The Dynamiters (1956)
"The Gelignite Gang" (original title)

Insurance investigator Jimmy Baxter searches for a gang of jewel robbers. His fiancée Sally does some sleuthing on her own and finds valuable clues. Baxter tracks the gang to its lair, but ... See full summary »

Director:

Francis Searle

Writer:

Brandon Fleming

Stars:

Wayne Morris, Sandra Dorne, Patrick Holt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wayne Morris	...	Jimmy Baxter
Sandra Dorne	...	Sally Morton
Patrick Holt	...	John Rutherford
Eric Pohlmann	...	Mr. Popoulos ("Populace")
Arthur Young	...	"Pop" Scobie
Lloyd Lamble	...	Detective-Inspector Felby
James Kenney	...	Chris Chapman
Tony Doonan	...	Jagar
Hugh Miller	...	Mr. Crosby
Bertha Russell	...	Chapman's mother
Leigh Crutchley	...	Hopman, thug
Monti DeLyle	...	Barton, aka Adolph Bergmann
Bernadette Milnes	...	Kay, Chapman's girl
Simone Silva	...	Simone - Nightclub singer
Mark Daly	...	1st Watchman

Storyline

Insurance investigator Jimmy Baxter searches for a gang of jewel robbers. His fiancée Sally does some sleuthing on her own and finds valuable clues. Baxter tracks the gang to its lair, but then Sally is kidnapped by Mr. G, the gang's secret mastermind.

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Taglines:

From Today's Headlines Comes The Story of Killers That Terrorized a City...at the Men, and Their Women Who Blew the Lid Sky High!

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Genres:

Thriller | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dynamiters

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cybex Film Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"The Vastness of Space"
(uncredited)
Music by Trevor Duncan
Boosey & Hawkes Ltd

User Reviews

A highly enjoyable British crime thriller b-pic.

A private investigator called Jimmy Baxter (Wayne Morris) of Anglo American Investigations is on the trail of a gang of ruthless safe breakers known as The Gelignite Gang. They are lead by the mysterious Mr G but his identity is a closely guarded secret and even the foot soldiers who do all his dirty work have no idea who he is. Baxter visits The Green Dragon Club in Soho, which is managed by the shifty Popoulos (Eric Pohlmann) who is switched on about London's underworld. He warns Baxter to drop the case using little hints like "You like to live pleasantly, how would you like to go on living pleasantly?" Baxter's firm has put up a two-thousand-pound reward for information about the gang and later that day, Barton (Monti DeLyle), the head waiter at The Green Dragon Club enters a call box and calls Baxter to tip him off about the gang. But before he can say anything he is shot dead. That night, Baxter takes his young secretary, Sally Morton (Sandra Dorne), to the club for dinner. When he leaves Popoulos says "I hear that the South of France is very nice at this time year" as another hint to suggest that he should back off. When Baxter arrives home we see a hoodlum in a phone box taking instructions from his boss, "..just enough to make him want to take a holiday, right" and the private detective narrowly avoids being clobbered outside his flat. As a result of this incident and a visit from Popoulos, Baxter's boss, Mark Rutherford (Patrick Holt), tries to take Baxter off the case but he refuses vowing to go it alone. In addition, Popoulos has arranged to have one of his men follow Baxter everywhere he goes. Meanwhile, Hartford's jewellers where Sally happens to be having alterations made to a ring, have just taken on Lady Wilshaw's ten-thousand-pound diamond tiara to have the stones reset while she takes a holiday in the South of France and the young assistant at the shop, Chapman, a gambler heavily in debt, seems inordinately interested in its value. It transpires that Chapman has been using items of value from the shop to pawn when he has been in financial trouble. He visits Scobie (Arthur Young), a local pawnbroker, whom he does business with and tells him about Lady Wilshaw's diamond tiara and its considerable value. Hartford's is then raided by the gang and a watchman is shot dead. Sally turns detective when she spots something suspicious about a seemingly harmless band of busking musicians playing in the street near the jewellery shop. She follows them and sees the musicians go into Scobie's shop. Sally goes in on the pretext of pawning her watch but Scobie is not fooled and has one of his thugs follow her. Meanwhile, Chapman, in the hope of getting some money approaches Baxter with information on the gang. They are interrupted by an excited Sally who tells Baxter everything in young Chapman's presence. Chapman tries to blackmail Scobie for a thousand pounds but the pawnbroker shoots him. Baxter phones the police informing them that the gang are in the pawnbrokers shop. When the gang realise that the police have been tipped off they set fire to the shop and flee while Scobie has already taken the money and fled leaving his accomplices to take the blame. But who is the elusive Mr G? Is it Popoulos who seems to be informed about everything connected with Baxter's investigations or is it somebody who Baxter would least have suspected?

A highly enjoyable British b-pic crime thriller from director Francis Searle who made scores of these low budget quota quickies from the late forties right up until their demise in the early sixties. One of this film's greatest strengths is Brandon Fleming's screenplay, which actually succeeds in transcending a formulaic plot by keeping you guessing and guessing wrongly as to the identity of Mr G right up until the climax where it delivers a genuinely surprising twist in the tale. No I will not give it away but I shall confine myself to say that who I thought was Mr G turned out not to be. There is an amusing set piece in which the gang take to the streets posing as busking musicians in the vicinity of the jewellery shop raid. In order to alert their accomplices of any danger they change their tempo from slow to fast and from fast to slow again when the danger has passed signifying that all is clear. Performances are good from the entire cast and trivia buffs will recognise Eric Pohlmann, the guy who voiced the unseen Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the early James Bond movies. Wayne Morris as the dogged private eye is the imported American leading man, which was common practice in b-pics to improve their chances of getting distribution in the States. If the film is let down it is by the rather uninspired direction that shows especially in the action scenes such as the shoot out at the pawnbrokers shop, which fails to generate much in the way of suspense. The other bad point is the appalling club number, Soho Mambo, sung by Simone Silva at The Green Dragon Club. There is a cracking moment here where Chapman's girlfriend applauds loudly at the end with cries of "bravo". Chapman stops her saying "Not so loud people will hear" and one wonders if that was out of embarrassment of sitting with somebody who would applaud to such a poor song. But those faults aside, The Gelignite Gang, is still streets ahead of many other British b-pics (and there were lots of them in those days) and if you get the opportunity to see it, it is certainly worth the trouble.