Hell Is a City (1960) User Reviews

HELL IS A CITY (Val Guest, 1960) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 23 August 2006]

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 nude 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.

another great film from Hammer

[movieman_kev · 8/10 · 11 April 2005]

Inspector Martineau knows in his gut that a recently escaped criminal will come back to the scene of the crime to recover the goods that he's stolen. It's up to him to piece together the new assignment that he's given and trace it back to the guilty party. Stanley Baker shines as Martineau (one year later Baker would be in one of the greatest war films ever with "The Guns of Navarone") in this taunt, gripping little crime thriller by Val Guest. All the minor characters are equally good. This is one film that I wouldn't mind revisiting. Another great film to come out of the sadly defunct Hammer studios.

My Grade:B+

DVD Extras: Commentary by Val Guest and Journalist Ted Newsom; Alternate Ending; Talent Bios for Val Guest and Stanley Baker; and Theatrical Trailer

Eye Candy:a blink and you'll miss it Billy Whitelaw topless scene

Hammer noir

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 1 November 2015]

Hammer Films, best known for horror movies, stepped into film noir with Val Guest's "Hell Is a City". Stanley Baker plays a police inspector who suspects that an escaped criminal will head for Manchester to collect some loot. The dreary look of the city is as much a character as any of the actors. The post-war British film industry wasn't generally known for these sorts of movies, but they did an excellent job here. The chase at the end of the movie is impressive but I thought that the most effective scene was the whole sequence where the criminal hides in the woman's house.

I've liked every film noir that I've seen, but HIAC has to be one of the best. Baker's forceful performance as the hardened inspector is the epitome of acting. I recommend the movie.

The rest of the cast includes Donald Pleasance (Dr. Loomis in the "Halloween" franchise), Billie Whitelaw (the nanny in "The Omen") and Joseph Tomelty (the father of Sting's ex-wife).

A Good Un-British, British film.

[jeremyehowell · 10 March 2004]

This is a wonderful example of how worldly some british films can seem, while maintaining their local flavor. I believe that this film is very appropriately set in Manchester, anyone having been to Manchester will tell you its quite a tough place.

50s British entertainment was heavily influenced by Hollywood and continued to be influenced especially on TV until the late 70s, when things all started to get a bit colorless. This movie was made in a time when entertainment came first and the needs of the audience and hence a box office return, came before the politically correct requirements of the day. Having said that I have to say I'm VERY glad that you don't see many characters quite as sorry as Martineau's repressed housebound wife these days!

For those who are not familiar with director Val Guest - check out his other movies. He was a director who knew exactly what he was doing.

Lively,location-filmed crime thriller

[BJJManchester · 6/10 · 2 August 2007]

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.

A taut and vigorous cops and robbers yarn

[shakercoola · 6/10 · 13 July 2019]

A British crime drama; A story set in Manchester, England and on the West Pennine moors about a dangerous escaped convict who is going to return to Manchester to retrieve a cache of jewels, and a city police inspector who goes after him. This is a highly charged man-on-the-run escapade which holds the suspense throughout. This film succeeds by humanising the police inspector, showing him to be an honest person displaying a sense of integrity. Stanley Baker gives a good performance as one who only gets satisfaction from his work and where his homelife suffers. Being mostly shot on location gives the story a realism and the look and feel of the film is gritty and realistic, showing dark edges, especially of an inspector's personal life, giving an extraordinarily attractive film noir look even if it is not strictly film noir in the sense of a distinct mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The script is tight to the story and the rapid editing is absorbing without being unselfconscious and very suitable for a police procedural.

Man in the attic

[kalbimassey · 7/10 · 10 February 2024]

Set in Newcastle, 'Payroll' signs off with nary a nod in the direction of a Geordie accent. 'Hell is a City' seems intent on delivering a relentless oral assault of variants on a Lancashire brogue, with the occasional whiff of Cockney thrown in. Reality is, like Scouse, Mancunian has its own uniquely distinctive flavour; the dropped 'H', merged vowels and a subtle nasal twang.

Comparable with 'Payroll', a deftly planned robbery results in murder, with thoroughly odious ring leader and escaped convict, John Crawford, on the run. Threatening anyone who refuses him refuge with a fate worse than death, it's no surprise that potential allies are sent scurrying to find a barge pole to not touch him with! Driven by desperation to hiding in attics and breaking in through skylights, it's fitting that the final showdown occurs on a roof.

Meanwhile, betting on the outcome of a couple of tossed coins, a crowd of tossers, with nothing better to do, assemble on an area of barren waste ground, where the more money than sense antics of one punter begins to attract attention, until the arrival of a squad car......or six, causes the rabble to quickly disperse.

