Conceived as a crime thriller set in London's now-vanished docklands around the Tower Bridge area, POOL OF London is both tautly directed (by Basil Dearden) and ably performed by an ensemble cast including Bonar Colleano (in a rare leading role), Earl Cameron, Renee Asherson and James Robertson Justice. But perhaps its chief merit lies in its documentary realism: Dearden locates the action in the bomb-damaged streets of the City of London, where even the famous landmarks such as St. Paul's Cathedral seem shabby. The interior sequences take place in a tatty variety theater (even in the early Fifties the music-hall survived, although attracting tiny audiences), smoky bars and a doubtful-looking after-hours club full of crooks and a good-time girl (Rowena Gregory). Many of the characters are 'on the make' - such as downtrodden acrobat Charlie Vernon (Max Adrian), who teams up with a shady gang of crooks including safe-cracker Alf (Alfie Bass) to initiate a diamond-robbery. In a London whose people have to survive on very little money and continuing rationing, any get-rich-quick scheme will be readily embraced. POOL OF London also communicates some of the casual racism dominating British society at that time - in spite of his upstanding nature, Johnny Lambert (Cameron) is almost inevitably considered a shady character or potential crook on account of his skin-color. Pat (Susan Shaw), an attractive young white woman who keeps him company while he is ashore, is likewise considered aberrant for choosing to be seen in public with him. The society depicted in POOL OF London is both small-minded and desperate, trying to make ends meet yet refusing to acknowledge some of the profound social changes taking place around it. Perhaps Johnny makes the right decision in choosing to return to his ship, with the intention not to return to London in the foreseeable future.
Review of Pool of London
