The Shakedown (1960) User Reviews

Astonishingly Ballsy Yet Anonymous B-movie! Grab It!

[secragt · 8/10 · 7 May 2003]

There's something rewarding about discovering a solid but unknown film from the past... like finding $50 in the pocket of a suit you haven't worn since last summer. This British gangster exploitation flick is such a film. THE SHAKEDOWN is so much better than it ought to be that it's kind of amazing. It's hardly even listed in any major movie review books. Still, I'm not ashamed to say this is without question a minor low budget UK noir gem and absolutely worthy of any crime drama (or 50s British cinema) fan's time. I saw it last year at the American Cinematheque Film Noir festival in Los Angeles and it was the wrong print! They meant to screen the American noir called SHAKEDOWN, but the audience and myself are forever grateful for the error as this movie is edgier, pulpier and just plain better.

The plot concerns a con returning after a stretch in the pokey and finding his turf has been taken over. He adapts and finds some new angles with a photography / blackmail shoppe only to get embroiled in police intrigue and a bad gangwar. As plots go, this one hangs together well despite some seemingly calculated titillatory edges. There are some unexpected and enjoyable twists thrown in as well for good measure.

The best aspect of this movie is the tough guy lingo and no-nonsense characterization. There's something particularly enjoyable about the straight ahead narrative. No smoke and mirrors or flashcut editing or deep focus trickery here; just simple, reliable point-the-camera-and- shoot storytelling. But forget any deep analysis; this is at its heart a compelling man-against-the-system tale and finally a very enjoyable moviegoing experience. Seek it out... this one is great English fun!

Very good British crime film

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 30 June 2016]

THE SHAKEDOWN is a fine British thriller and one of the best B-movie crime films I've seen from the era. It's a film blessed with a strong cast of familiar faces and an interesting, atypical storyline that's much, much more than your usual detective-pursues-robbers type tale from this era. The action is centred in and around a photography studio, where an ex-con has apparently gone straight after serving a long jail term. However, the studio is a front for something much more sinister, and the police are baffled on how to proceed.

The underrated star Terence Morgan (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB) takes the main protagonist lead as a character you love to hate. Certainly he has much more depth of character than is usual for a stock villain in these films, and you even end up admiring his bravado at some points. The rest of the (excellent) cast includes the lovely Hazel Court as a top model, Bill Owen as a ne'er-do-well, Robert Beatty as the detective, Donald Pleasence as an alcoholic photographer, Eddie Byrne as a barman, Gene Anderson as a gangster's moll, Harry H. Corbett as a criminal, Paul Whitsun-Jones as a boozer, Edward Judd as a barber, and the likes of Angela Douglas and Jackie Collins as young models. That cast alone is rather incredible.

The cherry on top is really the quality of the script, by director John Lemont (of KONGA infamy) and Leigh Vance (WITNESS IN THE DARK). It twists and turns all over the place and even if you have some idea of what the ending is going to be, you've never quite sure what's going to take place along the way. The sequence in which Morgan robs his former accomplices is my favourite moment and a real highlight in an undeservedly forgotten minor film.

Serious and credible

[Colin_Sibthorpe_II · 8/10 · 14 February 2018]

As well as being an entertaining picture, this is a realistic examination of crime and criminals. The descent of the photographer, essentially a decent enough man, into crime, and his staying with it even when offered an out, is very well handled.

We see there are three main things keeping crime in check. The police of course, but also pushing victims until they crack and are no longer rational and predictable, and rivalries among the insanely greedy and self-centered people we call criminals.

My TV guide gave this a very lukewarm review and I nearly didn't bother with it, but I'm glad I did.

