Review of Recoil

Recoil (1953)
8/10
Very good
7 June 2009
Jean (Elizabeh Sellars) witnesses the murder of her father, Talbot (Ian Fleming) by Nicholas (Kieran Moore) during a jewelry robbery. The man behind it all is Farnborough (Martin Benson) but Nicholas has kept back some jewels for himself to bargain with Farnborough so that they can become equal partners. Farnborough rejects his deal and so begins a rival gang-war. Meanwhile the police are after Talbot's killer and Nicholas gets his brother, Michael (Edward Underdown), to provide an alibi for him. Jean rents a room in the same house that Michael has a doctor's practice so that she can befriend Nicholas with the purpose of revealing him as the killer. Both brothers fall in love with her and this brings extra dramatic tension to the story.

The film follows how Jean gains Nicholas's confidence (with the police in the background), the war-fare between Fanborough and Nicholas's gangs, and the drama between Nicholas and his brother who don't see eye-to-eye. On a personal note, I didn't care much for the scenes with the mother (Ethel O'Shea) and I found it hard to believe that Nicholas and Michael were brothers because of their different accents! However, its a well-acted, tense story that is played out at a good speed.
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