This film is set in the Port of London just after the coronation.The story revolves around Phylis Kirk being duped into smuggling diamonds.There is a very long chain in this gang from those on board to those on shore.The head of the gang seems to be Charles Looyd Pack.However there is so much in the way of plot that we never actual see whether he is hauled in by the police.We have Kirk chasing Glyn Houston around Dockland as it then was,and then on to the East End.The chase ends in the mud at low tide on the Thames.Looks like the actors were having great fun.Kirk is actually quote good as the arbitrary American lead and the reason for her being on the scene ,is for once quite plausible.This is a very watchable thriller.
11 Reviews
Well-Shot B
boblipton30 November 2019
Phyllis Kirk is the radio operator on a cargo liner. It's her first time in London, and he's made an interesting acquaintance in handsome police Inspector John Bentley. She's been bringing ashore packs of cigarettes for one of the stewards and passing them off to his friend, thinking that she's helping them save a trifle on import duties. The third time she does so, she's stopped, one of the packets is opened, and it turns out she's been smuggling in diamonds. She says she's innocent, and Bentley is inclined to believe her, but his duty to ask questions gets her angry at him. When the steward turns up dead, Miss Kirk is the only one who can identify the dockside contact. This makes her a target for the unknown big shot.
Guy Green's first movie as director shows what he had learned in two decades in the camera department, including a dozen years as a lighting cameraman. In concert with his cinematographer, Geoffrey Faithfull, he shoots the docklands with a beautiful eye for composition. If there's little that novel in the story, it's a well-wrought mystery that I didn't solve until the answer was shown to me. All in all, a sprightly, if standard B picture.
Guy Green's first movie as director shows what he had learned in two decades in the camera department, including a dozen years as a lighting cameraman. In concert with his cinematographer, Geoffrey Faithfull, he shoots the docklands with a beautiful eye for composition. If there's little that novel in the story, it's a well-wrought mystery that I didn't solve until the answer was shown to me. All in all, a sprightly, if standard B picture.
Slow moving but with a distinctive setting
Leofwine_draca7 July 2016
A slow moving British crime film set on and around the River Thames. The ubiquitous John Bentley as a river boat patrolman who holds the rank of detective inspector and who is investigating a case of diamond smuggling linked to a large ship docked on the Thames. He becomes involved with a young woman linked to the case and she reluctantly agrees to help him attempt to catch the criminal gang responsible.
While the Thames setting is a quite unique one and makes RIVER BEAT stand out from all the rest of the British crime films of the era, the actual storytelling involved is unremarkable. The running time of RIVER BEAT is just 70 minutes but it feels at least twice that thanks to the sluggish pace and saggy middle where nothing really happens at all. The first part of the film and the climax are mildly exciting but there's a whole lot of time wasting in between.
Bentley is a reliable hero and American import Phyllis Kirk (HOUSE OF WAX) is fine in support. As usual there are plenty of faces lower down in the cast list including Glyn Houston (brother of Donald), Bill Nagy, Michael Balfour, Robert Ayres, and Charles Lloyd Pack. I was surprised that Sam Kydd didn't show up at some point as this would have been a good fit for him.
While the Thames setting is a quite unique one and makes RIVER BEAT stand out from all the rest of the British crime films of the era, the actual storytelling involved is unremarkable. The running time of RIVER BEAT is just 70 minutes but it feels at least twice that thanks to the sluggish pace and saggy middle where nothing really happens at all. The first part of the film and the climax are mildly exciting but there's a whole lot of time wasting in between.
Bentley is a reliable hero and American import Phyllis Kirk (HOUSE OF WAX) is fine in support. As usual there are plenty of faces lower down in the cast list including Glyn Houston (brother of Donald), Bill Nagy, Michael Balfour, Robert Ayres, and Charles Lloyd Pack. I was surprised that Sam Kydd didn't show up at some point as this would have been a good fit for him.
