River Patrol (film)

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River Patrol
River Patrol film Opening titles (1948).png
Opening titles
Directed byBen R. Hart
Written byJames Corbett (unverified) [1]
Produced byHal Wilson
Starring
CinematographyBertram Brooks-Carrington
Edited byJames Corbett
Production
companies
Distributed by Exclusive Films
Release date
  • 28 January 1948 (1948-01-28)
Running time
46 minutes [2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

River Patrol is a 1948 British second feature ('B') [3] crime film directed by Ben R. Hart and starring John Blythe, Lorna Dean, and Wally Patch. [4] The screenplay was likely written by the film's editor James Corbett, but there is no writer's credit listed. The film concerns a group of undercover British customs officers who investigate a gang of smugglers. It was made by Hammer Film Productions at Marylebone Studios in London. It is notable for being one of the earliest films made by Hammer following its relaunch after the Second World War. It is today considered a lost film [5]

Contents

Plot

Two British police officers, Robby and Jean, go undercover, pretending to be husband and wife in order to smash a ring of smugglers along the Thames. During the investigation they visit the most shady places of London, including a night club with the worst imaginable reputation in the city. The fake spouses befriend and dupe the night club owner and find evidence leading to the top boss of the smuggling ring. However, their identities are discovered by the criminals before they can report back to their superiors, and they are kidnapped by the thugs and held until they are rescued by the River Patrol.

Cast

Reception

"River Patrol" was trade shown at the Hammer Theatres on January 28, 1948. The Kinematograph Weekly reviewed it on Feb. 5, 1948. [6]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film evidently does not aim very high in either direction or production. Scenes in a continental café, in particular, are unconvincing, though elsewhere a certain feeling of suspense is built up. John Blythe heads the cast capably." [7]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Thumbnail crime melodrama. It tries hard to be tough, but uneven direction, faulty timing, and cramped staging give its roughstuff a somewhat phoney ring. ... The opening is promising, but the film starts to degenerate immediately the hero and villain come to grips. The fights and exchanges are much too one-sided and the continental café sequences are very stagey. So is the big-fire climax. Clumsy pocket-serial, there is little to it, apart from its quota ticket. [8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Unambitious pocket thriller." [9]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 28. ISBN   0-7864-0034-X.
  2. ↑ Meikle p. 265
  3. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: British Film Institute/Bloomsbury. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  4. ↑ "River Patrol". British Film Institute. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 29. ISBN   0-7864-0034-X.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 29. ISBN   0-7864-0034-X.
  7. ↑ "River Patrol" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 15 (169): 17. 1 January 1948. ProQuest   1305820319.
  8. ↑ "River Patrol" . Kine Weekly . 372 (2127): 20. 5 February 1948. ProQuest   2732613689.
  9. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 242. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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