Stanley Baker had a career with several brilliant films. This one has an excellent jazz score, and an over the top heavy (Johnny Crawford). Baker plays a hard-boiled cop with domestic problems, who has to stay on the top of his game to collar a guy he grew up with in Manchester. The film is uneven at times, and some of the minor characters are pretty hammy (particularly the women). Donald Pleasence (The Great Escape) does an excellent job in a minor role. I just did not buy the personality of the antagonist in the film because of the way the character is written. We see no reason or development of his persona, other than the fact he is an animal who needs to be put to sleep. These types of one-dimensional characters usually drag down potentially good films like this one. Fortunately, Baker makes the film watchable.

HELL IS A CITY - 1960 Hammer films is best known for horror and vampire type fare. But they did produce the odd crime and noir before the swing to the more profitable blood- letting films. Stanley Baker headlines here, as a tough as nails, no nonsense, Detective with the Manchester Police Service. Baker has just been informed that a man, John Crawford, a gangster Baker had sent up the river has escaped from prison. The swine had killed a guard during the escape. Needless to say Crawford heads back to Manchester. He wants to pick up a stash of jewels he has hidden from a previous robbery. He also wants to pull another job to get some readies to blow the country with. A new life somewhere else seems like the ticket. Crawford makes contact with several of his old gang about a job he has figured. They are going to hit a race track odds makers, Donald Pleasence's bag of cash. Crawford knows about this because he used to bed Pleasence's new wife, Billie Whitelaw. The gang pull the robbery but of course they end up killing the young girl carrying the cash. The Police are quickly on the case and pull in all the usual suspects. A little bit of heavy leaning, soon has the Police onto all the "proper" people. Crawford is forced to go to ground as his possible hideouts dry up. This leads to a great chase over the various rooftops and ends with a full-fledged, knockdown, drag out, knuckle exchange on said rooftops. Crawford is corralled and is soon on death row. This is a very good crime/noir film with top work from the entire cast and crew. Director Val Guest hits all the marks squarely in this one. This one has it all, superb b/w photography, good acting, top jazzy score and more than enough violence to go around. A keeper in anyone's book!

"Hell is a City" is definitely one of the greatest efforts Hammer Films ever produced, and yet the style & substance of this film is miles away from the studios' usual comfort zone! We all know - and worship - Hammer from their grand-guignol horror classics, but this is a genuine and brilliant film-noir. And craftsman-director Val Guest made a film-noir that can easily compete with the best Hollywood genre-outings from the 40s and 50s. In Manchester (so glad it isn't London for once), a massive police hunt unfolds to capture fugitive criminal Don Starling, who was involved in a robbery during which a 19-year-old girl died. Inspector Martineau obsessively tracks down Starling via his former accomplices, ex-girlfriends, and inner-city gambling networks. The plot may sound very simplistic, but "Hell is a City" has many layers. Martineau's character, for instance, is a complex persona with a bit of a drinking problem and marital issues at home. Each and every supportive character is worth exploring, including the lewd bookmaker's wife, the verbally brave antique dealer, the gambling barkeeper, the stunningly beautiful deaf-mute girl, etc. In good old film-noir tradition, the film also features dazzling dialogues, a terrifically downbeat atmosphere, gritty violence, stupendous photography, and striking performances. Lead actors Stanley Baker and John Crawford are fantastic, but the supportive cast also contains a few magnificent names, like Donald Pleasance, Billie Whitelaw, and Peter Madden. Highly recommended!

Local bad boy Don Starling has busted out of the big house determined to return to Manchester and claim his ill gotten gains. Nemesis detective Martineau ( Stanley Baker) is certain he will return and when a botched robbery resulting in murder takes place he is certain Starling has something to do with it even though superiors doubt it. Hell is a City is comprised of one abrasive conversation after another whether dealing with desperate characters or disinterested wives. Everyone seems under pressure as they trade curt sentences between each other with very little development of character over the long haul. Martineau is clearly married to his job since his relationship with his wife is remote at best while he fends off flirtations from others. The males en masse mostly snarl and complain while the women are reduced to being either cold, seductive cheaters or in one case dead. After a few improbable coincidences Martineau and Starling meet high above Manchester on a rooftop locked in mortal combat. It is the most dramatic scene in the film that showcases its true star, the industrial city of Manchester as backdrop but director Val Guest fumbles this as well and Hell is a City fails to dig any deeper into its outline than an hour episode of Naked City and its emphasis on the urban mean streets.

