Dancing with Crime (1947) User Reviews

Brisk, efficient post-War British crime melodrama

[noir guy · 7/10 · 13 August 2001]

Brisk, efficient British post-War crime melodrama set in London - part of the 'Spiv' movie cycle(films with roots in 30s American Gangster movies, featuring characters profiting from wartime rationing in a similar fashion to 30s bootleggers, but not so clearly glamorised as their Stateside equivalents - see also the superior NOOSE). Richard Attenborough stars as former soldier, Ted Peters, now making a living as a London cab-driver who becomes involved with a criminal gang headed by dance hall owner and criminal mastermind Mr Gregory (the seriously undervalued Barry Jones), whose henchman and M.C. Paul Baker (Barry K. Barnes) has offed Ted's childhood friend and former army buddy Dave Robinson (Bill Rowbotham, better known to U.K. audiences as Bill Owen, star of long-running U.K. T.V comedy series LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE). At Ted's behest, his girlfriend Joy (Sheila Sim) gets a job as a dancehall hostess in Gregory's dance hall as part of Ted's attempts to expose the criminal gang and the true nature of the crime lord's enterprise is gradually exposed. Punchily directed by John Paddy Carstairs, and redolent with post-War atmosphere, this is another example of the type of popular genre fare which entertained U.K. audiences in the 40s at the same time as the now revered 'noir' movies similarly engaged their U.S. contemporaries. Deserving wider acclaim, the movies from this post-War U.K. genre are valid, and diverting, social documents which often gave early exposure to burgeoning talents (in this instance, an uncredited brunette Diana Dors and a 'blink and you'll miss him' Dirk Bogarde) and should, by rights, be as revered in their country of origin as the more celebrated and documented U.S. post-War crime movies. Worth checking out, if you get the chance.

Dancehall days

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 3 December 2017]

Compo from "Last of the Summer Wine" obviously loved the East End and probably made friends with Chas 'n' Dave. That's why I saw them play at Holmfirth. It was where Summer Wine was filmed – the friendship link is complete. Compo is an East end gangster in this film. He's short in stature and makes an unconvincing tough guy. He would have been flattened in his fight scene at the beginning of the film. The same goes for his ex-army buddy, Richard Attenborough (Ted), Again, this short person would have been flattened in both his fight scenes. The fights are badly staged and very fake.

There's a criminal gang running a dancehall and carrying out robberies and Dickie short-arse meddles in their affairs so he can get to the truth behind his pal Compo's demise. Guess what – he succeeds. Standard good guy v bad guy stuff. The most interesting moments of the film for me occur in the dancehall where Diana Dors hangs out. Singer and dancehall girl Judy Kelly (Toni) is the best of the cast. What is it with people cutting in on other men dancing with a girl by tapping them on the shoulder and stealing their girl away? No way! This would be disastrous and cause non-stop scuffling. I hear this was an American custom introduced in films. I can't believe this actually happened! Any info on this ludicrous concept would be greatly appreciated.

Attenborough as a taxi driver

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 15 December 2021]

Ted Peters (Richard Attenborough) plays a London cab driver who finds a friend of his dead in the back of his cab in "Dancing with Crime" from 1947.

Dirk Bogarde and Diana Dors were in this film, but I didn't see them. They were both uncredited.

Ted's friend was involved in some shady dealings. Much of the activity is traced to a dance hall, run by Paul Baker (Barry K. Barnes), and Ted's girlfriend (Sheila Sim) takes a job there in order to spy. Of course, Ted is supposed to stay out of it and let the police do their job, but then, we wouldn't have a movie.

The problem is, the criminals think Ted knows too much and are after him. Is Joy's cover safe?

The best part was seeing Attenborough in the fight scenes - he was a small man, and the script had him throwing people over his head, kicking his feet into them from the ground, all sorts of things. He was like Superman.

Run of the mill melodrama, but I still enjoyed it.

