Breakout (1959 film)

Last updated

Breakout
Breakout (1959 film).jpg
Directed by Peter Graham Scott
Written by Peter Barnes
Based onthe book Breakout by Frederick Oughton [1]
Produced byLeslie Parkyn
Julian Wintle
Starring Lee Patterson
Hazel Court
Terence Alexander
Dermot Kelly
Cinematography Eric Cross
Edited byEric Boyd-Perkins
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • March 1959 (1959-03)
(UK)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Breakout is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Lee Patterson, Hazel Court and Terence Alexander. [2]

Contents

Plot

Arkwright is a fraudster serving a seven-year prison sentence. He gets word to his contact Chandler that he wants out. Chandler and his partner Farrow contract George Munro to organise the job of springing Arkwright. Munro hatches a plan involving a rigged delivery van.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at Beaconsfield Studios. Location shooting took place in the West End area of Aldershot in Hampshire. The gates of the East Cavalry Barracks on Barrack Road stood in for the prison gates used in the breakout. Other scenes were filmed in Uxbridge.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This moderately tense crime thriller distracts attention from the improbability of the escape preparations by skilful handing of background and detail. Although there is an intermittently successful attempt to build up Monro as a convincing character, the other figures all come from stock." [3]

In British Sound Films David Quinlan called the film a "quite exciting vest-pocket thriller with edgy performances." [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Shakedown</i> (1959 film) 1960 British film by John Lemont

The Shakedown is a 1959 black and white British crime-drama film directed by John Lemont, starring Terence Morgan, Hazel Court, and Donald Pleasence. A ruthless crook runs a blackmail operation, falls for an undercover cop, and is murdered by one of his victims.

<i>Park Plaza 605</i> 1953 British film by Bernard Knowles

Park Plaza 605 is a 1953 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Tom Conway, Eva Bartok, and Joy Shelton. It was written by Bertram Oster, Albert Fennell, Knowles and Clifford Witting based on the 1950 novel Dare-devil Conquest by Edwy Searles Brookes.

<i>The Terror</i> (1938 film) 1938 British film by Richard Bird

The Terror is a 1938 British crime film directed by Richard Bird and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Linden Travers and Bernard Lee. It was based on the 1927 play The Terror by Edgar Wallace. The play had previously been adapted as the American film The Terror(1928).

<i>Inquest</i> (1939 film) 1939 British film by Roy Boulting

Inquest is a 1939 British crime film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Elizabeth Allan, Herbert Lomas, Hay Petrie and Barbara Everest. It was based on the play Inquest by Michael Barringer which had previously been adapted as Inquest in 1931. The film was a quota quickie made at Highbury Studios to be used as a supporting feature.

<i>Blood Orange</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Terence Fisher

Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. It was released in the United States as Three Stops to Murder. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.

<i>Murder by Proxy</i> 1954 British film by Terence Fisher

Murder by Proxy is a 1954 British 'B' film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The film was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. It was produced by Hammer Films, and released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

<i>Stolen Assignment</i> 1955 British film by Terence Fisher

Stolen Assignment is a 1955 British comedy 'B' film directed by Terence Fisher and starring John Bentley and Hy Hazell. It was produced by Francis Searle for Act Films Ltd and was a sequel to Fisher's Final Appointment (1954), featuring sleuthing journalists Mike Billings and Jenny Drew.

<i>The End of the Line</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by Charles Saunders

The End of the Line is a 1957 British second feature crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Alan Baxter, Barbara Shelley, Ferdy Mayne and Jennifer Jayne. It was released in the USA in 1959.

<i>Model for Murder</i> 1959 British film by Terry Bishop

Model for Murder is a 1959 British second feature crime film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Keith Andes, Hazel Court and Jean Aubrey.

<i>The Price of Silence</i> (1960 film) 1960 British film by Montgomery Tully

The Price of Silence is a 1960 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully, and starring Gordon Jackson and June Thorburn, with Mary Clare, Maya Koumani and Terence Alexander in supporting roles. An ex-convict is blackmailed and suspected of murder.

<i>Tiger by the Tail</i> (1955 film) 1955 British crime film by John Gilling

Tiger by the Tail is a 1955 British second feature ('B') crime thriller film directed by John Gilling and starring Larry Parks, Constance Smith, Lisa Daniely and Donald Stewart. The screenplay was by Gilling and Willis Goldbeck, adapted from the 1942 novel Never Come Back by John Mair.

<i>Alias John Preston</i> 1955 British film by David MacDonald

Alias John Preston is a 1955 British 'B' thriller film directed by David MacDonald and starring Christopher Lee, Betta St. John and Alexander Knox. A mysterious and wealthy man moves to a small village where he outwardly appears to be a friendly figure but nurses a dangerous secret.

<i>The Passing Stranger</i> 1954 British film by John Arnold

The Passing Stranger is a 1954 British crime film written and directed by John Arnold, and starring Lee Patterson, Diane Cilento and Duncan Lamont. It was produced by Anthony Simmons, who also wrote the original film story, and Ian Gibson-Smith, with Leon Clore as executive producer for Harlequin Productions.

Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune. It was released in the USA by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.

<i>The Flying Scot</i> (film) 1957 British film by Compton Bennett

The Flying Scot is a 1957 British 'B' crime film produced and directed by Compton Bennett and starring Lee Patterson, Kay Callard and Alan Gifford. The screenplay was by Norman Hudis based on a story by Jan Read and Ralph Smart.

<i>Kill Her Gently</i> 1957 British film by Charles Saunders

Kill Her Gently is a 1957 British second feature thriller film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Maureen Connell and Marc Lawrence.

<i>Meet Mr. Callaghan</i> 1954 British film by Charles Saunders

Meet Mr. Callaghan is a 1954 British crime drama film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Derrick De Marney and Adrienne Corri. The screenplay was by Brock Williams, based on the 1938 play of the same name, adapted for the stage by Gerald Verner from Peter Cheyney's 1938 novelThe Urgent Hangman.

<i>The Scarlet Web</i> 1954 British film by Charles Saunders

The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall.

<i>Wrong Number</i> (1959 film) 1959 British film by Vernon Sewell

Wrong Number is a 1959 British second feature crime film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Peter Reynolds, Lisa Gastoni and Olive Sloane. It was written by James Eastwood and Norman Edwards.

<i>The Hornets Nest</i> (1955 film) 1955 film directed by Charles Saunders

The Hornet's Nest is a 1955 British second feature ('B') crime comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Paul Carpenter, June Thorburn, and Marla Landi. It was written by Allan MacKinnon.

References

  1. Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   9783110951943 via Google Books.
  2. "Breakout (1959)". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  3. "Breakout". Monthly Film Bulletin . 26 (300): 44. 1 January 1960 via ProQuest.
  4. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 287. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.