Hammer studios are, of course, best known for their horror films; but early on in the studio's history, there were a number of noir style films produced; and while this is one of the later efforts, it's surely one of the best! The film is clearly intended to mimic the American film noir being produced en mass during the fifties; although the film does retain an aura of Britishness which is achieved through the locations and strong accents of most of the lead characters. The film is suitably dark, though not as dark as many of its American counterparts. The plot focuses on a criminal that has escaped from jail after committing a robbery that went wrong. Inspector Harry Martineau, who happened to have gone to school with the criminal, guesses that he will return home to Manchester in order to pick up his share from the job. The criminal does return to Manchester and ends up with the inspector on his tail as he moves through the underworld, trying to find a place to hide. Writer-director Val Guest (who previously directed a handful of Hammer's earliest horror films) spins an interesting story that remains intriguing throughout. The dialogue is surprisingly witty at times, and the characters are 'cool' enough to rival the films that this one is trying to imitate. There's more to the plot than just what is immediately going on, and the inspector's personal life is one of the main sub-plots. This thread is somewhat well expanded; although it has to be said that some other areas of the plot do not go as far as they could; although at only ninety minutes, there was obviously only so much that could be squeezed in. The film moves forward well, although at times it is a little silly; a plot that hinges on the idea of nobody looking at their hands is somewhat far fetched. The cast is strong, with Stanley Baker and John Crawford taking the lead roles and doing well with them; there's also a small appearance for the great Donald Pleasance. Overall, Hell is a City is an excellent British noir, and well worth a look.

No other film of this period gives such a clear indication of the attempt of British crime thrillers to become more exciting. The introduction of John Crawford as the American bad guy and one time buddy of Stanley Baker is enthralling to watch and can seem slightly odd and out of place. The opening sequences are reminiscent of British TV show 'Z Cars' and were later spoofed in Naked Gun (though not as a direct result of this). Donald Pleasance is very reliable as the Jewellry Shop owner who has much to reveal, while Baker himself plays another tough cop as he did in Blind Date (1959) and Violent Playground (1958) - the latter was also directed by Val Guest. Look out for the climactic sequences - gripping stuff and still ever so British.

I had been postponing my purchase of this and another Stanley Baker crime drama, Joseph Losey's THE CRIMINAL (1960; see below), ever since their DVD release back in 2002; ironically, what eventually pushed me into ordering them was the recent death of this film's director Val Guest - at the venerable age of 94! Well, all I can say is that I was foolish to have deprived myself of it for so long; this is surely one of the best British crime films ever and, being an atypical release for Hammer, is also one of their finest non-horror efforts! During the excellent Audio Commentary included on the splendid Anchor Bay DVD edition, Guest admitted that one of his major influences (and not only on this particular film) had been Jules Dassin's innovative THE NAKED CITY (1948) and, curiously enough, one has to go back to Dassin's own NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) to find an equally hard-hitting British noir!; then again, the film was ahead of its time since it would be years before a similarly truthful depiction of a policeman's domestic life would emerge in the U.S. (THE DETECTIVE and MADIGAN {both 1968}, for instance). The film is a veritable class act in every department: Guest's direction never puts a foot wrong and his screenplay (adapted from a novel by Maurice Proctor and deservedly nominated for a BAFTA award) is truly exceptional; Arthur Grant's chiaroscuro camera-work (mostly shot in real Manchester locations) is stunning; while Stanley Black's jazzy score lends the fast-paced if rather involved proceedings the requisite urgency. Stanley Baker has one of his best leading roles as the tough cop who tries to make several ends meet - catch a dangerous criminal (American actor John Crawford, very effective) who's basically his alter ego, save his childless marriage with selfish Maxine Audley, and escape the daily temptation of a fling with the carnal (despite being middle-aged) but genuinely concerned barmaid Vanda Godsell (who also happens to be Crawford's old flame). Donald Pleasence has an important, scene-stealing supporting role as a bookmaker marked for robbery by Crawford - who had also been intimate with Pleasence's sluttish young wife (Billie Whitelaw who, despite this being her 12th feature film, was impressive enough to be up for the "Most Promising Newcomer" BAFTA award - and is even featured in a brief but startling * scene which was promptly snipped for the U.S. version!). The rest of the cast is filled with familiar character actors, many of them members of Guest's own stock company. Among the film's best scenes are the swift alleyway heist towards the beginning (which ends in murder), the wonderful "tossing school" (an illegal form of gambling) scene which takes place on the moors, several grueling interrogation scenes (with Baker often reduced to blackmailing his hard-as-nails 'customers') and the remarkably violent rooftop climax. By the way, I wasn't as displeased as Guest was with the alternate ending included as an extra (and which he had never seen before!) - inverting a couple of scenes and adding a brief hopeful coda (not filmed by Guest) with Baker and Audley - but I totally respect the director's decision to stick with his uncompromising original vision.