Taut little British crime noir.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 16 August 2018]

Set at the end of world war two, two demobbed soldiers, Ted Peters (Richard Attenborough) and Dave Robinson (Bill Owen credited as Bill Rowbotham) remain friends and still regularly meet. But, their civilian life has gone in completely separate directions. Ted is a taxi driver and can make enough money to get by but not to be able to marry his girlfriend, a dancer called Joy Goodall (Sheila Sim) whom is currently struggling to find work. Meanwhile, Dave has fallen into the world of crime and works for a gang led by Gregory (Barry Jones) who runs the Palais de' Danse as a legitimate front. Dave tries to tempt his old army buddy into joining him saying that he can use it as a nice little earner, but Ted won't hear of it. When Dave attempts to squeeze more money out of Gregory for his part in a jewelry raid, he is shot by his right hand man Paul Baker (Barry K Barnes) as he attempts to flee the club. Mortally wounded, Dave manages to slump into the back of Ted's taxi where he is soon found dead. The police believe that Ted knows more about his old friend's underworld connections than he is letting on, which means that he becomes a marked man as Gregory and his gang decide that he must be eliminated. Ted decides to expose the gang and, to this end, Joy takes a job at the Palais de' Danse where she discovers that Gregory is planning a raid on an Oxford Street department store, Wrigley and Mastersons. Will Ted and Joy finally turn the tables on Gregory or will he be too smart for them?

A taut British crime noir directed by John Paddy Carstairs; a film maker whom I have always associated with comedies such as Norman Wisdom's Trouble In Store. So I was quite surprised at just how good this was and the suspense aspect is nail-biting in places. In particular, there is a tense scene where Gregory's henchman Smithy (Cyril Chamberlain) and his thugs lure Ted into an old warehouse where they plan to kill him and plant phony evidence to suggest that he was Dave's accomplice and had murdered him. The tension in this scene is most effectively racked up by the overpowering sound of a dripping tap, which dominates the soundtrack here for dramatic effect.

It was quite amusing to see Dickie Attenborough's mild mannered and somewhat naïve character get to do some punch ups with the villains too. He comes out on top in some of them as well and it was here where I thought it was stretching credibility just a little too far; because he himself gets beaten up pretty severely and it is hard to believe that after all that he would have been able to get up again and emerge triumphant against his opponents. There are moments of surprising ferocity in the film too such as Cyril Chamberlain's demise where he is run over by a truck. His killers get out to check that they have done a thorough job of it and all there is left of him is a puddle of mud on the ground!

It is very well acted all round with Attenborough and Sim (his real life wife) very good as the good natured and honest young couple who unwittingly get involved with the underworld via an innocent meeting with the former's old army friend. And, in the best Hitchcock tradition, the plot unfolds in how they have to fight their way out of their predicament. The film's best performance, however, comes from Bill Owen who plays the ill-fated Dave. He skilfully portrays a happy go lucky sort of guy who becomes too over confident in his naivety when he thinks he can dictate terms to professional criminals and loses his life as a result. Barry Jones is quite good as the arch-criminal Gregory portraying him as a fairly ordinary respectable businessman who no one would think for a second is a big noise in Soho's underworld. Judy Kelly also deserves a mention as the Palais dancer Toni Masters. She becomes jealous when her boyfriend, Gregory's second in command, Paul Baker (Barry K Barnes), starts paying more attention to Joy and threatens to spill the beans on his criminal life. And, yes, of course, she endangers her own life in the process.

The film is given a convincing film noir appearance by Reg Wyer's excellent b/w camerawork who creates an unsettling appearance of London's West End that adds considerably to our enjoyment and involvement with the plot.

familiar stuff but entertainingly done

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 20 May 2015]

whilst it has to be said that this film uses many situations that even in 1947 were clichés,nevertheless this is a well made and entertaining film.You always know what the characters are up to.So when Attenborough meets up with army buddy Bill Owen,you get the feeling immediately that Owen is up to no good.Owen is shot and then crawls into Attenboroughs cab where he bleeds to death.So unfortunately the next fare gets a rather nasty shock.Everyone seems to be playing to their type,Garry Marsh as a jovial policeman and Danny Green who enjoys taking people for a ride.The only problems are that Attenborough doesn't look too convincing in the fight scenes,and you have to wonder why the gang would try to hunt him down since it only makes him a lot more suspicious.