Pretty Good Story; Moves Rather Slowly
Snow Leopard30 July 2001
This movie has a pretty good crime/detective plot that makes it worth watching even though there are times when it moves pretty slowly. Most of the production is unspectacular, but good enough to sustain the story.
Dan Barker is a police inspector working the "River Beat" in London, watching for smugglers. He becomes attracted to a woman (played by Phyllis Kirk) who then turns up in possession of some smuggled diamonds, and Barker must decide whether she is guilty or not. After the plot gets set up like this, things start to move slowly for much of the middle of the movie. But the ending is good - there is at least one worthwhile surprise, and some reasonably good action.
It's mostly an average B-film, without any major flaws, and probably worth watching for the story if you enjoy crime/detective features.
Dan Barker is a police inspector working the "River Beat" in London, watching for smugglers. He becomes attracted to a woman (played by Phyllis Kirk) who then turns up in possession of some smuggled diamonds, and Barker must decide whether she is guilty or not. After the plot gets set up like this, things start to move slowly for much of the middle of the movie. But the ending is good - there is at least one worthwhile surprise, and some reasonably good action.
It's mostly an average B-film, without any major flaws, and probably worth watching for the story if you enjoy crime/detective features.
"The less you open your mouth the better"
hwg1957-102-26570411 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Inspector Dan Barker of the river police in London gets involved with diamond smuggling at the docks which also entangles an American ship's radio officer Judy Roberts to whom he quite reasonably takes a fancy. Not an original plot but it is ably carried along by pleasant leads in John Bentley and Phyllis Kirk and good supporting character actors like Charles Lloyd Pack (evilly smooth), Glyn Houston, Leonard White and the ubiquitous Michael Balfour. First time director Guy Green did a competent job. The film also has excellent location shooting around the London docks (by veteran Geoffrey Faithfull) most of which has now gone, that gives a good picture of when London was a busy port. An enjoyable low budget film which might be too slow for some tastes but not mine.
Routine fare, but nicely shot.
johnshephard-836827 May 2020
So-so quota quickie. typical of its type, whose plot has been well covered in other reviews, so just a few things to add. Great location work around docklands, and nearby parts of 50s London, and I didn't think it paced itself too badly. On the down side, though the plot itself is reasonably coherent, there's plenty that doesn't quite ring true, in line with films of the genre. There's the villain with his much younger moll, whom he appears to treat as a slave, so that he never has to leave his seat - she even holds the phone for him while talks into it. There's the Mr Big, who, as soon as he pulls out a gun, you just know he's going to the world's worst shot, and will bungle his advantage. There's the final, frantic ten minutes, in which there will be a chase and a fist fight, the hero will when and then....well you know what's next, There seemed to a law for such films that there has be an implausible whirlwind romance between the two lead characters. and, when these two meet by chance for the first time in a bar, you know that they will declare their love for each other about half an hour later (okay, maybe two days later, but having spent no more than about half an hour together during those two days.). Perhaps that's what the viewing public wanted in those days, I just want to be surprised one day by a film like this in which the cops get the baddies despite the two leads not being able to stand the sight of each other. Anyway, it's a watchable hour, if only for the look of it.
"A Blue Lamp type of story"? Tell me another one!
JohnHowardReid13 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Insignia Films. Never released in the U.S.A. Released in the U.K. by Eros: March/April 1954. Australian release through British Empire Films: 24 November 1955. 6,306 feet. 70 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: As Judy Roberts, radio operator of the Mowhawk Prince, prepares to go ashore in London, Al Gordon, a steward, asks her to take some cigarettes to a friend. She delivers the package, and then goes to a riverside pub where she meets and becomes friendly with Inspector Dan Barker. When Judy next goes ashore she reluctantly takes more cigarettes for Gordon; this time, however, she is questioned at the Customs.
COMMENT: Even better than the later-in-the-year release from Insignia, "Radio Cab Murder", also despite a plot that's more than slightly familiar, but at least — like "Radio Cab" — allows some welcome opportunities for a fresh approach.
