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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Tread Softly Stranger (1958)

A down on his luck gambler (George Baker) decides to visit his timid accountant brother (Terence Morgan in a grating hysterical performance) who's gotten himself involved with a gold digging tart (Diana Dors). She eggs the accountant brother on to rob the safe at his place of business but when his brother attempts to stop him, everything goes wrong. Based on the play BLIND ALLEY by Jack Popplewell and directed by Gordon Parry (INNOCENTS IN PARIS). Not a particularly original heist/noir combo from Great Britain but quite enjoyable if your expectations are modest. None of the characters are likable so you can't really have anyone to side with which lessens the suspense elements. You actually want them to get caught! Still, that magnificent overinflated structure called Diana Dors is something to watch and she gives the best performance in the movie even if her sexuality is too obvious. The cinematography by Douglas Slocombe (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) captures the grim and grimy working class factory town in evocative B&W while the underscore by Tristam Cary occasionally apes Bernard Herrmann. With Patrick Allen, Jane Griffiths, Wilfrid Lawson and Andrew Keir. 

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