River Beat

Last updated

River Beat
River Beat FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Guy Green
Written by Rex Rienits
Produced by Herman Cohen
Victor Hanbury
Starring John Bentley
Phyllis Kirk
Leonard White
Glyn Houston
Cinematography Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by Peter Graham Scott
Music by Hubert Clifford
Production
company
Insignia Films
Distributed by Eros Films
Lippert Pictures (US)
Release date
  • 29 March 1954 (1954-03-29)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

River Beat is a 1954 British second feature [1] noir crime film directed by Guy Green and starring John Bentley, Phyllis Kirk and Leonard White. [2] It was written by Rex Rientis and distributed in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

Contents

Plot

Judy is a radio operator on an American ship duped into smuggling diamonds in the belief that she is delivering cigarettes. Stopped by Customs she is in further trouble when the man who involved her is found dead in the river. Customs Detective Dan Barker has fallen for Judy and faces a moral dilemma: he must find out whether or not she is guilty, while protecting her from the smugglers.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at Walton Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by art director John Stoll.

It was Guy Green's first film as a director. He said Phyllis Kirk was "very helpful". [3]

Reception

On the film's release Variety said "The programmer market, currently short of passable supporting filmfare, will find this London-localed melodrama an acceptable filler ... Miss Kirk provides a casting switch to the Anglo-American film efforts Lippert usually releases. Heretofore it has been an American male in England, and mixed up with Scotland Yard and British crooks.  ... The plotting is contrived and everything drops too patly into place as the 70 minutes unfold." [4]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A competent little thriller, which maintains a good pace and has a fairly simple plot with one or two interesting twists. It has no pretensions to anything further; there is little attempt at characterisation, or to show much of the work of the River Police. The film, however, owes something to the tradition of the semi-documentary feature in its use of well-photographed locations in and around the Thames and Dockland." [5]

In British Sound Films David Quinlan rates the film "good", calling it a "well-acted, well-paced, well-set thriller: well above-average." [6]

Chibnall & McFarlane, in The British B Film: The Studio Years 1928–1959 rate the film as "exceptional in its use of docklands locations and pacey action." [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Broken Horseshoe</i> (film) 1953 British film by Martyn C. Webster

The Broken Horseshoe is a 1953 British "B" crime film directed by Martyn C. Webster and starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, and Hugh Kelly. It was written by A. R. Rawlinson based on the BBC television series of the same title from the previous year. A surgeon is drawn into a murder case.

<i>Wings of Danger</i> 1952 British film directed by Terence Fisher

Wings of Danger is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty and Kay Kendall. The screenplay, based on the 1951 novel Dead on Course by Trevor Dudley Smith and Packham Webb, concerns a pilot who is suspected of smuggling. It was released in the United States under its working title of Dead on Course.

<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. The screenplay was by Jan Read. 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 Floating Dutchman</i> 1954 British film by Vernon Sewell

The Floating Dutchman is a 1954 British second feature crime film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Dermot Walsh, Sydney Tafler and Mary Germaine. It is based on a 1950 novel The Floating Dutchman by Nicholas Bentley. A Scotland Yard detective goes undercover amongst jewel thieves after a dead Dutchman is found floating in the river.

<i>Paul Temples Triumph</i> 1950 British film by Maclean Rogers

Paul Temple's Triumph is a 1950 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley, Dinah Sheridan and Jack Livesey. It was the third in the series of four Paul Temple films made at Nettlefold Studios and was an adaptation by Francis Durbridge and A. R. Rawlinson of Durbridge's radio serial News of Paul Temple (1939). Temple is on the trail of a gang of international criminals trying to steal atomic secrets.

<i>Murder at 3am</i> 1953 film by Francis Searle

Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British second feature crime film directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner. It was written by John Ainsworth. A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.

<i>Third Party Risk</i> 1954 British film by Daniel Birt

Third Party Risk is a 1954 second feature British crime drama film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Lloyd Bridges, Simone Silva and Finlay Currie. It was written by Birt and Robert Dunbaris based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Nicholas Bentley. It was released in the United States by Lippert Pictures under the title TheDeadly Game.

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 US by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.

<i>Wheel of Fate</i> (film) 1953 film

Wheel of Fate is a 1953 British second feature ('B') drama film directed by Francis Searle and starring Patric Doonan, Sandra Dorne and Bryan Forbes. It was written by Guy Elmes based on the story "Nightmare" by Alex Atkinson. It was released by Rank's General Film Distributors.

<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. It was written by Paul Erickson.

Escape Route is a 1952 British black-and-white second feature thriller film, directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.

<i>Blackout</i> (1950 film) 1950 British film by Robert S. Baker

Blackout is a 1950 British second feature ('B') crime drama film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Maxwell Reed and Dinah Sheridan. The screenplay was by John Gilling.

<i>Dial 999</i> (1955 film) 1956 film directed by Montgomery Tully

Dial 999 is a 1955 British 'B' movie crime drama film directed and written by Montgomery Tully and starring Gene Nelson, Mona Freeman and John Bentley. It was based on the novel of the same name by Bruce Graeme. Produced by Todon Productions, it was shot at the Merton Park Studios in London. RKO Radio Pictures purchased the rights to distribute it in the United States, where it was released in cut form on 11 April 1956.

<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. It was written by Doreen Montgomery.

<i>Loves a Luxury</i> 1952 British film

Love's a Luxury, also known as The Caretaker's Daughter, is a 1952 British second feature comedy film directed by Francis Searle and starring Hugh Wakefield, Derek Bond and Michael Medwin. It is version of the stage play of the same name by Edward Hole and Guy Paxton, and was made by the Manchester-based Mancunian Films.

<i>My Death Is a Mockery</i> 1952 British film by Tony Young

My Death Is a Mockery is a 1952 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Tony Young and starring Donald Houston, Kathleen Byron and Bill Kerr. It was written by Douglas Baber from his novel of the same name.

<i>Profile</i> (1954 film) 1954 film

Profile is a 1954 British second feature ('B') thriller film directed by Francis Searle and starring John Bentley, Kathleen Byron and Thea Gregory. It was written by John Temple-Smith, Maurice Temple-Smith and John Gilling.

<i>Dangerous Voyage</i> 1954 British film by Vernon Sewell

Dangerous Voyage is a 1954 British crime thriller B film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring William Lundigan, Naomi Chance and Vincent Ball. It was written by Sewell and Julian Ward and was distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated in the UK, and in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 138. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "River Beat". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Schwartzman, Arnold (19 November 1991). "Interview with Guy Green side 3". British Entertainment History Project.
  4. ↑ "River Beat". Variety : 6. 21 July 1954.
  5. ↑ "River Beat". Monthly Film Bulletin . 21 (240): 60. 1 January 1954.
  6. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 365. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.