The cast is certainly more interesting too, and more importantly, "River Beat" marks the directorial debut of one of Britain's few Hollywood Award-winning cinematographers, Guy Green (for "Great Expectations"). Not that the direction of River Beat ranks anywhere in the David Lean class, but it is superlatively photographed by veteran Geoffrey Faithful, reduced to working in quota quickies at this stage of his career (despite his masterly work on "The Lavender Hill Mob"), because the major studios thought he was too old (he'd been photographing films since 1908).
No doubt director Guy Green gave Faithful every encouragement, inspiring the dean of British cinematographers to give his best, despite the film's short shooting schedule and poverty-row budget. Which brings me to the main point. What really raises River Beat above the rut of second features, is the brilliant use made by director and photographer of actual locations. The movie looks expansively good, and these higher production values have inspired the players too.
True, Bentley is a wee bit stiff as the hero, but the lovely Phyllis Kirk shows no signs of resenting her sudden demotion from Warner Bros to a shoestring outfit nobody (including you and I) has ever heard of. She plays with just the right color and shading. A charming performance.
Also worthy of note are Robert Ayres (the ship's captain), Glyn Houston from "Panic" (an unwilling dupe), Charles Lloyd Pack (a gang leader), Isabel George (his wife), David Hurst (a tatty pawnbroker), and Ewan Roberts.
Although the script makes a big play of keeping the associate's identity a secret, few viewers will not be able to guess who it is. And while the dialogue could happily be trimmed of a bit of excess marking-time talk, it does all come to a grand climax.
In all, "River Beat" successfully overcomes all the odds against the British quota quickie. It's certainly no "Great Expectations", and maybe we have over-praised its appeal, but no-one will quibble about its photography. Most beautifully lit and composed, "River Beat" brings the Thames and its docks to picturesque life.
OTHER VIEWS: An excellent film of its type, "River Beat" is a competent little thriller, which maintains a good pace and has a fairly simple plot with one or two interesting twists. — Monthly Film Bulletin.
River Beat is a Blue Lamp type of story, built around the activities of the Thames police, with the accent on diamond smuggling. Phyllis Kirk, Hollywood's first "3-D girl" was brought over to this country to co-star with John Bentley. Authentic location shots around the Pool of London, help to achieve complete conviction for an exciting story that throws a vivid spotlight on the activities of the men in blue whose beat is London's age-old waterway. — Eros publicity.
SYNOPSIS: As Judy Roberts, radio operator of the Mowhawk Prince, prepares to go ashore in London, Al Gordon, a steward, asks her to take some cigarettes to a friend. She delivers the package, and then goes to a riverside pub where she meets and becomes friendly with Inspector Dan Barker. When Judy next goes ashore she reluctantly takes more cigarettes for Gordon; this time, however, she is questioned at the Customs.
COMMENT: Even better than the later-in-the-year release from Insignia, "Radio Cab Murder", also despite a plot that's more than slightly familiar, but at least — like "Radio Cab" — allows some welcome opportunities for a fresh approach.
The cast is certainly more interesting too, and more importantly, "River Beat" marks the directorial debut of one of Britain's few Hollywood Award-winning cinematographers, Guy Green (for "Great Expectations"). Not that the direction of River Beat ranks anywhere in the David Lean class, but it is superlatively photographed by veteran Geoffrey Faithful, reduced to working in quota quickies at this stage of his career (despite his masterly work on "The Lavender Hill Mob"), because the major studios thought he was too old (he'd been photographing films since 1908).
No doubt director Guy Green gave Faithful every encouragement, inspiring the dean of British cinematographers to give his best, despite the film's short shooting schedule and poverty-row budget. Which brings me to the main point. What really raises River Beat above the rut of second features, is the brilliant use made by director and photographer of actual locations. The movie looks expansively good, and these higher production values have inspired the players too.
True, Bentley is a wee bit stiff as the hero, but the lovely Phyllis Kirk shows no signs of resenting her sudden demotion from Warner Bros to a shoestring outfit nobody (including you and I) has ever heard of. She plays with just the right color and shading. A charming performance.
