Flame in the Streets (1961)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Ted Willis (screenplay)
Ted Willis (story)

Release Date:

29 June 1962 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A union leader in a large company tries to win equal rights for the handful of West Indian workers at the company...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

John Mills	...	Jacko Palmer
Sylvia Syms	...	Kathie Palmer
Brenda De Banzie	...	Nell Palmer
Earl Cameron	...	Gabriel Gomez
Johnny Sekka	...	Peter Lincoln
Ann Lynn	...	Judy Gomez
Wilfrid Brambell	...	Mr. Palmer senior
Meredith Edwards	...	Harry Mitchell
Newton Blick	...	Visser
Glyn Houston	...	Hugh Davies
Michael Wynne	...	Les
Dan Jackson	...	Jubilee
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Dowell
Gretchen Franklin	...	Mrs. Bingham
Harry Baird	...	Billy

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (USA release) | Color (Eastmancolor) (UK prints)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Somerset Films

Trivia:

Although filmed and released in UK in Eastman Color, USA theatrical release prints were in black and white.

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Armchair Theatre: Hot Summer Night (#3.21)" (1959)

`Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' among the British working class

Some people might steer clear of this movie because of its race relations theme. They'd be missing a good movie.

Despite a few warts, this is mostly a well-acted and well-directed drama. To be sure, some of the issues that the characters confront are dated. However, other issues are as relevant today as they were in 1961 when this film was made.

Above all else, I enjoyed the dominating performance of the always reliable John Mills. I enjoyed his stirring speeches as Jacko Palmer, a leader in his labor union. I also enjoyed his sensitive handling of family issues, trying to negotiate a difficult path between the starkly conflicting viewpoints of his wife Nell and his daughter Kathie.

Some of the dialogue in this movie is painful to hear. A couple of white factory workers tell Jacko `We don't like to take orders from spades.' Nell Palmer tells her daughter `They're not like us . If you marry him (her West Indian boyfriend), you'll have a roomful of black children . The thought of them (Kathie and her boyfriend) in bed makes me sick . You're worse than a whore.' Nell uses the `N word' twice.

Not surprisingly, Kathie shrugs off her mother's acid-tongued advice. However, it's harder for her to ignore her father's advice, which is geared toward making her understand the risks of her (marriage) decision. Her reasoning is so clouded by love that she tells him `Prejudice will end someday.' Well, not in her lifetime, as we in the 21st Century know.

The movie is sometimes heavy-handed and melodramatic. Even the title is somewhat `inflammatory' (There is only one flame in the movie ... a large bonfire, a British tradition for the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day). The movie ends without a tidy resolution, but this is fitting considering the predicament of the characters and their social environment.

I reviewed this movie as part of a project at the Library of Congress. I've named the project FIFTY: 50 Notable Films Forgotten Within 50 Years. As best I can determine, this film, like the other forty-nine I've identified, has not been on video, telecast, or distributed in the U.S. since its original release. In my opinion, it is worthy of being made available again.