Dancing with Crime

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 12 November 2022]

Not really the best title for this ordinary British crime-noir, but Richard Attenborough ("Ted") and Shiela Sim ("Joy") put in a decent effort. He is a London taxi driver who finds himself embroiled in some criminal activities when his wartime friend is found murdered. The trail leads both him and the police to a nightclub run by "Gregory" (Barry Jones) and his MC "Baker" (Barry K. Barnes). The pair decide that "Joy" may be able to help their investigation by taking a job as an hostess at the club, but is she putting herself and him in even more danger as the gang soon realise that they are onto them? This packs quite a bit into eighty minutes and both at the top of the bill do their jobs efficiently - as does the under-stated Jones. The ending is a bit weakly predictable and it rather dialogue heavy, but it's still quite a watchable afternoon feature with a bit of menace, a little humour and a fine collection of hats!

Depicting a time when there was such thing as dance hostess

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 4 June 2023]

(1947) Dancing with Crime SUSPENSE THRILLER

It has young couple of cabbie, Ted Peters (Richard Attenborough) and his fiance, Joy Goodall (Sheila Sim) meeting an old school chum Dave Robinson (Bill Rowbotham) for a drink. Dave then offers Ted another means of making more dough than his life as a cabbie. And then one day, upon dropping his friend off at a club, Ted then decides to pick up a few things for his girlfriend Joy. Meanwhile, Dave is having some money disputes with the owner of the nightclub, Mr. Gregory (Barry Jones) who was attempting to low ball his cut. And as a result of running away, Mr Gregory's right hand man, Paul Baker (Barry K. Barnes) attempts to shoot and kill him with a pistol, and he manages to escape back into back seat of Ted's cab. Except that Dave was already been shot, attempting to run away, and upon Ted picking up his girlfriend, Dave fell out pronounced dead. Inspector Carter (John Warwick) is assigned to the case along with his assistant, Det Sgt Murray (Garry Marsh). Ted of course, goes on the prowl to catch his friend's killer, along with the help of his girlfriend Joy posing as a dance hostess for the nightclub to find out what she can.

Depicts a time when there was such thing as 'dancing hostesses' where young girls are employed to dance with random strangers in nightclubs. Something I had no idea that used to be a thing back then, which must have been something that happened during WWII, as this movie was made back in 1947, and that the war ended back in 1945.

"What would you say to a trip to Brighton?"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 23 September 2022]

A cab driver Ted Peters and his girlfriend Joy Goodall investigate the death of one of Ted's old army buddies which involves shady dealings at a night club (Danse De Palais) in London's West End. Ted and Joy played by Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim are a likeable couple as they ferret around, helping and hindering the police. On the villainous side are Barry K. Barnes as the raffish but lethal M. C. of the club and Barry Jones as the smooth mastermind, both interesting performances. In a small role is the unmistakable Diana Dors. The director keeps things moving along and the cinematography by Reginald H. Wyer is suitably noir-ish. The club with its dance hostesses is an evocative set, well designed for the various comings and goings. The prolific Benjamin Frankel provides a suitable music score to enhance the proceedings. A good yarn.

Sedate British quasi-noir with subtly played right-hand man and interesting look at post-war Britain.