A long, grim history exists between dour detective, Stanley Baker and the dangerous fugitive. Trapped in an unhappy, frequently volatile marriage, he's glad to go to work for a rest and to plan the arrest of the murderous Crawford.

Less overtly raw, abrasive and violent than 'Payroll', 'Hell is a City' scores points through taut performances and a constant sense of threat. The ominous spectre of the insidious Crawford is never far away.

excellent ahead of its time Brit-noir

[mb014f2908 · 9/10 · 9 January 2005]

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.

Decent British Crime Drama

[ofallthebores · 6/10 · 23 December 2018]

Clearly 3rd hand via French and American cinema, this is a fairly standard police procedural. However, it is marked by a typically empassionex lead performance and by its Manchester setting.

I don't play cards. I don't even touch coins.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 13 January 2013]

Out of Hammer Films, Hell is a City is directed by Val Guest, who also adapts the screenplay from Maurice Proctor's novel of the same name. It stars Stanley Baker, John Crawford, Billie Whitelaw, Maxine Audley, Donald Pleasence, Vanda Godsell, Joseph Tomelty and George A. Cooper. Music is by Stanley Black and cinematography in HammerScope is by Arthur Grant.

When violent criminal Don Starling (Crawford) escapes from prison, Manchester cop Inspector Harry Martineau (Baker) correctly assumes he is on his way back to the area to collect some hidden loot from a previous job. Sure enough a serious crime rocks the city and all roads lead to Starling, but what price will Martineau pay to nail a man whose mere name strikes fear into the locals?

Has some bastard been passing me snide money?

British crime drama at its best, absorbing as a suspense tale, clinically unflinching in its characterisations and directed with a deft hand by the multi talented Val Guest. Hell is a City is without question a very British movie, but in the same way that greats like Brighton Rock and They made Me A Fugitive were Britannia Rule Grimarannia, so it be here where Guest makes the most of Manchester's gloomy locales to pump bad blood into the edgy narrative. It's a Manchester of creaky terraced houses, working class bars, soiled streets and the unforgiving Moors. The latter of which a visual beauty to the eye, but home of misery both in fact and fiction.

A Starling in the Attic.

Tale unfolds as a sort of warts and all semi-documentary police procedural. Harry Martineau is the lead man, but this is no cliché addled copper, he is a tough bastard who is not adverse to using strong arm and dishonest tactics to get results. He's a hero, of sorts, but the happiness he craves outside of his work, at home, is moving further away from him. He's not alone, either, for many of the vivid characters on show here are either life's losers, illicit gamblers, unfaithful wives, lonely hearts, or cheaters and beaters, and that's before we get to Crawford's villain. Don Starling infects everyone with his evil stink, a robber, a rapist and a murderer, he may not look much physically in Crawford's shoes, but his name, voice and mere appearance has all but Martineau in a cold sweat.

If a man ain't got kids he's still fair game!

The script is devoid of pointless filler and no scene is wasted, there's an air of realism throughout. Sure there's a little leap of faith to be taken at times, but nothing that remotely could hurt the movie. The performances are from the better end of the scale, with Baker excelling as a stoic, but lonely man of the force, and Whitelaw and Godsell impressively force themselves up above the parapet to be rightly noticed in a movie predominantly beefed by machismo. Could Don Starling have been played by a better actor? Yes of course. Or just have been played by someone more menacing in appearance (like Baker in his villain roles for instance)? Again, yes of course. But the more you watch the more you will see that it's a frightening portrayal because it's very human, just like that given to Harry Martineau.

Some scenes shock and distress, others hold you and enthral, Hell is a City is one hell of a film and highly recommended to crime and noir fans. 9/10

Gritty Little Brit Cop Drama - Hell is a City

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 13 November 2022]

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.

Suitably dark British noir

[The_Void · 8/10 · 26 April 2009]

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.

Lets See What You've Got.

[torrascotia · 7/10 · 25 February 2024]

In 2024 you can take a chance with a brand new film release with augmented visuals and made by a woke committee, or you can instead choose a safe bet of a film that is still highly rated more than sixty years past its release date.

While on the face of it this may seem like yet another UK police procedural, this one was directed by Val Guest who also directed Jigsaw, The Day The Earth Caught Fire and Quatermass. That tells you all you need to know, or maybe what you should know about his output. This is also a Hammer movie, albeit without the monsters.

