Brit Noir is the term that historians and film aficionados have applied to British crime cinema of the 1940s and 1950s that shares stylistic and thematic characteristics with American film noir. This double feature presents two lesser-known films that fit the bill, more or less.
Dancing with Crime (1947) stars Richard Attenborough as London cabbie Ted Peters and Sheila Sims as his fiancée Joy, a pair of spunky twentysomethings who become amateur investigators after Ted's childhood best friend and army buddy Dave (Bill Owen) is murdered. It's a nicely crafted scene as his slumped body falls out of Ted's cab, dead from a gunshot wound.
While Ted works the streets, Joy goes undercover as a dancer in a nightclub where Dave's girlfriend works and uncovers a ring of thieves. Of course, Ted bypasses the police to confront his buddy's killers alone, just one of the foolish choices and contrived twists in the screenplay.
It is a handsome production, however, with shadowy street scenes and a terrific atrium-style nightclub set that director John Paddy Carstairs uses to good dramatic effect. And crime story aside, it's an interesting slice of post-war England, with talk of ration stamps and "demobbed" soldiers returning to society. Look for future starlet Diana Dors in a small role as a dancer.
Jumping back to pre-war England, The Green Cockatoo (produced in 1937 but released in 1940) opens with wide-eyed country girl Eileen (Rene Ray) coming to London by train. And as if on cue, after enduring a lecture on the dangers of the big city by a curmudgeon of a passenger, she's used as cover by Dave Connor (Robert Newton), a small-time crook on the run after ripping off a gang with a fixed dog race. In no time he's dead and she's on the run, helped by Dave's cynical yet chivalrous brother Jim (John Mills), a song and dance man who wants to avenge his brother's death.
Jim is no criminal but he's street smart and savvy about the underworld, and Mills carries the film with surly charm, understated tough guy poise, and a streak of decency. It's based on an original story by Graham Greene and (curiously for a British film of the era) directed by William Cameron Menzies and produced by William K. Howard, both Americans.
It's kind of a proto-noir, mixing elements right out of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (the innocent bystander caught up in a criminal conspiracy, the romantic thriller of opposites brought together on the run) with urban gangster drama and revenge thriller.
While these are minor examples of Brit Noir, they are both set in the London underworld and feature British stars not associated with the genre. Both films have been restored and preserved by the British Film Institute.
What kind of film series would this narrative double feature fit in?
They make an interesting pair of English crime dramas set on either side of World War II and could be featured both in a series of international film noirs and in spotlights on the respected British actors John Mills and Richard Attenborough.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Classic British cinema and examples of film noir and classic crime cinema from around the world.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Classic movies from England from the first half of the 20th century
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