Also worthy of note are Robert Ayres (the ship's captain), Glyn Houston from "Panic" (an unwilling dupe), Charles Lloyd Pack (a gang leader), Isabel George (his wife), David Hurst (a tatty pawnbroker), and Ewan Roberts.
Although the script makes a big play of keeping the associate's identity a secret, few viewers will not be able to guess who it is. And while the dialogue could happily be trimmed of a bit of excess marking-time talk, it does all come to a grand climax.
In all, "River Beat" successfully overcomes all the odds against the British quota quickie. It's certainly no "Great Expectations", and maybe we have over-praised its appeal, but no-one will quibble about its photography. Most beautifully lit and composed, "River Beat" brings the Thames and its docks to picturesque life.
OTHER VIEWS: An excellent film of its type, "River Beat" is a competent little thriller, which maintains a good pace and has a fairly simple plot with one or two interesting twists. — Monthly Film Bulletin.
River Beat is a Blue Lamp type of story, built around the activities of the Thames police, with the accent on diamond smuggling. Phyllis Kirk, Hollywood's first "3-D girl" was brought over to this country to co-star with John Bentley. Authentic location shots around the Pool of London, help to achieve complete conviction for an exciting story that throws a vivid spotlight on the activities of the men in blue whose beat is London's age-old waterway. — Eros publicity.
In the Shadow of Tower Bridge
richardchatten11 September 2019
Oscar-winning cameraman Guy Green turned director with this typical fifties police procedural which justifies its title by beginning and ending with chase sequences vividly shot on the Thames around Tower Bridge.
In between it ambles nonchalantly through various scenes depicting Inspector John Bentley chatting with his sidekick in his office and American visitor Phyllis Kirk constantly inconveniently finding diamonds in her possession when being searched until she and Bentley join forces to clear her name and foil the bad guys in time for the final clinch. The End.
In between it ambles nonchalantly through various scenes depicting Inspector John Bentley chatting with his sidekick in his office and American visitor Phyllis Kirk constantly inconveniently finding diamonds in her possession when being searched until she and Bentley join forces to clear her name and foil the bad guys in time for the final clinch. The End.
Diamond smugglers vs the Police
gordonl5627 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
RIVER BEAT – 1954 - UK
Phyllis Kirk is a radio operator on an American ship that has just docked in the Pool of London. She decides to spend the day taking in the sights. The ship's Steward, Harold Ayer, asks Kirk to take several packs of smokes through Customs and give them to a buddy, Glyn Houston, on the docks.
Kirk does the favour and leaves the cigs with Houston. She then hits a local pub for a drink. There she meets John Bentley. Bentley is a Police Inspector with the Thames River Water Police. The two strike up a conversation and agree to meet the next evening.
The next day, Bentley and his fellow coppers get a flash about a smuggling outfit bringing in diamonds. They need to beef up checks etc around the docks. That evening, as Kirk is leaving the ship for her date with Bentley, she is again approached by Ayer. He asks if she could again drop off some more packs of smokes to his friend, Houston. Kirk agrees but tells Ayer it is the last time.
The Cop on the dock exit asks to look in her purse. He takes the cig packs into the Customs office and opens them. Needless to say that they find diamonds mixed in with the tobacco. A dumbfounded Kirk swears she had no idea about the diamonds. Ayer, watching from the ship sees Kirk get grabbed up. He quickly phones his boss with the info.
Bentley, waiting at the pub, decides Kirk is a no show and leaves. Kirk, is of course busy being questioned by the Police, and the Customs boys. She tells them about the Steward, Ayer. The Police tell her to return to the ship and say nothing.
The next morning, the Police, including Bentley, come calling on the ship's Captain, Robert Ayres. What can he tell them about Kirk and Ayer. "Good people as far as I know." He answers. The Police try to interview Ayer but is seems he jumped ship the night before. Bentley interviews Kirk to ask if she recalls anything else about Ayer. The police now get word that Ayer has been found.
