John Cummings (Richard Todd) is a mediocre cosmetic salesman who's a chronic loser: always chasing rainbows but living a humdrum life with a wife who loves him but might be running out of patience. He buys a new car to help with his sales route but fails to insure it, so when a local thug (Adam Faith) steals it to deliver to the crime boss (Peter Sellers) he's in debt and has no transportation except London buses. His sales start to dwindle as he misses appointments and begins to lash out at clients (and co-workers).
He becomes obsessed with getting his car back, which he sees as the key to a good life. Through a grubby newspaper salesman (Mervyn Johns - you may know him as Bob Cratchit in the Alastair Sim "Scrooge"), he works his way up the food chain until he finally confronts the very sadistic Sellers. The police offer no help, and Todd's wife is threatening to leave him if he won't give up his quest.
I wondered why I had never seen this film before. The answer might lie at the beginning of the trailer: this was given an "X" rating in England when it was released. That doesn't mean "porn" but it does mean "adult content" - including language, fairly graphic violence, and strong hints of sexuality. It was probably too hot for most American TV outlets in the 60s and 70s and wasn't a big enough hit to warrant any special treatment. It's a fairly standard gangster thriller but has good performances by the main characters, and a score by John Barry that occasionally rises above the mediocre.
He becomes obsessed with getting his car back, which he sees as the key to a good life. Through a grubby newspaper salesman (Mervyn Johns - you may know him as Bob Cratchit in the Alastair Sim "Scrooge"), he works his way up the food chain until he finally confronts the very sadistic Sellers. The police offer no help, and Todd's wife is threatening to leave him if he won't give up his quest.
I wondered why I had never seen this film before. The answer might lie at the beginning of the trailer: this was given an "X" rating in England when it was released. That doesn't mean "porn" but it does mean "adult content" - including language, fairly graphic violence, and strong hints of sexuality. It was probably too hot for most American TV outlets in the 60s and 70s and wasn't a big enough hit to warrant any special treatment. It's a fairly standard gangster thriller but has good performances by the main characters, and a score by John Barry that occasionally rises above the mediocre.