from the 1930s to the 1980s or thereabouts. The majority of its content comes from the 1950s and 60s. The really good thing is that there's a lot of obscure, unsung stuff, as well as classics. Crime, war, comedy, westerns, horror, monster movies, everything. If you have any interest in British cinema, give it a go. There is a smattering of American stuff, but it usually has a strong British connection. Have a look: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/



Hell is a City is a film I have on DVD, but is just the kind of thing Talking Pictures TV would show, a largely unknown but still well regarded British crime thriller from 1960. The city of the title is not New York or London, but Manchester. I wonder how many other crime thrillers are set in Manchester? Not many I'd warrant, but I'd love to see more if they're as good as this one, a potent mix of film noir and 'kitchen sink drama'.

First off, a flaw for me is the star. I've never warmed to Stanley Baker. He's like a thoroughly unsympathetic Sean Connery, and it's a testament to the quality of this film and his performance in it that I like him a lot more now. The fact is that there's many a great actor made crappy films, and many second-rate actors have done classic movies, so you just have take it as it comes, and judge on its merits.

Stanley Baker and Billie Whitelaw
Apart from Baker, there are a lot of other well-known faces. Donald Pleasence, Billie Whitelaw, Warren Mitchell, George A Cooper (who some may remember as the grumpy caretaker Mr Griffiths in Grange Hill), and an uncredited appearance by Doris Speed, who was just about to become a household name as Annie Walker in Coronation Street.

The director is Val Guest (1911-2006), who directed some real corkers in his time. The Quatermass Experiment (1955), The Abominable Snowman (1957), The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Expresso Bongo (1959), The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961) and When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth (1970). He also directed and wrote the screenplay for Cannon & Ball's "hilarious" "comedy" The Boys in Blue (1982), but we shan't hold that against him.

Guest also wrote the screenplay, which is based on a novel by Maurice Procter (1906-1973). Procter served as a policeman, and his direct experience of crime and police work brought some realism to his novels. I have a copy of this, but it's one of my many unread books.



The action moves along at a cracking pace, and doesn't let up for a minute. Baker plays Detective Inspector Harry Martineau, a hard-boiled Manchester copper with a marriage on the rocks and a bad temper. Straight away we learn that a villain Martineau put away some time before has broken out of jail and may be heading for Manchester, bent on recovering hidden jewellery from the robbery that put him away.

John Crawford as Don Starling
Weirdly, but typical of the period for some reason, Don Starling is played by an American actor (John Crawford), which is oddly jarring. I think he's trying to do a British accent, but it's not convincing. Turns out he is headed to Manchester and soon contacts his old firm. They're not overly glad to see him, but he soon convinces this motley crew that he has a surefire way to get plenty of money, and get out of their hair with the help of cash and a fake passport. The scheme involves robbing book-maker Gus Hawkins' takings from the office girl who takes them to the bank every week. During the robbery, the gang are obliged to kidnap the girl, because she's got the bag chained to her wrist. Driving away from the scene, Don is a bit too handy with the cosh, and shuts her up permanently. The gang unceremoniously dump her body by the side of the road on the moors, where they are observed by a travelling salesman played by Warren Mitchell.

"Has some bastard been passing me snide money?!" - Donald Pleasence as Gus Hawkins
The salesman phones the police, and Martineau is soon on the gang's trail, not realising it's Starling he's got in his sights. You have to run to keep up with this stuff. The plot heats up, as Starling calls in favours from many other members of the Manchester demi-monde, including a barmaid who's soft on Martineau. This leads to some marvellous performances from a great cast; Donald Pleasence as Gus Hawkins the shifty bookmaker, Billie Whitelaw (looking for all the world like a young David Bowie) as his cuckolding wife Chloe, and Vanda Godsell as 'Lucky', the barmaid who carries a torch for Martineau.

The only element that I thought held the film back slightly was the relationship between Martineau and his long-suffering and dried-up wife, Julia (Maxine Audley). She doesn't want kids, he does, and they snipe and stab at each other in an infuriating manner. How they ended up together I cannot imagine. There is an alternate ending on the DVD, which I was really glad they didn't use, that relates to this afterthought of a subplot.

Punters at the 'tossing school'
Making the toss
As well as its fast-paced story, Hell is a City makes full use of Manchester's scenery, both urban and rural. From the mean streets of the city centre to the wealthy suburbs, the moors, and those marginal areas where the city meets the country, where grass grows in the streets. One scene in particular made me wonder if it was depicting a real thing. On rocky waste ground, near some rows of working class houses in a poor area where the moors and city merge, a group of local men stage an illegal 'tossing school' (!) in which punters bet on the outcome of the flipping of two coins. With look-outs posted in nearby houses to watch for coppers, bets are shouted, and stakes are collected. The coins are tossed and as they land in the dirt, the winners collect and the losers complain and bet more. This has to be one of the purest acts of gambling, which probably goes back to the birth of money itself, where (mostly) poor men gamble with the money they could be putting by to feed their families, in hopes of gaining a tax-free bundle. All this on the skill-free toss of a coin.

If you have any fondness for black and white British films, film noir, fast-paced crime stories, roof-top chases, top-notch ensemble acting, or just want to see Manchester as it looked 60 years ago, this movie has it all. I'll even throw in a killer jazz score by Stanley Black for good measure.

For an incredibly in-depth look at the people and locations involved in both the book and the film, I recommend this post: http://levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that George Nixon, the creator of levyboy.com has used images of my copy of the book featured above. This is because all my cover scans are available on flickr.com. I love it when my scans appear in this way, but obviously I prefer it if there's a credit. Not a problem though. Here's a link to my book cover scans, if you like that kind of thing: https://www.flickr.com/gp/jim_and_kerry/9J18X9

 Hell is a City original trailer


The Tossing Ring

 Extracts from Stanley Black's score

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