Pool of London – 1951
Bonar Colleano headlines this first rate noir from the U.K. Colleano is a crewman on a ship doing the London to Holland run. He supplements his wages with a bit of smuggling, cigarettes, nylons, a couple of bottles of brandy and the like. After he drops off his new batch of smokes with his contact, he is asked if he would be interested in some "real cash". All he has to do is drop off a cigarette case sized package to an address in Holland next trip. Colleano agrees to the deal and then hits the bars for a few with his girl, Moria Lister. What he does not know is that he is moving the proceeds of a diamond robbery where a night watchman had been killed. Lister, who made a career out of playing shrew like wives and the like, soon talks Colleano into looking in the package. Once Colleano sees the diamonds he realizes he is in over his head. What is he to do? He talks one of his crew-mates, Earl Cameron, into taking the package on board. Of course the whole thing starts to unravel when Lister's eavesdropping sister blabs to the police. Then Colleano's ship is held in port by police and custom's officers. The Police are waiting for Bonar to show so they can arrest him. The mob behind the robbery then grab him up for a small talk as to why his ship is crawling with John Law. Shoved into a car at the end of a gun he is "asked" to return the diamonds. He can't since he has already given them to Cameron. This leads to a less than friendly exchange where Colleano collects a bullet in the shoulder before making an escape. He heads for his ship to stop his friend Cameron from boarding the ship. Colleano knows the police will search Cameron and assume he was in on the deal. Colleano gets there just in time, collects the package from Cameron and turns himself over to the police. All he had wanted to do was make a few bucks. A much better film than I make it sound.
Rest of the cast includes J.R. Justice, Susan Shaw, Leslie Phillips, Michael Golden, Johnny Longren, Victor Maddren, Ian Bannen and Alfie Bass. The film was directed by Basil Deardon. Deardon helmed several very good UK noir, CAGE OF GOLD, SAPPHIRE, NOWHERE TO GO, THE GENTLE GUNMAN. The D of P was Gordon Dines who worked on THE BLUE LAMP, THE LONG ARM, TRAIN OF EVENTS and the great ww2 film THE CRUEL SEA. Colleano was an American born actor who appeared in noir such as INTERPOL, ESCAPE BY NIGHT, GOOD TIME GIRL, WANTED FOR MURDER and JOE MACBETH. (b/w)
Bonar Colleano headlines this first rate noir from the U.K. Colleano is a crewman on a ship doing the London to Holland run. He supplements his wages with a bit of smuggling, cigarettes, nylons, a couple of bottles of brandy and the like. After he drops off his new batch of smokes with his contact, he is asked if he would be interested in some "real cash". All he has to do is drop off a cigarette case sized package to an address in Holland next trip. Colleano agrees to the deal and then hits the bars for a few with his girl, Moria Lister. What he does not know is that he is moving the proceeds of a diamond robbery where a night watchman had been killed. Lister, who made a career out of playing shrew like wives and the like, soon talks Colleano into looking in the package. Once Colleano sees the diamonds he realizes he is in over his head. What is he to do? He talks one of his crew-mates, Earl Cameron, into taking the package on board. Of course the whole thing starts to unravel when Lister's eavesdropping sister blabs to the police. Then Colleano's ship is held in port by police and custom's officers. The Police are waiting for Bonar to show so they can arrest him. The mob behind the robbery then grab him up for a small talk as to why his ship is crawling with John Law. Shoved into a car at the end of a gun he is "asked" to return the diamonds. He can't since he has already given them to Cameron. This leads to a less than friendly exchange where Colleano collects a bullet in the shoulder before making an escape. He heads for his ship to stop his friend Cameron from boarding the ship. Colleano knows the police will search Cameron and assume he was in on the deal. Colleano gets there just in time, collects the package from Cameron and turns himself over to the police. All he had wanted to do was make a few bucks. A much better film than I make it sound.
Rest of the cast includes J.R. Justice, Susan Shaw, Leslie Phillips, Michael Golden, Johnny Longren, Victor Maddren, Ian Bannen and Alfie Bass. The film was directed by Basil Deardon. Deardon helmed several very good UK noir, CAGE OF GOLD, SAPPHIRE, NOWHERE TO GO, THE GENTLE GUNMAN. The D of P was Gordon Dines who worked on THE BLUE LAMP, THE LONG ARM, TRAIN OF EVENTS and the great ww2 film THE CRUEL SEA. Colleano was an American born actor who appeared in noir such as INTERPOL, ESCAPE BY NIGHT, GOOD TIME GIRL, WANTED FOR MURDER and JOE MACBETH. (b/w)