IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
The sleuths of Scotland Yard try to solve a series of burglaries.The sleuths of Scotland Yard try to solve a series of burglaries.The sleuths of Scotland Yard try to solve a series of burglaries.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe last film made at Ealing Studios, London.
- GoofsAbout 6 minutes in, there is a interior shot of the Night Watchman as he begins to leave the bank with the police. As he does so he puts a black glove onto his right hand. A second later there is an exterior shot of him exiting the bank with the black glove on his left hand.
- Quotes
[during the final chase, Halliday leaps onto the bonnet of the getaway car and stops it by smashing its windscreen with his truncheon; as it lurches to a halt, he falls off the bonnet onto the ground. Ward helps him up]
Detective-Sergeant Ward: Are you all right, sir?
Detective-Superintendent Tom Halliday: I'll live, I think.
Detective-Sergeant Ward: Nothing broken?
[Halliday pauses and looks mortified]
Detective-Superintendent Tom Halliday: Yes - a promise I made to let *other* people take the risks!
- Crazy creditsSPOILER: In the end credits Ursula Howells is credited twice: first as her fake character Mrs. Elliot, and then at the end as Mrs. Gilson, the wife of Gilson the criminal.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Those British Faces: A Tribute to Jack Hawkins 1910-1973 (1993)
Featured review
Good solid stuff.
This is a superb police detection drama, with Jack Hawkins as the warm-hearted focus of a rather complex crime saga. The best supporting performance is by Ursula Howells, who brilliantly conveys neurotic menace and desperation in just a few scenes. The young Ian Bannen is killed off very quickly, but already in this early appearance we can see his superior qualities working on screen. This 1956 British film is clearly an attempt to emulate the 1940s and 1950s Hollywood films such as 'The House on 92nd Street', directed by Henry Hathaway, since it also portrays stolid and patient police work, shown in loving detail. There are no 'noir' elements to this drama, and the crime is just crime, with no psychology or angst. The plot has some intriguing novelties. In the first safe robbery at the beginning of the film, the thief remains at the scene of the crime and pretends to be a night watchman, lets the police in, shows sympathy and bewilderment, and then makes his escape after they have gone. The whole case really is a brain-teaser, and well worth viewing by any chess player or detective enthusiast. It is a superior British film of its genre.
helpful•331
- robert-temple-1
- Sep 23, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Treci kljuc
- Filming locations
- Pen-Y-Gwryd, Gwynedd, Wales, UK(Mr Thomas's garage where the newspaper was delivered)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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