Once a Crook (film)

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Once a Crook
Directed by Herbert Mason
Written by Roger Burford
Produced by Edward Black
Starring Gordon Harker
Sydney Howard
Bernard Lee
Kathleen Harrison
Raymond Huntley
Cinematography Arthur Crabtree
Edited by R. E. Dearing
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • 23 August 1941 (1941-08-23)(United Kingdom)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Once a Crook is a 1941 British crime film directed by Herbert Mason, produced by Edward Black for 20th Century Fox and featuring Gordon Harker, Sydney Howard, Bernard Lee, Kathleen Harrison, and Raymond Huntley. [1] [2] [3] It was written by Roger Burford based on the 1939 stage play of the same title by Evadne Price and Ken Attiwell. [4]

Contents

Plot summary

Charlie Hopkins is a retired burglar with an expertise in safecracking. His ex-partner The Duke holds a grudge against Charlie, since he believes he ratted him out and sent him to jail. The Duke is out for revenge against Charlie, and hires Bill Hopkins, Charlie's son, to help him perform a hit, with an intention to frame the kid. The Duke's plan doesn't work out, since Bill turns out to be an even better safecracker than his old man. After many complications along the road, the hit is a success, and The Duke is bereaved of his revenge, ultimately stopped by his good-hearted sweetheart, Estelle. [5]

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a slick, fast-moving film with a well-defined plot in which great care has been paid to detail so that the background is authentic. Gordon Harker is himself, as always, and Sydney Howard as "Hallelujah" Harry, potman, ex-pickpocket and psalm-singing rogue, through his own mannerisms acts successfully as Gordon Harker's foil. A very nice if straightforward performance is given by Diana King, barmaid, fiancée of Hopkins' boy and one of the family. Bernard Lee makes "The Duke" a suave villain, but Joss Ambler is a little too blunt and stiff for a CID inspector. Nevertheless, the cast as a whole plays well individually and collectively." [6]

Kine Weekly wrote: "The first half is a little on the slow side – we take a little while to sort out the romantic and domestic by-plots – but from the moment Charlie is made a double scapegoat for the Duke's villainy things really begin to hum. At all times there is a generous meed [sic] of crisp humour and an insistence upon good atmosphere. Well-planned laughs and thrills provide in the end the framework and facade of capital British comedy crime entertainment." [7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Crime drama with lots of character." [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "Once a Crook". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Once a Crook (1941)". Archived from the original on 28 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (1 December 2024). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black". Filmink. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  4. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN   9781317740636 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Hal Erickson. "Movie Reviews". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Once a Crook" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 8, no. 85. 1 January 1941. p. 67 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ "Once a Crook" . Kine Weekly . Vol. 292, no. 1782. 12 June 1941. p. 18 – via ProQuest.
  8. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 237. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.

Bibliography

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