[declancooley · 5/10 · 30 April 2022]

Not much mystery here as the crime and perpetrator is known from the start so more of a how-will-they-catch-him than a who-dunnit. Still, there is charm in the setting: a dancehall where girls work to dance with patrons serves as a cover for the HQ of the local kingpin: an aristocratic yet particularly wily chap, who seems to smuggle gin and trade in 'surplus' goods, among other things. Innocents get swept up in the milieu and, though painted as too goody-goody, have a close brush with both the criminal and police world which toughens them up a bit. Barry K. Barnes plays the kingpin's chief henchman and delivers a subtle psychopathic gentleman killer vibe. There is some nice framing here and there, plus you get 1947 London, and its various pubs and characters , which helps sustain the film through its lulls (here and there), and the ending has its own minor twists. Other little highlights are scenes with Richard Attenborough and Diana Dors. I can't say it held my full attention 100% throughout but I am not regretful about having seen it - just 83 mins long! It's an alright movie if you are looking for a quite gentle noir in an unusual setting and a little but not too much excitement.

Well done UK noir

[gordonl56 · 9/10 · 22 November 2012]

Richard Attenborough is the lead in this excellent UK film.

Attenborough plays a cab driver who gets involved in the murder of a friend. Attenborough, gives a mate from his army days, Bill Owen, a ride and drops him at a dance club. He then goes into a nearby café for a drink and a sandwich.

Owen, is a member of a robbery and black-market smuggling gang. He is at the club to collect his end of a 50,000 pound jewel heist. His boss, Barry Jones, runs the club as a cover for his crime activities. Jones, along with his number two, Barry K. Barnes, meet Owen in his office. They hand him a small packet with 50 pounds. Owen is not happy at all with this. Owen growls, "That is all I get for a 50,000 pound job?" Owen starts towards Jones who quickly produces a pistol. Owen sees the gun, stops, picks up the cash as if to pocket it. Jones lowers his piece and Owen decks him with a solid punch. Barnes decides Owen is no longer an asset to the gang and shoots Owen in the chest. Owen gets a punch in on Barnes and then staggers out. Owen makes it into the street and manages to collapse in the back seat of Attenborough's still parked taxi.

Barnes, who has followed him out into the crowded street, sees Owen climb into the taxi. He decides there are too many witnesses to risk a second shot. He watches as Attenborough comes out of the café and drives away.

Attenborough, has a date with his dancer girlfriend, Shelia Sim. He has no idea that Owen is dead on the back seat.

He meets Sim for their night out on the town. He opens the back door of the cab for Sim, and a rather dead Owen falls out. A handy copper puts the call into Scotland Yard.

Yard Inspectors, John Warwick and Gary Marsh give Attenborough and Sim a grilling. The detectives want to make sure they had nothing to do with the murder. Owen was just a buddy from the Army. He had dropped him off and had no idea Owen had returned to the taxi. The Police show the two a signed photo they had found. It shows Owen and a woman. Attenborough and and Sim shake their heads. They have never seen her before. The Police tell them they are free to go. .

The next night, Attenborough and Sim decide on a bit of detective work of their own. They hit the dance club to ask if anyone knows Owen. Not 10 feet in the door and they see the woman from the photograph. The woman, Judy Kelly, is the singer in the club band.

Barnes, who is also the M.C. for the club, recognizes Attenbrough from the night before. Why is he here wonders Barnes. He grabs the boss, Jones, and tells him that maybe Owen had talked before he died. Jones says that if Owen had talked, John Law would have put the pinch on them by now.

Sim, gets herself hired as a floor dancer so she can keep an eye on Kelly.

Several days go by, and Barnes still insists Attenborough needs to be dealt with. Jones calls in one of the gang, Cyril Chamberlain, and tells him to hire a couple of "heavy boys" and dispose of Attenborough.

Chamberlain hires Attenborough's taxi and has him drive to a warehouse. Once there, Chamberlain asks him to help carry out a box for a return trip back to town. Once he gets our boy inside, the heavy lads pop out with the blackjacks etc.

Attenborough, manages to get a few licks of his own in and escapes. The Yard is called and they come to collect him. By the time Marsh and Warwick arrive, the nasty types have hit the road. Chamberlain reports to Jones he has botched the hit. A less than amused Jones has another gang member take Chamberlain for a ride. Needless to say this ride has a less than happy ending for Chamberlain.

