The Steel Key

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The Steel Key
"The Steel Key" (1953).jpg
Original Australian daybill poster
Directed by Robert S. Baker
Written by John Gilling
Roy Chanslor
Produced byRobert S. Baker
Monty Berman
Starring Terence Morgan
Joan Rice
Raymond Lovell
Cinematography Gerald Gibbs
Edited by Peter Taylor
Music by Frank Cordell
Production
company
Distributed by Eros Films (U.K.)
Release date
  • May 1953 (1953-05)(U.K.)
Running time
69 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Steel Key is a 1953 British second feature 'B' [1] thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell. [2] It was written by John Gilling and Roy Chanslor.

Contents

Plot

Adventurer Johnny O'Flynn attempts to track down thieves who have stolen a secret military formula for producing hardened steel; but ruthless others who will stop at nothing are also on the trail.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin said "An indifferent thriller, whose stock characters and situations fail either to convince or to excite. A humdrum production is scarcely relieved by Raymond Lovell’s performance as a blundering Inspector." [3]

Kine Weekly wrote "Crowded and ingenuous "cops-and robbers” staged in and around London. ... The plcture occasionally allows its lively sense of humour to remove the edge off some of its thrills, but otherwise it's hearty, actionful and disarmingly ingenuous ' Boys’ Own Paper '." [4]

TV Guide gave the film two out of five stars, calling it a "Silly spy drama ... The complicated plot doesn't quite work, but audiences should enjoy it anyway." [5]

Allmovie wrote, "a little-known British melodrama with some potent talent involved, including actors Terence Morgan and Joan Rice and future Saint director Robert Baker". [6]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Light thriller is quite unconvincing, but so hectic it almost gets away with it." [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 162. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Steel Key". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Steel Key". Monthly Film Bulletin . 20 (228): 90. 1953 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "The Steel Key". Kine Weekly . 433 (2392): 16. 30 April 1953 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "The Steel Key". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Steel Key (1953) - Robert S. Baker | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  7. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 379. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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