A good example of the B thriller genre

[michaelhicklin · 15 December 2001]

This film should be studied by all who seek info on a type of film popular for a while in 50's and 60's Britain. Although obviously of limited budget, it fielded an unusually fine cast including several stalwarts and many actors and actresses - Hazel Court, Donald Pleasance, Harry H Corbett who went on to greater things and starred the extremely underrated Terence Morgan,three years before he became known as TV's "Sir Francis Drake". The film is also something of an historical document, bringing back a time when nightclubs were uncommon, close and intimate and hoping to cater for a select clientelle instead of loud and bleary as they are now. The plot has holes in it but the acting is of a high standard which more than redeems the film.

seedy racketeer falls foul of police

[rogerjillings · 7/10 · 5 February 2006]

Fascinating & slightly risqué B-pic with a good edge to it,Augie Cortona(Terrace Morgan) is release from prison & sets about reclaiming his underworld business from his former henchmen & colleague Gollar(Harry H Corbett) who's taken control of his protection & prostitution racket & left Augie out in the cold until he bumps into out of work photographer Jessup Brown(Donald Pleasance).The two of them Set up in business as a high class agency which is a front for Augie's blackmailing activities in which Jessup get caught up in the corruption which leads him to drink,one is not what she appears to be & Augie soon becomes attractive to her & along with Augie's sidekick Spettigue, Gollar is sorted out with beatings being dispatched & life's fine for Augie. With nightclubs & small racketeers the police are hot on his heels, this film hit the spot well,with pretty Hazel Court.

the songwriter must have had a nervous breakdown

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 6 August 2012]

So far nobody has commented on the truly hilarious title song which is sung in a club scene and over the credits at the end.Films of that era used to like to have a title song as a tie in.The lyrics of this are brief but memorable.The poor songwriter could only come up with "slakedown" and "askdown" as rhymes for shakedown.it has to be heard to be believed.The film itself is a very enjoyable example of a British 1950s gangster film.Mind you poor old Harry H Corbett doesn't look as if he could kill Sooty let alone Terence Morgan.His accent varies tremendously starting off as mid Atlantic.Donald Pleasance gives an inspired performance as a seedy photographer.However as to the blackmail racket,would it have been possible to blackmail someone for taking photos of a nude model.After all married men went to the still open Windmill Theatre and nobody blackmailed them.A bit quaint really,however a very entertaining film nonetheless.Plaudits to distributor Renknown for such a fine print.

Ten minutes too long, but really good otherwise! "Shakedown", the song, is a hoot, though it's not supposed to be...

[mmipyle · 7/10 · 28 December 2020]

"The Shakedown" (1960) is an excellent British crime drama starring Terence Morgan, Hazel Court, Donald Pleasence, Bill Owen, Robert Beatty, Harry H. Corbett, Gene Anderson, and many other fine lesser Brit character actors of the day, including Jackie Collins, Georgina Cookson, and Eddie Byrne. Loaded with talent, this well written and tautly directed show (less well-edited) reminds us that the Brits at the turn of the 60s were turning out well-crafted crime dramas for the masses that have stood the test of time very well. Now, there are a couple of idiosyncratic things about this one. First of all, the sort of jazzy, nearly rock'n'roll underlying score is very 50s - very. It's not bad at all, just a tad loud in a few places. Secondly, the title becomes a song in the middle of the proceedings. The singer is excellent - truly excellent; even the music is decent. But the song: the rhyming that goes on with "shakedown" is out and out ludicrous! Everything from slakedown and takedown to...you get the drift. It wouldn't have been so bad if only a rhyme or two was used, but this one was written by poet whose automatic writing was based on communication with a rhyming dictionary on Mars, and the rhyme with "shakedown" went on and on and on, and the rhymes began to be laughable. What was amazing was that the song was well done by the singer and the tune was done very seriously. Other than the song and the fact that the film should have been edited down from the 92 minutes to about 80, this was really good. Morgan gets out of prison from a prostitution racket charge which he's served three years for, and now he gets into a blackmail racket, and also plans to get revenge on the man who took over his old racket. The blackmail racket is done by using a modeling front, a semi-legitimate one, combined with a professional photographer's studio, getting males to come in and have them caught with semi-nude and nude models in their photographs. Then the photos are used as bait for cash. This leads to some very interesting plot points, including a fine ending - which - you'll have to watch to find out what it is...

