There Is No Escape

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There is No Escape
There Is No Escape film Theatrical release poster (1948-2).jpg
Directed by Alfred J. Goulding
Based onthe life story of jewel thief Stanley Thurston
Produced byHenry Halsted
StarringStanley Thurston (credited as "Charles Stuart")
Joyce Linden
Michael Ripper [1]
CinematographyStanley Clinton
Reg Selley
Music byJohn Bath
Production
companies
Hammer Films
Marylebone Production
Distributed byExclusive Films (UK)
Screen Guild Productions (US)
Release date
  • 1 October 1948 (1948-10-01) [2]
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£20,000 [3]

There is No Escape (also known as The Dark Road and The Thurston Story) is a 1948 British second feature ('B') [4] drama film directed by Alfred J. Goulding and starring Farnham Baxter, Cyril Chamberlain, Sydney Bromley and Stanley Thurston (credited as Charles Stewart). [5] It was produced by Henry Halstead for Hammer Films. The film features an early appearance from Peter Reynolds, [6] and was Michael Ripper's first appearance in a Hammer Film. [7]

Contents

Plot

A crime novelist named Nick Allen is assigned to write the true life story of a petty criminal named Sidney Robertson. Robertson was recently killed falling off a building while fleeing the police during a jewel theft. Allen's book traces the story of the criminal who started a life of crime at a very young age and kept falling in with the wrong crowd all his life. At one point, Robertson was sentenced to prison for seven years, but later managed to escape. Reuniting with an old girlfriend named Anne, he is lured into committing a jewel robbery, which leads to his death.

Cast

Production

The film was based on the career of criminal Stanley Thurston, who appeared in the cast as a character based on himself. Thurston was famous for his numerous escapes from prison, 5 times in 15 years. [8] He was released from prison in October 1946. [9] [10] The film had trouble with the British censors who thought the film glamorised a real life criminal. Thurston had to be billed as "Charles Stuart." [11] [12]

James Carreras said, "The picture already has official police approval. I have done everything to show that crime is a mug's game. Thurston is the only non-professional actor in the film. All he asked was £10 a week to cover expenses. At the end of the film he turns to the audience and tells them that a criminal life just isn't worth the candle, especially when guns are brought into crime. He made such a good job of the picture that I had him listed for a racing story on his merits as an actor. That plan will now have to be shelved." [3]

The film was shot at Marylebone Studios. [4]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film closes with the controversial moralisation that crime cannot pay; it is poorly contrived, and the irresponsible direction and bad editing merely serve to make matters worse. With some twenty minutes' unnecessary footage pruned away the film might become mediocre second-feature entertainment, but in its present state it does not deserve serious criticism." [13]

Kine Weekly wrote: "'Crime does not pay' melodrama, illustrating the story submitted to the editor of an American thriller magazine. Its object is apparently to prove that honesty is the best policy, but amateurish acting, uneven direction and a dishevelled script prevent it from underlining its message with exciting, let alone plausible, 'thick ear.' Indifferent quota." [14]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 28. ISBN 0-7864-0034-X.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 28. ISBN 0-7864-0034-X.
  3. 1 2 "Action To Ban Film Showing Gaol-Breaker". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate . No. 22, 060. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 4 March 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  4. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  5. ↑ "There Is No Escape". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (11 November 2024). "Peter Reynolds: Forgotten Cad". Filmink. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Jones, David (5 July 2000). "Hammer horror film star dies aged 87". Evening Mail. Birmingham. p. 30. ProQuest   323321614.
  8. ↑ "Gaol-Breaker Makes Film". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 2569. Western Australia. 18 May 1947. p. 12 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE SUNDAY TIMES). Retrieved 4 March 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "CRIMINAL AS SCREEN STAR". The Sunday Mail . No. 892. Queensland, Australia. 25 May 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 4 March 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Robber's Two Months In West End". The Mail (Adelaide) . Vol. 28, no. 1, 447. South Australia. 17 February 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 4 March 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Meikle, Dennis (2008). A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer. Scarecrow Press. p. 5. ISBN   9780810863811.
  12. ↑ "Stanley Thurston | Legendary Dartmoor". 14 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "There Is No Escape". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 15 (169): 154. 1 January 1948. ProQuest   1305810049.
  14. ↑ "There Is No Escape". Kine Weekly . 378 (2153): 23. 5 August 1948. ProQuest   2826314304.
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