Attenborough is at the Yard explaining what had happened when Sim calls. She has overheard a talk between Jones and Barnes about a robbery set for that night.

The Police decide to stake out the robbery site and grab the gang in the act. The gang shows and the Police swarm them and apply the cuffs. Barnes though, evades capture and phones Jones to warn him. Jones empties the wall safe and gets ready to flee the country. He has also discovered that Sim was the one who ratted out the gang.

The Police and Attenborough pile back in their cars and speed to the club. Jones comes out with a gun planted in the middle of Sim's back. The Police pull up and Jones starts blasting. Attenborough works his way behind Jones and tackles him, saving Sim. A cuffed Jones is hauled away while Attenborough and Sim embrace.

This well-paced, rather violent film, features some very nice camera work. It was on the whole, a very pleasant surprise.

The director was John Paddy Carstairs. THE SAINT IN London is the only other film of his I've seen. The D of P was Reg Wyer. He lensed, THE UPTURNED GLASS, MY BROTHER'S KEEPER, SO LONG AT THE FAIR, HIGHLY DANGEROUS, STREET CORNER, WHEEL OF FATE, EYEWITNESS, THE WEAPON, and THE INFORMERS.

Attenborough had roles in BRIGHTON ROCK, BOYS IN BROWN, THE MAN UPSTAIRS, EIGHT O'CLOCK WALK and 10 RILLINGTON PLACE. Look close and you will see an unbilled Dirk Bogarde and Diana Dors in the crowd.

(b/w)

The villains come out top -- but only in the acting stakes

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 5/10 · 8 November 2012]

This film sounded interesting from the subject matter, especially the dance-hall setting: and there is some good acting from the 'heavies', Barry K. Barnes as Paul Baker, the suave, good-looking and dangerous master of ceremonies, and Barry Jones as 'Mr Gregory', the mind behind the scenes. Unfortunately I didn't find the young hero and heroine particularly involving -- they are basically blank spots in the script marked "Generic Virtuous Character" -- and as the plot begins to be twisted in their favour with more and more incredulity-straining coincidences I found my tolerance decreasing. Diana Dors catches the eye in an unbilled (and for all that surprisingly prominent) part as one of the 'professional partners' at the dance hall, and various character actors do their reliable stuff. There are moments of genuine tension: but, alas, for me at least they always involved conflict between the villains rather than the endangerment of Our Heroes which was supposed to provide excitement. I'm afraid I got much more worried by Toni Masters' possible fate at the hands of a psychotic lorry-driver -- since she is a Bad Girl and therefore has some actual character conflict -- than by a punch-up involving Ted Peters, who is bound to win by some total fluke anyhow.

The film looked promising at the start, but I failed to get involved and ended up feeling manipulated instead.

Fun little British crime film

[Byrdz · 3 November 2021]

Terrific to see the future Lord Attenborough in his cinematic infancy.

Add to its historical value the fact that it is an interesting story, well done by one and all that holds your attention from start to finish.

Convoluted plotting that is not so twisted that one gets lost in the minutia.

Reading the IMDb trivia explains the chemistry between the "boy and girl"... they were married in real life the and stayed married for decades.

Film is worth finding and checking out. I.

Early potboiler for Attenborough

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 22 October 2018]

DANCING WITH CRIME is an early potboiler starring Richard Attenborough, playing a young and tiny taxi driver who becomes involved with a criminal gang when his best buddy from his army days is killed. It's a cheap affair, made directly in the post-war effort, that features a couple of lacklustre fight scenes and a mildly engaging plot. The female cast members come off better than the male, although there's enough familiar faces on display to keep you watching. It's amusing to see Bill Owen (credited as Bill Rowbotham) as a slick spiv type, while there are bit parts for pre-stardom Diana Dors and Dirk Bogarde, as well as later CARRY ON staple Cyril Chamberlain playing a heavy. Truth be told, however, that this kind of story was done a lot better elsewhere, and Attenborough is rather miscast.

