Seven Keys (film)

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Seven Keys
"Seven Keys" (1961).jpg
UK quad poster
Directed by Pat Jackson
Written byHenry Blyth
Jack Davies
Produced byLeslie Parkyn
Julian Wintle
Starring Alan Dobie
Jeannie Carson
Cinematography Ernest Steward
Edited byLionel Selwyn
Music by Alan Clare
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • February 1961 (1961-02)(UK)
Running time
57 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Seven Keys is a 1961 British second feature [1] crime thriller directed by Pat Jackson and starring Alan Dobie. [2] The screenplay was by Jack Davies and Henry Blyth.

Contents

Plot

Russell is a convict who is bequeathed a set of seven keys by a fellow prisoner. After discovering that the deceased was an embezzler who stole £20,000 that was never recovered, on his release Russell sets out to find the cash. However, he must first solve the mystery of which locks the keys fit, and run the gauntlet of the police and a number of gangsters who are after him and the money.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The mechanically contrived plot gets an understated and sometimes wryly humorous treatment from director Pat Jackson. The suspense is mild at best, but the adroit playing of Alan Dobie and Jeannie Carson gives the film an air of casual nonchalance that is rather refreshing." [3]

TV Guide described it as a "well-worn crime picture ...A tame entry directed by former World War II documentarian Jackson, whose later works failed to make any impact on audiences". [4]

Britmovie wrote: "Pat Jackson, who made his name with such wartime documentaries as Western Approaches [1944], intelligently directed this ingenious low-budget crime drama." [5]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 150. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Seven Keys". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Seven Keys". Monthly Film Bulletin . 29 (336): 95. 1962 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Seven Keys | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  5. ↑ "Seven Keys | Britmovie | Home of British Films". www.britmovie.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.


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