Scarlet Thread

Scarlet Thread
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lewis Gilbert
Written by	Moie Charles A.R. Rawlinson
Produced by	Ernest G. Roy
Starring	Kathleen Byron Laurence Harvey
Cinematography	Geoffrey Faithfull
Music by	Kenneth D. Morrison
Distributed by	Butcher's Film Service (UK) Realart Pictures (US)
Release date	1951 (1951)
Running time	85 mins.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Scarlet Thread is a 1951 British second feature ('B') ^[1] crime drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and produced by Ernest G. Roy. ^[2] It was written by Moie Charles and A.R. Rawlinson.

Plot

Two criminals plan a jewellery robbery. The robbery goes wrong and an innocent man is shot.

Cast

• Kathleen Byron as Josephine
• Laurence Harvey as Freddie
• Sydney Tafler as Marcon
• Arthur Hill as Shaw
• Dora Bryan as Maggie
• Eliot Makeham as Jason
• Harry Fowler as Sam
• Cyril Chamberlain as Mason
• Renee Kelly as Eleanor
• Hylton Allen as the Dean

Production

The film was made at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England, and on location.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Sydney Tafler and Laurence Harvey do well as the unattractive pair of gangsters, and the characterisation and dialogue are as a whole more effective than the improbable story." ^[3]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Well-made, if slightly far-fetched romantic melodrama ... Unusual and intriguing story, exciting climax, feminine angle, and quota." ^[4]

In The Radio Times Guide to Films Allen Eyles gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "In one of his early leading roles, Laurence Harvey working with Alfie director Lewis Gilbert gives this downbeat British crime drama some modest interest. Harvey is convincingly unpleasant as the skirt-chasing spiv and petty criminal with a sleazy charm, who panics and kills a bystander during a jewel robbery. But the twist in the tale is more implausible than ironic." ^[5]

References

1. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 164. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
2. "Scarlet Thread". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
3. "Scarlet Thread". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 18 (204): 281. 1 January 1951. ProQuest   1305814418.
4. "Scarlet Thread". Kine Weekly . 439 (2417): 20. 22 October 1953. ProQuest   2738578714.
5. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 808. ISBN   9780992936440.

External links

• Scarlet Thread at IMDb