A very enjoyable B-film noir

[GusF · 8/10 · 7 December 2015]

This is a very enjoyable B-film noir which explores some of the darker aspects of life in postwar Britain. John Paddy Carstairs' direction is considerably better when it comes to the character scenes than in the limp and unconvincing fight scenes. It was produced by future Hammer stalwart Anthony Nelson Keys. The production company was Coronet Films Ltd. but I presume that it was not connected to the American company of the same name which made cult classic, incredibly judgemental social guidance short films for schools from the 1940s to the 1970s.

The film stars Richard Attenborough in a great performance as Ted Peters, an at turns brave and foolhardy demobbed British Army soldier turned taxi driver who finds himself mixed up in the black market when his childhood friend and army buddy is murdered. In their first of three films together, his wife Sheila Sim is not as good as Ted's chorus girl fiancée Joy Goodall but she does the best that she can with the character, who doesn't have much personality beyond being sweet and innocent.

The most interesting female character in the film is certainly the alcoholic dancer Toni, played very well by Judy Kelly. Credited under his real name Bill Rowbotham, Bill Owen is great as Ted's murdered friend Dave Robinson who was making a less than honest living on Civvy Street, as are Barry K. Barnes and Barry Jones as the black marketeers Paul Baker and E.J. Gregory. The film is also notable for featuring only the second film appearances of both Dirk Bogarde (whom Attenborough later cast "Oh! What a Lovely War" and "A Bridge Too Far") and Diana Dors, neither of whom are credited. While he has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as a policeman towards the end of the film and his face is not even very clearly seen, she has a small supporting role as the dancer Annette and quite a bit of dialogue. She certainly looked far older than 15 at the time.

Good, Atmospheric Crime Drama

[boblipton · 5/10 · 12 January 2020]

When John Mills got out of the army, he drove a cab. Old pal Bill Owen tries to put him onto a safe racket, but Mills says he and his girl, Sheila Sim, prefer the steady way. So when Owen winds up with his corpse dumped in Mills' cab, he informs the police. Since they aren't forthcoming about their progress, Mills and Miss Sim investigate on their own.... and find it more dangerous than in the movies.

Reliable John Paddy Carstairs directs this low-lit crime drama, shot in grimy, rainy London, with a nice mixture of dark swindles and good humor among the police about the amateur detective. Barry K, Barnes, near the end of his screen career, is excellent as the chief bad guy, and if you look fast you can see Diana Dors and Dirk Bogarde in brief, uncredited roles, before their careers took off. It's not a world-beTer, but it is atmospheric, and takes a few unexpected turns.

Death at the Dance Hall

[kidboots · 9/10 · 23 June 2016]

Even though Bill Owens was shot in the first reel, he loved his role. It was an interesting part, a sharp young spiv, a real Cagney character he thought and the critics took a lot of notice. It didn't hurt either that his character was completely pivotal to the plot - I don't think 10 minutes went by without his name being mentioned. Of course Richard Attenborough was the star, he played poor but honest cabby Ted Peters who drops off old friend Dave (Owens) at the palatial Palais De Dance club for his date with death!! They had been childhood mates but as Ted told the police Dave wanted the good life and fast!!

Definitely a British noir, most of the film is shot on the dimly lit, often rain drenched streets in the wee small hours. A particularly gripping scene is a dying Dave's frantic effort to draw whistling Ted's attention to his predicament - when Ted (who doesn't realise Dave is in the cab) opens the door, Dave slithers out. At the cab headquarters Ted is visited by "Mr. Big" posing as a detective. Ted, as gormless as ever, tells all he knows as well as his opinion that the glittering Palais is at the bottom of it all. And that is where all the brightness and light come from - the gaudy monolithic dance hall that seems packed to capacity every night. It is there that gang boss, Gregory (Barry Jones) and his henchman, Paul Baker, the popular dance band M.C. rule their empire, rubbing out whoever gets jittery and gives the impression that they want to talk. Toni, the sullen girlfriend of Paul, who also has a drinking problem, is one they let get away.

