The Gentle Trap

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The Gentle Trap
The Gentle Trap film Opening titles (1960).jpg
Directed by Charles Saunders
Screenplay by Brock Williams
Produced byJack Parsons
StarringSpencer Teakle
Felicity Young
Martin Benson
Cinematography Ken Hodges
Edited by Peter Pitt
Production
company
Release date
  • 1960 (1960)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Gentle Trap is a 1960 British second feature ('B') [1] black and white film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Spencer Teakle, Felicity Young and Martin Benson. [2] [3] It was written by Brock Williams and produced by Jack Parsons for Butcher's Film Service.

Contents

Plot

When a diamond robbery goes wrong, young locksmith turned first-time thief Johnny Ryan is on the run from the police and from crooked club owner Ricky Barnes. Ryan seeks refuge in a seedy nightclub and meets Mary, a tough blonde who lets him hide in her flat, which she shares with her sister Jean. When Mary betrays Ryan to Barnes, Jean helps Ryan escape to her uncle's farm. The police arrive, and Jean and Ryan realise that they have fallen in love.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A cut to pattern, rough-and-ready crime thriller, energetically performed but too transparent to maintain the necessary tension." [4]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "This utterly threadbare British B-movie is about an apprentice locksmith who goes on the run from the police and local gangsters. It was made by the low-budget production company Butcher's, and everyone involved made a hash of it. Only devoted fans of its leading actor Spencer Teakle and actress Felicity Young, who plays a rather feeble femme fatale, will bother to watch." [5]

In The British 'B' Film, Chibnall and McFarlane call the film "shoddy". [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 185. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Gentle Trap". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; Murphy, Robert (1999). British Crime Cinema. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN   0415168694.
  4. ↑ "The Gentle Trap" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 27, no. 312. 1 January 1960. p. 170 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 358. ISBN   9780992936440.
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