Stranger in the City | |
---|---|
![]() Opening titles | |
Directed by | Robert Hartford-Davis |
Written by | Robert Hartford-Davis |
Produced by | Robert Hartford-Davis Julius Robinson |
Starring | Sydney Bromley Jimmy Charters Arthur Howell Robert Vossler |
Cinematography | Roy Pointer |
Edited by | Derek York |
Music by | Steve Race and his Orchestra |
Production company | Caesar Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 22 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Stranger in the City is a 1961 British short documentary film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis. [1] [2] The film has a music score but no dialogue. It is notable for its contemporary views of London including the Soho music venue The 2i's Coffee Bar.
The film depicts selected unrelated events as a London day progresses. In early morning three tramps awake and eat breakfast; a wealthy businessman phones from his Rolls Royce as his chauffeur drives through the city; a chef prepares breakfast; an acting class is underway; a fire-eating street entertainer amuses the crowd; striptease at The Keyhole Club; a life-drawing class in a cafe; a visit to the 2i's Coffee Bar; police radio cars are on the streets; the tramps retire.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A day in London is depicted in a mixture of (badly) acted and unposed scenes. Though the everyday life of the capital's millions is scarcely touched upon, the ground covered is familiar to filmgoers, perhaps most of all the supposedly "off-beat" material – pick-up girls, a strip-club. Only a practice class at an acting school and a study in tramps' table manners are even momentarily striking." [3]
Kine Weekly wrote: "An unusual look at aspects of London life during one day. The film is without commentary, with music creating the necessary 'atmosphere' for various situations; some pathetic, some amusing and some suggestive. Fair." [4]
The Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier and Bill Kerr. It was written by John Antrobus, John Warren, Len Heath, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and made by Romulus Films.
School for Scoundrels is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott and Alastair Sim. It was inspired by the Gamesmanship series of books by Stephen Potter. The film has been remade twice: in Bollywood, under the title Chhoti Si Baat (1975) and in Hollywood, as School for Scoundrels (2006).
Carry On Cowboy is a 1965 British comedy Western film, the eleventh in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was the first film to feature series regulars Peter Butterworth and Bernard Bresslaw. Series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims all feature, and Angela Douglas makes the first of her four appearances in the series. Kenneth Williams, usually highly critical of all the Carry on films he appeared in, called the film "a success on every level" in his diary, taking pride in its humour and pathos. The film was followed by Carry On Screaming! (1966).
Forrester Harvey was an Irish film actor.
The Ringer is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Herbert Lom, Donald Wolfit, Mai Zetterling, Greta Gynt, William Hartnell, and Denholm Elliott. It was Hamilton's directorial debut and the third English-language sound version of Edgar Wallace's 1929 play, which in of itself was based on his 1925 novel The Gaunt Stranger. The previous adaptations had come in 1928 (silent), 1931, 1932 (Germany-Austria), and 1938.
Sailor Beware! is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Ronald Lewis. It was released in the United States by Distributors Corporation of America in 1957 as Panic in the Parlor.
Cuckoo Patrol is a 1967 British musical comedy film directed by Duncan Wood and starring Freddie Garrity, Victor Maddern, John Le Mesurier and Kenneth Connor. It was produced in 1965 but held back for two years.
Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.
Stranger from Venus is a 1954 independently made UK second feature ('B') black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Burt Balaban and starring Patricia Neal, Helmut Dantine and Derek Bond. The screenplay was by Hans Jacoby from a story by Desmond Leslie. It was produced by Balaban and Gene Martel.
Jumping for Joy is a 1956 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Frankie Howerd, Stanley Holloway, Joan Hickson and Lionel Jeffries. It tells of the comic adventures of an ex-worker at a greyhound racing track.
The Steel Key is a 1953 British second feature thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell.
The Breaking Point is a 1961 second feature British crime film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Peter Reynolds, Dermot Walsh, Joanna Dunham and Lisa Gastoni.
Crosstrap is a 1962 British B-movie crime film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis, starring Laurence Payne, Jill Adams and Gary Cockrell. The screenplay was adapted from the 1956 novel The Last Seven Hours by John Newton Chance. The film was unusually graphic for its time in its on-screen depiction of violence, with The Daily Cinema describing a "climactic blood-bath where corpses bite the dust as freely as Indians in a John Ford western".
Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner. A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.
Morning Call is a 1957 British thriller film, directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Greta Gynt and Ron Randell. It was written by Bill Luckwell and Paul Tabori from a story by Leo Townsend. It was distributed in the U.S. by Republic Pictures.
Never Back Losers is a 1961 British 'B' crime film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis and Patrick Magee. The film is based on the 1929 novel The Green Ribbon by Edgar Wallace. It was one of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, produced at Merton Park Studios in the early 1960s.
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.
Stock Car is a 1955 British second feature crime drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Paul Carpenter, Rona Anderson, and Susan Shaw.
Motor Patrol is a 1950 American film directed by Sam Newfield.
The Hornet's Nest is a 1955 British crime comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Paul Carpenter, June Thorburn, and Marla Landi. It was written by Allan MacKinnon, and was released in May 1955.