The only problem here is that he was face down in the Thames. A quick check of his fingerprints etc, reveal him as a long time villain. Bentley assumes he was given the deep six to keep him quiet. They do a further check on the associate files and come up with a couple of leads.
They ask if Kirk would help with the case. Maybe she can identify one of the two as the man she passed the cig packs to the first time. The first man is a no go. The second man turns out to be Houston. He gives Bentley the slip by going out the back while his wife runs interference. Kirk, however, spots him and follows.
Houston leads Kirk through the back lanes down to the docks. There, she gets a surprise when Houston boards Kirk's ship. She boards and heads to Captain Ayres rooms for help finding Houston. Just as she is about knock, she hears Ayres and Houston talking inside. "It was that woman Ayer used who was with the police!" Houston tells Ayres. It seems that Ayres is the man in charge of the diamond smugglers. He brings the stones from the States and lands them in London. They then end up in the hands of black market boss, Charles Lloyd Pack.
Kirk rushes to call Bentley on the ship's land connected phone. Before she can complete the call, Ayres with gun in hand, hustles her back to his office. Ayres tells Kirk and Houston they have both become annoying loose ends. A trip over the side for an un-needed dip is about to happen.
Bentley now shows and the chase is on. Ayres, holding Kirk as a hostage, grabs a small launch and speeds off. Bentley and his Sgt, Leonard White, give pursuit in a Police boat. After several minutes, Kirk manages to bump Ayres off the wheel causing the launch to beach. Bentley and White are right behind. Ayres jumps to the ground and attempts to escape on foot. He is tackled by Bentley and given a sound thrashing. White then applies the cuffs.
It looks like Kirk and Bentley will get their date after all.
Phyllis Kirk was best known for her roles in CRIME WAVE and HOUSE OF WAX.
This film was Guy Green's first directing job. PORTRAIT OF ALLISON, LOST, HOUSE OF SECRETS, THE SNORKEL and THE MARK are several of his films. As a cinematographer, he worked on some early David Lean films such as, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, OLIVER TWIST and THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS. A middle of the road B-film that is well worth a look if you can find it. There is some interesting shots of the London Docks etc throughout. (b/w)
Phyllis Kirk is a radio operator on an American ship that has just docked in the Pool of London. She decides to spend the day taking in the sights. The ship's Steward, Harold Ayer, asks Kirk to take several packs of smokes through Customs and give them to a buddy, Glyn Houston, on the docks.
Kirk does the favour and leaves the cigs with Houston. She then hits a local pub for a drink. There she meets John Bentley. Bentley is a Police Inspector with the Thames River Water Police. The two strike up a conversation and agree to meet the next evening.
The next day, Bentley and his fellow coppers get a flash about a smuggling outfit bringing in diamonds. They need to beef up checks etc around the docks. That evening, as Kirk is leaving the ship for her date with Bentley, she is again approached by Ayer. He asks if she could again drop off some more packs of smokes to his friend, Houston. Kirk agrees but tells Ayer it is the last time.
The Cop on the dock exit asks to look in her purse. He takes the cig packs into the Customs office and opens them. Needless to say that they find diamonds mixed in with the tobacco. A dumbfounded Kirk swears she had no idea about the diamonds. Ayer, watching from the ship sees Kirk get grabbed up. He quickly phones his boss with the info.
Bentley, waiting at the pub, decides Kirk is a no show and leaves. Kirk, is of course busy being questioned by the Police, and the Customs boys. She tells them about the Steward, Ayer. The Police tell her to return to the ship and say nothing.
The next morning, the Police, including Bentley, come calling on the ship's Captain, Robert Ayres. What can he tell them about Kirk and Ayer. "Good people as far as I know." He answers. The Police try to interview Ayer but is seems he jumped ship the night before. Bentley interviews Kirk to ask if she recalls anything else about Ayer. The police now get word that Ayer has been found.
