Tread Softly Stranger | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gordon Parry |
Written by | George Minter |
Based on | play Blind Alley by Jack Popplewell |
Produced by | Denis O'Dell |
Starring | Diana Dors George Baker Terence Morgan |
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
Edited by | Anthony Harvey |
Music by | Tristram Cary |
Production companies | Alderdale George Minter Productions |
Distributed by | Renown Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Tread Softly Stranger is a 1958 British crime drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The screenplay was written by George Minter adapted from the stage play Blind Alley (1953) by Jack Popplewell. [1] [2] The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in an industrial town in northern England mirrors the kitchen sink realism movement coming into vogue in English drama and film at the time.
Johnny Mansell has fled to the Yorkshire steel town of Rawborough, his home town, after racking up large gambling debts in London. He moves into a cramped flat with his brother Dave, a clerk in a local steel mill. Dave's girlfriend Calico, a hostess in a local nightclub, lives close by and their flats have neighbouring flat roof spaces which they often use. Calico comes up with a plan for the brothers to rob the payroll at Dave's workplace to steal enough money to cover Dave's fraud and Johnny's debts.
The film was shot at Walton Studios in Walton-on-Thames [3] and on location in Parkgate, Rotherham.
The eponymous theme tune was sung by Jim Dale.
Kinematograph Weekly listed it as being "in the money" at the British box office in 1958. [4]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan wrote: ''Thriller has silly dialogue, fails to make use of Rotheram backgrounds.'' [5]
Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Hilarious murky melodrama full of glum faces, with a well-worn trick ending; rather well photographed." [6]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "The big question here is, what on earth were Diana Dors, Terence Morgan and George Baker doing in such a dreary little film? Director Gordon Parry was capable of making involving pictures, but here he insists on his cast delivering each line as if it had the dramatic weight of a Russian novel, which is more than a little preposterous for a petty melodrama about criminal brothers falling for the same girl." [7]
Tread Softly Stranger received its first DVD release in the UK in 2008.
The Limping Man is a 1953 British second feature ('B') film noir directed by Cy Endfield and starring Lloyd Bridges, Moira Lister and Leslie Phillips. The film was made at Merton Park Studios and was written by Ian Stuart Black and Reginald Long based on Anthony Verney's novel Death on the Tideway. Endfield directed it under the pseudonym Charles de Lautour due to his blacklisting in Hollywood. Location shooting took place around London including The Mayflower pub in Rotherhithe.
Terence Ivor Grant Morgan was an English actor in theatre, cinema and television. He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical adventure series Sir Francis Drake.
Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film was released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.
Hell Is a City is a 1960 British crime thriller film directed by Val Guest and starring Stanley Baker, John Crawford and Donald Pleasence. It was written by Guest based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Maurice Procter, and made by British studio Hammer Film Productions on location in Manchester. It was partly inspired by the British New Wave films and resembles American film noir.
The Good Die Young is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay by Vernon Harris and Gilbert based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Richard Macaulay. It tells the story of four men in London with no criminal past whose marriages and finances are collapsing and, meeting in a pub, are tempted to redeem their situations by a robbery.
Stolen Face is a 1952 British film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott and André Morell. The screenplay was by Martin Berkeley and Richard Landau based on a story by Alexander Paal and Steven Vas.
The Last Page, released in the United States as Man Bait, is a 1952 British film noir directed by Terence Fisher, starring George Brent, Marguerite Chapman and Diana Dors. The film was also known as Murder in Safety and Blonde Blackmail.
The Shakedown is a 1959 black and white British crime-drama film directed by John Lemont, starring Terence Morgan, Hazel Court, and Donald Pleasence. It was written by Lemont and Leigh Vance. A ruthless crook runs a blackmail operation, falls for an undercover cop, and is murdered by one of his victims.
The Flanagan Boy is a 1953 British second feature ('B') film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was made by Hammer Film Productions and stars Barbara Payton, Tony Wright, Frederick Valk and Sid James. The sceenplay was by Guy Elmes and Richard H. Landau based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Max Catto.
These Dangerous Years is a 1957 British drama musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring George Baker, Frankie Vaughan, Carole Lesley, Thora Hird, Kenneth Cope, David Lodge and John Le Mesurier. It was written by Jack Trevor Story,
Street Corner is a 1953 British drama film directed by Muriel Box and starring Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Anne Crawford, Rosamund John and Barbara Murray. It was written by Muriel Box and Sydney Box. While it is not quite a documentary, the film depicts the daily routine of women in the police force from three different angles. It was conceived as a female version of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp.
Three Men in a Boat is a 1956 British CinemaScope colour comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards, David Tomlinson and Shirley Eaton. It was written by Hubert Gregg and Vernon Harris based on the 1889 novel of the same name by Jerome K. Jerome.
Violent Playground is a black and white 1958 British film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, and David McCallum. It was written by James Kennaway.
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.
The Green Scarf is a 1954 British mystery film directed by George More O'Ferrall and starring Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo Genn, Kieron Moore, Richard O'Sullivan and Michael Medwin. The film's plot concerns a man who is accused of a seemingly motiveless murder. The film was shot at Shepperton Studios with sets designed by the art director Wilfred Shingleton. It was written by Gordon Wellesley based on the 1951 Guy des Cars novel The Brute.
Home to Danger is a 1951 British second feature film noir crime film directed by Terence Fisher starring Guy Rolfe, Rona Anderson and Stanley Baker. It was written by Written for Francis Edge and John Temple-Smith from a scenario by Ian Stuart Black.
Just My Luck is a 1957 British sports comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, Jill Dixon and Leslie Phillips. It was written by Peter Cusick, Alfred Shaughnessy and Peter Blackmore.
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.
Svengali is a 1954 British drama film directed and written by Noel Langley and starring Hildegard Knef, Donald Wolfit and Terence Morgan. It was based on the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier. Svengali hypnotises an artist's model into becoming a great opera singer, but she struggles to escape from his powers. It was distributed in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel in CinemaScope and Eastman Color and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle. It was written by Anne Burnaby and Frederix Gotfurt. The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.