I watched Hell is a City on DVD again the other day and was struck by how fresh and undated the story and acting still appears. It was a breakout Brit film for 1959/60- with its semi-documentary approach to police procedure,meshed with a tough on women approach and attempt to show relationships that don't have happy endings. On the DVD there is an alternate ending shown, which the director Val Guest claims to have no knowledge of at all! It's much weaker i think than Guest's own choice of ending. Stanley Baker is excellent; successfully showing all dimensions to an Inspector's working/personal life; Billie Whitelaw got nominated that year with the BAA for in the Newcomer category and deservedly so. All the support cast flesh out their characters' quirks very well. Actual location shooting (in this case-Manchester) was still quite unusual and there is a world of difference between this and a studio based crime thriller of maybe 10 years before.

Inspector Harry Martineau is a hard-edged police man in gritty Manchester. When a major criminal, Don Stirling, escapes from jail by killing a guard Martineau makes it his person responsibility to hunt him down. Stirling gets his old gang together to steal £4000 from wealthy businessman Gus. However the theft goes wrong and a young girl is killed and the money begins to leave behind a trail that will lead to the gang. This desperately wants to be an English 1950's American style film noir. It has the gritty urban title, it has a moody lead actor with an iffy moral code, a pumping jazz soundtrack and is surprisingly tough. It isn't completely successful because of one main problem - it's in England. In Manchester. It's tough even for someone who lives here to take it as seriously as the Bogart-esque equivalents. It's an unfair criticism perhaps but it is off-putting to hear the thick Yorkshire accents in the setting of an urban crime drama. There is quite a lot to like here. The plot is interesting with gritty levels, the whole idea of the money being dyed and staining hands is a good concept and only seems stretched occasionally and is actually a very effective way of leaving a money trail. The jazz score does give the film a real feel of a urban crime zone, but at times it feels a bit out of place with some of the scenes. The 2 lead performances are mixed in their roles. Stanley Baker is good as Martineau mixing the role with a bad guy edge by being distant from his wife etc, but he isn't as convincing as his American equivalents. You never are totally convinced that he is anything but a good guy, with his only real faults being his commitment to work over his wife. John Crawford is better as Stirling who benefits from not having an English accent. He plays the violent, cruel criminal well and is totally convincing. It's also good to see Donald Pleasance in a small role as Gus, but his accent is frighteningly thick. The film is surprisingly tough. I assumed that this would be a lesser film because it's British but this has quite strong language (although not by today's standards) and is very violent considering when it was made. There is quite a bit of violence towards women all of which gives the film a much more believable very tough edge that adds to it's credentials as a crime thriller. Overall a strong attempt to make a British film noir. It loses something with Baker being too clean-cut in his role and the Manchester setting and accents are hard to line up mentally with the action. But hey - it's pretty good.

A surprisingly tough,no-nonsense crime thriller for it's time,HELL IS A CITY (set in my hometown Manchester) has a fairly routine plot but has compensations with fast-moving direction by Val Guest,a decent script,a fine jazz score by Stanley Black,and most of all,first-class photography on actual Mancunian locations.This was something of a first for British crime thrillers for this period,which were mostly shot in dingy studio sets,but director Guest's decision to film many scenes outdoors,and in a provincial city as well(virtually all of this film's contemporaries were set in London,particularly Soho),is refreshing,fairly innovative and gives a sense of realism that is unusual but welcome,especially in this era(the late 50's -early 60's) of UK film-making. Unfortunately,there are some compromises that mitigate against the film;one is the casting of American John Crawford(who appeared in several other British thrillers around this period)as the murderous villain which strains credibility somewhat;Crawford makes no attempt to hide his American accent,which makes his role as a native(as the script makes clear) hard to take;there are rather obvious domestic scenes of strife with Inspector Stanley Baker and spouse that drag the pace down somewhat(it would have been better simply to concentrate on the basic story)and seem irrelevant,and Guest falters when he makes some obvious attempts to imitate Hollywood film-noirs;he is better when he sticks to straightforward,semi-documentary realism. The film features very few Mancunian actors (only John Comer,and Doris Speed,who very soon after began her stint as TV's most famous barmaid,Annie Walker,in CORONATION STREET);they are mostly from Yorkshire or Southern England,and Welshman Baker occasionally struggles with his Northern English accent. Never afraid to play unsympathetic,dislikable heroes,Baker is still good in the lead role,in his familiar virile,aggressive and uncompromising persona.This style of acting led the way out of the rather stuffy,RADA-accented manner that had held back British cinema for years into more a working-class,gritty and realistic era,and somewhat better films. HELL IS A CITY has it's faults,but is valuable today as an unexpected social document of Manchester of the time,and has much more than a touch of class than other contemporary routine crime dramas,thanks to the reasons stated above. Rating:6 and a half out of 10.