The only problem here is that he was face down in the Thames. A quick check of his fingerprints etc, reveal him as a long time villain. Bentley assumes he was given the deep six to keep him quiet. They do a further check on the associate files and come up with a couple of leads.
They ask if Kirk would help with the case. Maybe she can identify one of the two as the man she passed the cig packs to the first time. The first man is a no go. The second man turns out to be Houston. He gives Bentley the slip by going out the back while his wife runs interference. Kirk, however, spots him and follows.
Houston leads Kirk through the back lanes down to the docks. There, she gets a surprise when Houston boards Kirk's ship. She boards and heads to Captain Ayres rooms for help finding Houston. Just as she is about knock, she hears Ayres and Houston talking inside. "It was that woman Ayer used who was with the police!" Houston tells Ayres. It seems that Ayres is the man in charge of the diamond smugglers. He brings the stones from the States and lands them in London. They then end up in the hands of black market boss, Charles Lloyd Pack.
Kirk rushes to call Bentley on the ship's land connected phone. Before she can complete the call, Ayres with gun in hand, hustles her back to his office. Ayres tells Kirk and Houston they have both become annoying loose ends. A trip over the side for an un-needed dip is about to happen.
Bentley now shows and the chase is on. Ayres, holding Kirk as a hostage, grabs a small launch and speeds off. Bentley and his Sgt, Leonard White, give pursuit in a Police boat. After several minutes, Kirk manages to bump Ayres off the wheel causing the launch to beach. Bentley and White are right behind. Ayres jumps to the ground and attempts to escape on foot. He is tackled by Bentley and given a sound thrashing. White then applies the cuffs.
It looks like Kirk and Bentley will get their date after all.
Phyllis Kirk was best known for her roles in CRIME WAVE and HOUSE OF WAX.
This film was Guy Green's first directing job. PORTRAIT OF ALLISON, LOST, HOUSE OF SECRETS, THE SNORKEL and THE MARK are several of his films. As a cinematographer, he worked on some early David Lean films such as, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, OLIVER TWIST and THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS. A middle of the road B-film that is well worth a look if you can find it. There is some interesting shots of the London Docks etc throughout. (b/w)
Above average British crime programmer with interesting credits.
jamesraeburn200320 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A radio operator, Judy Roberts (Phyllis Kirk), on board an American ship is duped into smuggling diamonds by the ships steward via innocent looking cigarette packets, which he says are for his friends. However, one day she is pulled in by a customs official who opens them and finds the stones. She only avoids being charged there and then because her boyfriend is a policeman, Inspector Dan Barker (John Bentley), whom has been assigned to close down the smuggling ring. He succeeds in buying time for her because she is the only person who can positively identify the two men to whom she passed on the cigarette packets to in the street. But, a senior member of the gang, Hendrick (Charles Lloyd Pack), is on her tail since he and his fellow crooks have no intention of going to prison. So they attempt to further incriminate her in smuggling by planting diamonds in her cabin on board ship. The fact that Barker is investigating the case threatens to end his relationship with Judy, but he believes in her innocence throughout and together they fight to close down the gang's operations once and for all. But who is the big boss or 'the high fence' behind the smuggling operations?
