The film opens with Richard Fuller (Gordon Jackson) being released from prison after doing time for embezzlement. Being an 'old lag', he has difficulty finding employment until he decides to change his name to Roger Fenton and keep quiet about his past. He soon gets a job in an estate office and the first job his elderly employer Mr Shipley gives him is to report on a country house just on the market. The property is occupied by a young, attractive artist Audrey Truscott (June Thorburn) who lives alone (later in the film they form romantic relationship). Roger does well in his job and eventually is offered a partnership in the business.
However two problems arise to threaten his success. Mr Shipley inadvertently brings together Roger and Mrs Shipley, a younger, attractive lady who is bored and looking for love. She relentlessly pursues Roger almost to the point of stalking him but he consistently rejects her advances for fear of losing his job as well as jeopardising his relationship with Audrey. A more serious situation arises for him when by chance he crosses paths with a fellow prison inmate (affectionately nicknamed 'the slug' played by the ubiquitous Sam Kydd). By eavesdropping and snooping, the slug learns of Roger's change of name, employment success and girlfriend and in time honoured fashion, starts to blackmail him. Initially Roger pays the 'slug' every week at his tobacconists shop until 'sluggy' makes the fatal error of getting greedy. I will say no more how things develop as it will spoil the film for new viewers.
I would class this film as a second feature but it is none the worse for that and I will not fall into the trap of assessing this 1959 film using twenty-first century criteria as some other reviewers seem unable to resist. One has to remember the function of 'B' pictures in the 1950s, the restricted budgets of film makers and the target audience. Gordon Jackson never made a bad film in my opinion and this one is well acted by all concerned. I can never watch a June Thorburn film without thinking of the real life tragedy that befell her. She was a great loss though not required to stretch herself here. Sam Kydd's part is somewhat longer than he would have been used to but he plays it well and is suitably 'low life'. The action moves along nicely and there are a couple of twists that resolve tricky situations and are quite satisfying.
The film could easily be classed as 'routine' in some ways for the genre but for me, being a diehard fan of 1950s vintage 'B' films, it passed an hour or so quite pleasantly. Accordingly I think it is worth a 7 out of 10.
Review of The Price of Silence