Suddenly Joyce, (Sheila Sim, Richard Attenborough's real life wife) Ted's girl, finds a job at the Palais - she has just finished up in a play and meets an old girlfriend Annette who finds her a job there. Diana Dors, who at the time was going through Rank's Charm School, was gorgeous and very eye catching in her small role as a sassy talking dance hall hostess. Even when she is in the background all eyes are on her - she should have had a bigger part. Dirk Bogarde has the teeniest, tiniest part at the end as a radio policeman (with almost his back to the camera). I agree, definitely the most interesting actress is Australian Judy Kelly as Toni, the alcoholic. Intriguingly, even though she had been in films from the early 1930s, this may well have been her best role, but she soon disappeared from films - all a bit of a mystery!!

Very Recommended.

To Dance or Not To Dance?

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 22 January 2017]

Film reviewing is an irregular art. I find I have written up two reviews of "Dancing With Crime". In the first review, I have awarded the film only five points out of ten. I write that the chief interest in watching this movie is to catch young Diana Dors in a small unbilled role as a dance hall "hostess". Otherwise, I wrote, this movie is just an ordinary crime melodrama with all the suspense taken out of it by our knowledge of the murderers. In the second review, however, I have given the movie an 8/10 score and described it as an excellent thriller! This time, I thought the direction by John Paddy Carstairs was well above his usual humdrum standard and that the cast, led by Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim, was perfect!

Long after this movie was made, I met Diana Dors and helped her publicize her book. She commented that she had ended up in the movies right where she started – namely as a character actress. Yes, she was a character actress before she became a sex symbol and she was very pleased that I had seen some of these films like "Penny and the Pownall Case" and "Oliver Twist".

Enjoyable bit of social history

[lucyrf · 8/10 · 22 December 2019]

Worth it for the post-war background. The 50s "New Look" hadn't happened yet and all the girls have big hair and big shoulders - much more flattering than the 50s fashions that made everyone look middle-aged.

Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim are likeable. They get involved in investigating the murder of their friend, a young, dashing Bill Owen.

It's a shame Diana Dors wasn't credited. She was good in her early roles - she turns up in another dance hall with Petula Clark and Bonar Colleano. I think she was dubbed in both films, though.

To the gentleman who thought it terribly rude that some other bloke could just grab your partner - it was called an "excuse me" dance. There was also a "ladies excuse me". This is not a regular Palais de Dance, however - the girls are all professional hostesses.

The Keys To The soundstageNelson Keys

[writers_reign · 21 October 2018]

Nelson Keys enjoyed a fairly successful career in the theatre between the wars while his four sons wound up in the movie business three of them on this very title, Basil as Assistant Director, Anthony Nelson as producer,whilst the director was John Paddy Carstairs who actually changed his name to avoid charges of nepotism (the fourth son, Rod Nelson Keys, was a film editor). Carstairs was a solid journeyman and helmed dozens of B pictures in a fairly pedestrian career. This title finds a young, lacklustre Dickie Attenborough walking through a potboiler alongside his wife, Sheila Sim, whose insipid performance shows why she chose early retirement. The proceedings are littered with second-eleven thesps working, presumably, for a stick of gum, led by a badly miscast Barry Jones and including Garry Marsh, Danny Greene and Diana Dors. Oxford Street an alley in Accrington, a thriving Palais-de-Danse is located in a back street and Attenborough wears gauntlets to drive a taxi. Like the man said, they don't make them like that any more.

Generally solid film noir sans femme fatale, with baby-faced male lead

[adrianovasconcelos · 8/10 · 17 July 2022]

John Paddy Carstairs is not exactly the type of director I would normally associate with film noir, though some might argue that SLEEPING CAR TO TRIESTE (1948) fits that bill as much as DANCING WITH CRIME, and both are films of considerable quality. Carstairs I tend to connect more with the Norman Wisdom slapstick comedies of the 1950s and DANCING WITH CRIME is not without its comic moments.