Morgan Is Very Good

[boblipton · 6/10 · 26 June 2020]

Terence Morgan is released from prison. He can't go back to running street walkers; that racket has been taken over by another hood. He meets up with down-on-his-luck photographer Donald Pleasence and decides on a new racket, which he finishes by hitting the guy who took over his racket. On the surface, it's a fashion photography studio run by Pleasence, with a modeling agency and school; the real money is from letting people take 'art studies' of nude women.... and blackmailing them. It's nice while it lasts, but how long before the cops and underworld take notice?

Morgan is pretty good as the tough man with a few soft spots, including Pleasance and modeling student Hazel Court. It's an interesting mix of crime and character study. Philip Green's jazz score Is pretty good, but it becomes repetitious, particularly when it's woven into a nightclub score.

Tough Guy Terence

[kidboots · 9/10 · 20 November 2018]

This is such a superior movie in every way that I can't understand why it doesn't rate a mention in the Chibnall/McFarlane book "The British "B" Film" - it's a B movie but one of the best. Terence Morgan occasionally had a good guy role but it was as the vicious menacing type that he excelled and his role as the vengeance driven Augie Cortona is, I think, one of his finest parts. In fact when tough guy gangster parts dried up that's when his career faltered.

He plays angst riddled Augie Cortona, fresh out of prison, who finds that his territory has been taken over by the gangster who double crossed him in the first place - Gollar (played by none other than (at this stage of his career) the very versatile Harry H. Corbett). He meets a shabby but articulate photographer Jessel (Donald Pleasance) who specialises in women's portraits and is over the moon that a stranger should propose a working partnership (complete with capital) of a photography studio plus a model school. But Augie intends to use Jessel as a respectable front while he plunges into the vice trade by setting up a black mailing business aimed at all the respectable businessmen lured into the advertisements of "Wanted Amateur Photographers with Artistically Posed Models"!! By the aid of a one-sided mirror, Augie photographs enough evidence to bleed the frightened parties dry!!!

Unfortunately Pleasance's photographer disappears half way through the film, just after a particularly gripping scene in which he confronts Augie about his unscrupulous doings. Pleasance raises the acting bar - he can't stand the sordid side but the opportunity of being made a partner and seeing his future made easier is too hard to resist. His exit leaves room for two more characters, the always welcome Bill Owen as Augie's former cell mate and now right hand man and the beautiful Hazel Court as a at first hesitant model, but there's something about Mildred..... Augie falls for her class and style and in any other movie you would see a gradual character softening but Morgan plays real and never allows Mildred to penetrate his steely psychosis, he is a vicious thug who won't change.

There's plenty of realistic action, Hazel Court is always a class edition to any movie even when she is definitely part of the fighting action!!!

Very Recommended

"Here's to Crime"

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 3 March 2020]

A vivid, violent little British crime film (although it would have been the - by today's standards - relatively decorous sexual content that earned it an 'X' certificate in 1960) rather reminiscent of Pre-Code Hollywood, with Terence Morgan as a vicious small time crook heading a terrific cast of familiar faces, including rival gangster Harry H. Corbett.

It could have done with less of Philip Green's insistent guitar & xylophone jazz score; but it enhances the general old-fashioned sleaziness of the piece. Which has a neat ending.

meet Augie but flee

[happytrigger-64-390517 · 8/10 · 21 March 2019]

"The Shakedown" is a great crime movie around the character of Augie Cortona, seducer and blackmailer played impressively by Steve Morgan, just enjoy the lift sequence. This threatening seducer reminds me of Legs Diamond played by Ray Danton, in another context. Gripping from beginning to end, "The Shakedown" is nervously directed by John Lemont, who directed only 5 movies for big screen, so there are definitely lot of great surprises in british cinema.

Polite English gangster movie."Goodfellas " it ain't.

[ianlouisiana · 6/10 · 5 November 2005]

I went to the world premier of this film.It was held at the Regent Cinema,Brighton around 1960.I remember I was wearing a pair of winklepickers that became more uncomfortable as the film progressed. Some of the principal members of the cast lived in the Brighton area which must have saved on cab fare. "The shakedown" to my mind was indistinguishable from a long line of British second feature black and white crime films that preceded it. It was crisply shot,peopled by actors who should have known better but managed to keep a straight face and it disappeared off the radar shortly after it's release. It was like a tarted-up Edgar Lustgarten short. Of course compared to most TV crime shows nowadays it was great art. It only needed Peter Bull(well,he lived local),Eric Pohlman and Francis Wolff to make it complete. Suspending all critical faculties I can enjoy it because it evokes an age when people would still watch gangster films without coming out drenched in blood shouting"Die,mother******".

