Monday, June 03, 2019

Movie review - "Tread Softly Stranger" (1958) **

British B film which combines kitchen sink realism (well, it's set in the north) and film noir. It also has a bit of semi star power - George Baker, a quasi name in the 50s, flees gambling debts in London to join his brother - Terence Morgan - in the north. Morgan has a girlfriend Diana Dors and a tendency to fiddle the books so Dors suggests they rob Morgan's office.

Baker is a decent actor but always felt like a bit of a nerd - this role could have done with an actor who better suggested Baker. Maybe he should've swapped parts with Morgan, a leading man of the time who never quite made it.

Dors is a femme fetale, quite sexy, though she doesn't get the chance to show humour which she was so good at; also she has a two dimensional character (she wants money) whereas the brothers get to play three dimensional characters.

Once again I'm wishing Dors had more to do - it's not so much screen time I just wish she was more active in the heist. She wears a lot of slinky outfits. I wish she'd done the robbery.

This is alright. There's a smug character who I think is meant to be a goody - he's just annoying. Director Gordon Parry isn't a particularly gifted visual stylist.

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