A beautiful redhead becomes involved with a group of small-time hoodlums who plan and perform a daring diamond robbery.A beautiful redhead becomes involved with a group of small-time hoodlums who plan and perform a daring diamond robbery.A beautiful redhead becomes involved with a group of small-time hoodlums who plan and perform a daring diamond robbery.
John Adams
- Police Constable
- (uncredited)
Anne Blake
- Mrs. Wilson
- (uncredited)
Donald Bradley
- Youth in Turntable
- (uncredited)
Fanny Carby
- Woman with Pram
- (uncredited)
Peggy Ann Clifford
- Mrs. Wilson's Neighbour
- (uncredited)
Alan Coleshill
- Undetermined Role
- (uncredited)
Wendy Craig
- Receptionist
- (uncredited)
David de Keyser
- Ticket Clerk
- (uncredited)
Jill Dixon
- Joan
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFeature directorial debut of Clive Donner.
- GoofsMolly folds the newspaper with the robbery headlines up and puts it inside her handbag, but when Freddie enters the kitchen the folded newspaper is on top of her handbag.
- Quotes
Harry: You're late.
Mike Wilson: Yes, I missed the bus this morning.
Harry: You missed the bus years ago.
- SoundtracksBut You
By Ray Martin (as Lester Powell) and Jack Fishman (as Danny Maule)
Sung by Jimmy Parkinson
Accompaniment directed by Eric Jupp (uncredited)
on a Columbia Record
Featured review
Overlooked gem, with a startlingly good child performance
I must confess I'm a little surprised by the lackluster rating of 5.1 that this film currently has on IMDb, because it's exactly the kind of movie that deserves reevaluation. Granted, it's no masterpiece. The plot isn't particularly innovative, and the dialog is clunky at times. Perhaps most disturbing of all, since director Clive Donner had been a top editor during the preceding decade, the pacing is too slow. (This kind of movie shouldn't run longer than 85 or 90 minutes.) But it's thoughtful and entertaining. And most importantly, it's an excellent example of the transition that the British film industry was undergoing in the late-1950s. On one hand, its characters are working-class types who feel entrapped by their environment, much like the "Kitchen Sink" dramas that began appearing the following year. Likewise, Donner's interest in youth culture and on-location photography mirrors that of the Free Cinema directors. On the other hand, the moral compass of "The Secret Place" is aligned with the moderate views of Ealing, and poor Belinda Lee is saddled with outdated lines like "you really *must* stop" and "I'd be ever so grateful." (By the way, the gorgeous Lee acquits herself nicely in this rare dramatic role. She was used rather poorly by the Rank Organization.)
What I especially like about "The Secret Place" is its blending of genres. At its most basic level, it's a heist picture. The plot centers around a daring diamond robbery. The second half of the film, however, runs more along the lines of a boys' adventure tale, with young Freddie trying to foil the gang's plans -- not unlike Ealing's "Hue and Cry" (though with far less comedy). Yet the movie also presents us with a vivid and dramatic portrayal of a bombed-out London neighborhood and the interconnected lives of its inhabitants -- much like "It Always Rains on Sunday" and "London Belongs to Me." At heart, this film wants to say something about the bleakness of war-scarred London and the need its younger inhabitants have of escape to a better life. A brief interlude that occurs when Molly and Gerry visit a modern flat they hope to buy with their share of the loot provides subtle but beautiful motivation for their actions.
As the other reviewer points out, most viewers will be interested to see a very young David McCallum in one of his earliest roles, and as I've already mentioned, this movie offers a rare glimpse of Belinda Lee tackling a role that wasn't beneath her. But the real eye-opener is Michael Brooke's superb performance as the adolescent Freddie, whose crush on Molly is exploited cruelly by the gang. Donner's skill with young actors is on full display here: Brooke's depiction of pubescent infatuation with a (slightly) older woman and the heartbreak and loss of innocence that that sort of infatuation can result in is spot-on. Freddie is both precocious and naive -- a combination that's extraordinarily difficult to recreate. It really is one of the best and most overlooked child performances of the decade. It's a shame that Brooke didn't have much of a career afterward. (By the way, IMDb's entry for Brooke apparently confuses him with a much older actor with the same name. Surely, he wasn't born in 1904! However, I know that I've glimpsed him in a couple of other British films from the same period -- "The Mudlark" and "The Long Arm," most notably.)
So if you get a chance to watch this on TV, it's worth your while. (It seems to come on TCM once every year or so.)
What I especially like about "The Secret Place" is its blending of genres. At its most basic level, it's a heist picture. The plot centers around a daring diamond robbery. The second half of the film, however, runs more along the lines of a boys' adventure tale, with young Freddie trying to foil the gang's plans -- not unlike Ealing's "Hue and Cry" (though with far less comedy). Yet the movie also presents us with a vivid and dramatic portrayal of a bombed-out London neighborhood and the interconnected lives of its inhabitants -- much like "It Always Rains on Sunday" and "London Belongs to Me." At heart, this film wants to say something about the bleakness of war-scarred London and the need its younger inhabitants have of escape to a better life. A brief interlude that occurs when Molly and Gerry visit a modern flat they hope to buy with their share of the loot provides subtle but beautiful motivation for their actions.
As the other reviewer points out, most viewers will be interested to see a very young David McCallum in one of his earliest roles, and as I've already mentioned, this movie offers a rare glimpse of Belinda Lee tackling a role that wasn't beneath her. But the real eye-opener is Michael Brooke's superb performance as the adolescent Freddie, whose crush on Molly is exploited cruelly by the gang. Donner's skill with young actors is on full display here: Brooke's depiction of pubescent infatuation with a (slightly) older woman and the heartbreak and loss of innocence that that sort of infatuation can result in is spot-on. Freddie is both precocious and naive -- a combination that's extraordinarily difficult to recreate. It really is one of the best and most overlooked child performances of the decade. It's a shame that Brooke didn't have much of a career afterward. (By the way, IMDb's entry for Brooke apparently confuses him with a much older actor with the same name. Surely, he wasn't born in 1904! However, I know that I've glimpsed him in a couple of other British films from the same period -- "The Mudlark" and "The Long Arm," most notably.)
So if you get a chance to watch this on TV, it's worth your while. (It seems to come on TCM once every year or so.)
helpful•352
- Tryavna
- Aug 2, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Am Rande der Unterwelt
- Filming locations
- Tom Thumb's Arch underline railway bridge, Mostyn Grove, Bow East, London, England, UK(The place where Molly meets Gerry to tell him she has failed to recover the stolen diamonds from Freddie Haywood. Ordell Road, filmed on a summer evening, can be seen during their conversation as well as electric trains on the Shenfield line.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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