60s sleaze

[lucy-66 · 17 December 2001]

Clunkily made, but score and acting are good. And the set is decorated by a bevy of would-be models. Augie comes out of prison and finds his old vice racket has been taken over by the sinister Harry H Corbett (Gollar). So he dreams up a new scam, thanks to Donald Pleasance's out of work photographer he meets down the pub. Pleasance (Jessel) provides the business front by taking snaps and running a model school. Meanwhile Augie uses the premises for blackmail. Little does he know that the most beauticious of the girls is an undercover cop. Aaaaah, Britain could really do gangster movies in those days.

Surprisingly Good, Pacey British B Crime Movie

[jbridge-1991 · 7/10 · 20 January 2023]

"The Shakedown" on the face of it appears an unremarkable effort from the days of low budget crime movies, churned out by the dozen from British film studios, yet Canadian director John Lemont handles the routine plotline with considerable style, with a breathless pace that never holds up, a decent script that only occasionally falters, and a good cast with all kinds of familiar faces popping up every few minutes: Bill Owen, Donald Pleasence, Harry H Corbett, Robert Beatty, Larry Taylor and even Leila Williams, who began presenting the long-running children's TV programme Blue Peter around this time.

The story revolves around a hardened con (Terence Morgan) about to be set free from prison, finding it hard to set up another racket when he is released, but eventually managing to do so when he steals a fellow con's ill gotten gains (Corbett) by setting up a model school, merely a cover for blackmailing well-off professional men ensnared in taking seedy pics of said young female models. A senior policeman (Beatty) is however staking out Morgan and assigns an undercover policewoman (Hazel Court) to find evidence of his new criminal activity, putting her in obvious danger.

All this is fairly hackneyed material, yet Lemont engenders it all at a taut, ferociously quick pace from the very start, with some mordantly hard-boiled dialogue, and mostly decent performances from the cast.

Terence Morgan didn't always get full backing from the critics, but his oily, superficial charm and ruthless desire for making money in the seediest way possible succeeds in conveying such an ugly, exploitative character as this oddly compelling if not even sometimes pitiable. Donald Pleasence is one of the gullible characters Morgan exploits for financial gain, who gives a fine performance as an alcoholic photographer, though he curiously disappears from the action without proper explanation. But despite occasional plot holes like this and some variable support performances from such as a pre-Steptoe Harry H Corbett as a rival gangster, director and co-scriptwriter Lemont keeps it all going at a non-stop lick, also with inevitably cheap-looking sets that work effectively and convincingly in the kind of milieu depicted.

Ignored and dismissed in previous years as just another lowbrow B crime effort, "The Shakedown" has become something of a cultish item in recent years, with an improved reputation, one of the better of its usually unremarkable kind, and now deservedly so which is most definitely worth a look and of more attention.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Somewhat Bold British Crime-Sex-Ploitation Riding the Edge of the "New" Wave

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 26 October 2022]

The Decade of the 60's was just Bursting with Anticipation, to Bring on a New, Different, Unbridled Vision Through Pop-Culture and the General Public Attitudes that were Corralled by 50's Conservatism that Ruled Through "Toe the Party Line" Conventionalism.

Mid-50's "Rock 'n' Roll", was a Rumbling that Erupted with "Balls of Fire", but was Intentionally Targeted, with Great Disdain and Resistance by the Ruling Class Elite,

and the Fire was Put Out by 1960 with an Avalanche of Propaganda, Self-Destruction, and Became a "Lost Cause".

The Young Vibrant Angst of the Time was Let There, Sank to the Underground, and Percolated Until About 1964 When "All Hell Broke Loose", Culturally and Politically,

This UK Film was Made and Released in that Purgatory, of Directionless Anxieties, Creative Stifling, and what Emerged as "Art" in that Period (1959-63) in Most Regards was Lame, Diluted, and Shallow.