Lamentably, baby-faced Richard Attenborough strikes me as too young and puny for his part. His fisticuffs with a couple of other fellows did not convince me, with quite a few clearly fake punches thrown in. That said, he comes across as quite likable, the main minuses being that he did not look like a soldier recently out of WWII action, too young to pair off with pretty Sheila Sim, and he disappears from the action for about 10' at a crucial point about three quarters into the flick.

Barry Barnes as the scheming and evil Baker warrants close attention but it is Barry Jones who steals the show as the slippery and clever top villain, who even gets to successfully impersonate a police inspector and so con Attenborough into disclosing some privileged information. Garry Marsh also plays with considerable verve and humor the role of Detective Sergeant Murray.

Typically competent cinematography, solid script, sharp dialogue.

Definitely worth watching.

Enjoyable post war crime thriller.

[plan99 · 9/10 · 10 April 2024]

An interesting film depicting a time long gone which could cause viewers to start coughing due the huge amount of cigarette smoke everywhere. Not much, if anything, to criticise in this film which runs along very nicely with nice goodies and very bad baddies.

The actions of the main male and female characters were unwise a lot of the time but without their unwise actions there would have been no film to watch.

Richard Attenborough has never been in a bad film, except perhaps the later Jurassic offerings, so his films are usually a safe bet to watch as he seldom disappoints, he must have been very picky as he is only ever seen in well written and well made films.

At the Palais de Danse

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 5 January 2024]

This is a somewhat minor though still quite memorable British noir from the postwar period. It stars real-life couple Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim (married for 69 years) in the lead roles. Attenborough is an ex-military twenty-something who has been through the war and now works as a cab driver. Sim plays his girlfriend who goes with him to meet up with one of Attenborough pals (Bill Owen) from the service. While having drinks and soaking up the atmosphere at a local Palais de Danse (public dance hall), the two guys catch up on old times.

It is obvious that while Attenborough is on the right side of the law, Owen is not. A short time later, Owen is seen consorting with black marketeers, some of whom run the dance hall. Mixed into this is a club hostess (Judy Kelly) who dances with customers and enjoys a relationship with both Owen and the head of the gang (Barry K. Barnes). To say she's playing with fire is an understatement.

Owen feels cheated on a deal, so there is a skirmish with him and Barnes, and he takes a bullet. While running from the dance hall, he spots the cab Attenborough drives, which had been left unattended for a few moments. Owen hops in the back and hides. Attenborough returns to the car and takes off, not realizing his friend is in the back, unconscious and dying. When Attenborough discovers his friend, it's too late because Owen has died. This sets up the rest of the movie with Attenborough deciding to avenge Owen's death and nail Barnes.

One of the problems is getting evidence against Barnes, since all Attenborough has is a vague suspicion of Barnes' guilt. The police show up at the dance hall to investigate since it was known Owen had dealings there, but Barnes and his cohorts are tight-lipped. So is Kelly, since she is afraid of being bumped off herself if she says too much to the authorities.

In order to obtain necessary evidence against Barnes, Attenborough's girlfriend (Sim) decides to go undercover at the dance hall to work there alongside Kelly and the other molls. Sim is almost a bit too prim for the role, and she is not exactly believable as a ten-cents-a-dance chick. But she does provide a sincere performance. Much of the movie involves Sim and assorted shady types in the dance hall, while Attenborough is out on the streets in his taxi trying to learn about the black market scheme, to make inroads against Barnes and the rest of the gang that way.

There are ongoing bits of business with the coppers still investigating everything, but we know Attenborough, set up as the hero of the story, will be the one who actually brings Barnes down. For the most part, the film moves at a quick enough pace; we have engaging performances from nearly all the cast; and there's plenty of atmosphere with the dance hall at the center of everything.

Some of the supporting players are just as good as Attenborough and Sim...in particular, I thought Judy Kelly went the extra mile to convey the frightened yet still independent nature of her character. Eventually she realizes she's on the wrong side of the law and tells the police everything she knows. Her soft resignation in that moment is one of the better scenes.