The Smugglers (1947)
"The Man Within" (original title)

Told in flashback, the film opens on a brutal scene of a 17-year-old boy, Francis Andrews, being brutally lashed during a police interrogation in which the boy thinks back to the past that ... See full summary »

Director:

Bernard Knowles

Writers:

Graham Greene (novel), Sydney Box (screenplay),

Stars:

Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Joan Greenwood

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michael Redgrave	...	Richard Carlyon
Jean Kent	...	Lucy
Joan Greenwood	...	Elizabeth
Richard Attenborough	...	Francis Andrews
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Mr. Braddock
Felix Aylmer	...	Priest
Ronald Shiner	...	Cockney Harry
Basil Sydney	...	Sir Henry Merriman
Ernest Thesiger	...	Farne
Allan Jeayes	...	Judge
Ralph Truman	...	Prison Interrogator
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Court clark
Andrew Crawford
Maurice Denham	...	Smuggler
Lyn Evans	...	Warder

Storyline

Told in flashback, the film opens on a brutal scene of a 17-year-old boy, Francis Andrews, being brutally lashed during a police interrogation in which the boy thinks back to the past that placed him in this situation. He betrayed the crew of a smuggling ship whose master, Richard Carlyon, was also his guardian. Some of the smugglers are caught, but Carlyon escapes and then begins his search for Andrews. Carlyon was quiet fond of the boy but knew him for a coward. Andrews seeks refuge in in the cottage of a girl named Elizabeth, who urges him to give testimony against the smugglers in court. He summons his courage and does so. Carlyon, catching up with Andrews, recognizes this as an act of courage, and does not take revenge on him. Carlyon is eventually caught, but despite the police torture, Andrews does not identify him, and he goes free while his guardian faces the gallows. (The original-British-released version runs about 20 minutes longer than the "default" ---actually USA--- ...

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Plot Keywords:

smuggler | guardian | flashback | escape | gallows | 

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Taglines:

Life in the Raw!

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Smugglers

Filming Locations:

Gaumont-British Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Production Film Service

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

A film ahead of its time in showing male affection.

The release date on the film is given as 1947 but I'm certain I saw it in 1946 aboard a Navy ship returning from service in the Pacific in World War II, and its title then was "The Smugglers." The cast was uncommonly fine (look at the list!)and the acting excellent in a very good Graham Greene story. What struck me was the intensity of the bond between the boy (Attenborough) and his guardian (Redgrave) whom he loves but, as I recall, betrays and brings to his death. There were few such representations on film in those days--I remember the friendship between Paris and Drake in "King's Row" and between George and Lennie in "Of Mice and Men," but not much else. Few people seem to know "The Man Within." That's a pity. It's an uncommonly good film.