In This Movie, Couched Mostly in the "Old" Style, but can Also be Seen with Cracks Starting to Form in the "Wall", of the Heavy-Handed Handling, with McCarthy-Esque Blinders and Outright Persecution and Punishment.

The Cast All Perform with Gusto, and Sex Appeal, and that Includes Hazel Court, a Bevy of Beauties, with Terence Morgan as the Silky Gangster, and Donald Pleascence as the Photographer Shooting the "Cheesecake".

There's some Nudity Here that was Very Rare in 1959.

As Well as Showcasing some Nasty Attitudes, Lurid, Sleazy Scenes and Some Cutting-Edge Violence, with Rough Slang Dialog that Peppers the Picture.

Overall, it Lands as an Above Average B-Movie that is Snappy, Interesting, and Scenes of Underworld Activity that Strike True and Give the Movie a Different Feel than the Cookie-Cutter Cinema of its Era.

Worth a Watch.

If they reined in the music this could be a classic.

[gavin-83 · 7/10 · 21 June 2023]

Don't get me wrong, the music in this is very good and goes well with the action scenes. It does grate somewhat in that it incessantly repeats and plays through dramatic scenes.

My only other criticism of this American influenced noir-ish work is that some of the dialogue sounds phoney when spoken by a British actor. Funnily enough, Canadian actor Robert Beatty does a sort of "Irish" accent.

The film metaphorically and literally pulls few punches with another good performance from Terence Morgan as Augie, an ex-con with no intentions of going straight.

When I first saw the actress who was playing Mildred, the model who Augie falls for, Hazel Court, I thought she was more a homemaker than a sexy siren. As the film developed so she warmed to her role (or should I say Mildred did?) and was very good in the part. Unlike female characters at the time Mildred showed self-belief and the ability to take action.

An all round excellent representation of British film for me slightly weakened by the unending music.

High caliber British film noir, extremely credible dialogue, action and acting

[adrianovasconcelos · 9/10 · 27 October 2022]

I have to admit off the bat that I do not know much about British film noir, but every sample I find is of the highest quality.

Director John Lemont - about whom I had never heard or read a word - gets THE SHAKEDOWN (UK, 1959) off the ground with an attention-grabbing conversation between two of Her Majesty's dungeon guests, enlightening the viewer as to what a piece of work with nasty plans Terence Morgan (Augie, short for Augustus) really is.

The way he goes about rebuilding his crime niche by taking advantage of just about everyone surrounding him is telescopic, hardly forcing you to suspend your disbelief, and actually keeping you riveted, thanks to gritty and realistic dialogue, incredibly effective B&W cinematography, and top drawer acting from all, down to the smallest part.

Terence Morgan astounded me as the ruthless villain, handosme, astute and polished enough to be attractive to the viewer despite his callous actions; Hazel Court insinuates herself into Morgan's setup so subtly that only a couple of clues suggest to the most attentive of viewers that she is a police plant. She is extremely effective as a copper who more than fits the bill as model... for all the right reasons, including a figure and legs to die for! Robert Beatty, as Inspector Jarvis, is the soul of police efficiency.

The score is terrific. It heightens the tension as Morgan plans and carries out his revenge on a rival gangster, robbing him of a large amount of cash in a memorable sequence involving a lift. Mind you, there is a continuous drum beat that is never loud but so suggestive that it keeps your ears up throughout. The title song, THE SHAKEDOWN, is effecive and typical of 1959/1960s British films.

The only reason I do not give this noir masterpiece a deserved 10/10 is that Donald Pleasence is underused. He carries his part well enough - for once, no suggestion of mad or evil genius, quite the contrary, he is a humble and out of luck photographer here - but all of a sudden the viewer hears that he has taken to boozing and you see not another frame of him - he just disappears.

The ending is one of the best I have seen in any noir: the police plant has actually developed feelings for the criminal, and is really taken aback by his final insult.

I was more than surprised, I was positively flabbergasted at the quality and intelligence of this British noir gem: it blew me! 9/10.