Vier bleiben auf der Strecke (1954)

Vier bleiben auf der Strecke: Directed by Lewis Gilbert. With Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, Joan Collins. In London, three otherwise law-abiding good men and their unscrupulous leader are about to commit a serious crime, but for different reasons.

“To understand the impact one particular quote from this movie had on me, you need to know that I first saw it at an u0026#39;Astrau0026#39; cinema in the 1950s, while serving in the RAF.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn a scene early on in the film, John Ireland, a sergeant in the USAF, is accusing his wife, played by Gloria Grahame, of infidelity. She turns to him with self-righteous indignation and says (as only she can) :u0026quot;Eddie, your time in the Air Force has coarsened your mind.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt shouldnu0026#39;t be difficult to imagine how, in front of an audience comprising a couple of hundred airmen, that one line brought the house down! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat apart, this is quite a decent crime caper movie, with some similarities to The League of Gentlemen (1959), but without the humorous touches.The only blemish is the usual wooden performance from Laurence Harvey. (How on earth did that man get so many leading roles in both British and American productions?) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarvey apart, the acting is of a high standard. Stanley Baker is particularly impressive as the broken down prizefighter and Richard Basehart and John Ireland (the two token Yanks in British minor movies of the fifties) give excellent support as the other two conspirators. The young Joan Collins is ravishing as the wife any man would rob a dozen banks for and Freda Jackson is outstanding as her manipulating witch of a mother. Gloria Grahame is (of course) brilliant as the femme fatale and there is a delightful cameo from Robert Morley as the villainu0026#39;s father.”