An above average British 'B' pic crime drama with interesting credits. It was the directing debut of acclaimed cinematographer Guy Green and the film was edited by Peter Graham Scott who would soon become a fine director in his own right too. Initially, I thought that it was going to be nothing more than mundane programme fodder: the plot development certainly looked as if it was going that way. But, once it got into its stride, it turned out to be a very tense and suspenseful crime drama with Green showing a real proficiency for the genre. Within a few years of making this he would direct the Hammer suspenser, The Snorkel (1958), for years an unjustly neglected film in which he really outdid himself. There is a tense climax in which John Bentley and Phyllis Kirk go after the two receivers of the smuggled stones. One evades them and tips off the other and the pair have to race against the clock to catch him. We find ourselves gripping the edge of our seats even tighter since the suspense aspect behind it is that it depends on Bentley being able to charge the men for receiving the gems and Kirk being able to identify them. If that does not happen, then Kirk will undoubtedly be charged as a smuggler and face a long term of imprisonment. The identity of the chief smuggler is well concealed and when it is finally revealed it will take you completely by surprise. The film concludes with a fairly exciting climatic boat chase between the river patrol and the criminal mastermind on the Thames. Green's tense direction is complemented by Peter Graham Scott's tight editing and the settings around London's dockland and the drab terraced houses inhabited by the working class villains look convincing and believable thanks to Geoffrey Faithful's atmospheric b/w lighting, which gives the proceedings a strong feeling for place and period. The acting is, on the whole, very competent all round even though there is nobody who really stands out and sets the screen alight. John Bentley's budding romance with Phyllis Kirk, the imported Hollywood leading lady, isn't sufficiently developed to be all that powerful in terms stirring our emotions. However, they are both strong enough performers who do enough so that we can care about their plight.
An above average British 'B' pic crime drama with interesting credits. It was the directing debut of acclaimed cinematographer Guy Green and the film was edited by Peter Graham Scott who would soon become a fine director in his own right too. Initially, I thought that it was going to be nothing more than mundane programme fodder: the plot development certainly looked as if it was going that way. But, once it got into its stride, it turned out to be a very tense and suspenseful crime drama with Green showing a real proficiency for the genre. Within a few years of making this he would direct the Hammer suspenser, The Snorkel (1958), for years an unjustly neglected film in which he really outdid himself. There is a tense climax in which John Bentley and Phyllis Kirk go after the two receivers of the smuggled stones. One evades them and tips off the other and the pair have to race against the clock to catch him. We find ourselves gripping the edge of our seats even tighter since the suspense aspect behind it is that it depends on Bentley being able to charge the men for receiving the gems and Kirk being able to identify them. If that does not happen, then Kirk will undoubtedly be charged as a smuggler and face a long term of imprisonment. The identity of the chief smuggler is well concealed and when it is finally revealed it will take you completely by surprise. The film concludes with a fairly exciting climatic boat chase between the river patrol and the criminal mastermind on the Thames. Green's tense direction is complemented by Peter Graham Scott's tight editing and the settings around London's dockland and the drab terraced houses inhabited by the working class villains look convincing and believable thanks to Geoffrey Faithful's atmospheric b/w lighting, which gives the proceedings a strong feeling for place and period. The acting is, on the whole, very competent all round even though there is nobody who really stands out and sets the screen alight. John Bentley's budding romance with Phyllis Kirk, the imported Hollywood leading lady, isn't sufficiently developed to be all that powerful in terms stirring our emotions. However, they are both strong enough performers who do enough so that we can care about their plight.
Act first, and if necessary, apologize later.
mark.waltz25 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
That's exactly what detective John Bentley's supervisor tells him to do in the case of smuggled diamonds in this gem of a quota quickie. They track the diamonds being smuggled in to Phyllis Kirk, an office worker aboard an American cargo ship, getting them on land securely (and unknowingly) in a box of cigarettes. She was asked as a favor by a sailor to hand them off as a friend, and when she's stopped, she's implicated in the crime, only to be quickly identified as innocent, and aiding Bentley in exposing the racket.
I'll never forget the opening shot of a speeding police boat going down the very wide Thames under the Tower of London, and from there, the film does not disappoint. It's filled with intrigue, romance, some subtle humor and a glimpse into the working class apartment of one of the crooks, arguing with his wife. The romance between Kirk and Bentley is presented subtly and never overwhelms. Good production values aides what is essentially a B feature into becoming so much more.
I'll never forget the opening shot of a speeding police boat going down the very wide Thames under the Tower of London, and from there, the film does not disappoint. It's filled with intrigue, romance, some subtle humor and a glimpse into the working class apartment of one of the crooks, arguing with his wife. The romance between Kirk and Bentley is presented subtly and never overwhelms. Good production values aides what is essentially a B feature into becoming so much more.
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