The story concerns a criminal on the run who carries out a robbery resulting in the murder of a girl and the detective who is on his tail. Unlike the majority of these films this one takes place in Manchester for a change, probably the only time you will see Donald Pleasance with a Manc accent. The pacing of the film is such that a minute isn't wasted and it entertains throughout. There is a surprising level of violence throughout and the final third is exciting, however the film does not end on a triumphalist note unlike most American police procedurals. The only negative is the depiction of the detectives unhappy family life, with a wife who doesn't want kids when he does and constantly complains about his absence at work. This may give the character some depth but it doesn't add anything to the story of the pursuit. The major plus of this film however is that I caught it for free on Channel 4's streaming service which seems to have a few hidden gems for fans of real cinema. Recommended.

Repellent,violent,drunken would - be rapist - and that's the cop....

[ianlouisiana · 5/10 · 21 August 2008]

"Life on Mars"?This is more like life on Pluto.Mr Stanley Baker plays the type of cop who feels compelled to try it on with any female with a pulse. He can't walk past an open pub door and threatens to rape his wife in order to impregnate her against her will.Just another day at the office for one of Manchester's finest. "Hell is a city" is an over - rated pseudo Don Siegel opus.Possibly seeing itself as a herald of a new hard - hitting school of Britcop movies,it has a sub - sub Elmer Bernstein/Leith Stevens/Shorty Rogers soundtrack of generic Britjazz cobbled together by that clever musical chameleon Mr Stanley Black that places it exactly in its era. It borrows that hoary old Western plot about childhood companions turned deadly adversaries that ends with one of them dangling on the end of a rope.Full of British actors assuming the all - encompassing "Northern" accent that is both inaccurate and insulting to its Manchester setting, it deals the English language a further blow by having an American play a Manc villain,a piece of casting of breathtaking audacity and indifference to the audience's intelligence. Cardboard character follows cardboard character muttering "eee by gum" imprecations,Yorkshire and Lancashire dialects being freely mixed.Stanley Baker's Inspector Martineau is a despicable woman - hating psychopath.Novelist Maurice Procter who wrote the novel on which the movie was based was said to be "delighted" with the result.It all seems a bit rum to me.

Stupendous British Noir is one of the best of the Genre

[barev-85094 · 10/10 · 3 June 2015]

HELL IS A CITY, 1959, Director Val Guest UNKNOWN Classic FILM NOIR From England is one of the best of the genre TEN STARS **********

VIewed in London at a special Hammer classics reissue press screening, 1996. Inspector Harry Martineau (Stanley Baker), a hard-boiled detective stationed in Manchester England, suspects that a ruthless escaped criminal Don Starling (John Crawford) will come back to town to retrieve a cache of stolen jewels he hid there before his conviction. Martineau has problems at home where he and his wife Julia (Maxine Audley) constantly bicker about his role as a cop which monopolizes his time, and their childless marriage. Starling arrives in town as expected and immediately forms a gang to rob a bookmaker Gus Hawkins (Donald Pleasance), to raise enough cash for a clean getaway but what they grab turns out to be a large amount of money in marked bills to prevent their theft. Starling kills a young girl during the robbery and dumps the body by the side of the road out in the country but is spotted by Martineau who is hot on his trail following down one lead after another. On the run with Martineau in hot pursuit, now wanted for murder, Starling takes refuge at one point hiding in the attic of the bookmaker he robbed and threatening his philandering wife Chloe (Billie Whitelaw) he once had an affair with. When discovered by Pleasance Starling manages to knock him out with injuries that put him in the hospital. Martineau, following up another hunch, squeezes more information from Hawkins wife Chloe. At a large outdoor gambling game, where some of the tainted money changes hands, Martineau catches up with the accomplices in the robbery and is now just one step behind his quarry.

Starling recovers the cache of stolen jewels from a crooked fence (Furnisher Steele) but has to hide upstairs when the police, tipped off, arrive on the scene. In an extremely harrowing sequence which becomes the unforgettable centerpiece of the film he holds the beautiful blonde daughter of the fence, Silver Steele, (Sarah Branch) hostage, but she is unable to scream for help because she is deaf and dumb. As he stalks her around the attic room piled high with furniture, in desperation she manages to knock out a window which draws the attention of the neighborhood. Martineau breaks in and pursues the vicious killer in a final showdown up on the rooftops above Manchester -- the most suspenseful Mother of all rooftop chases ever filmed. At the end Martineau chooses his job over his marriage. In a wistful coda at his favorite saloon he runs into Lucky Lusk (Vanda Godsell) the attractive barmaid he has been flirting with all along, and she offers herself to him full on, but he turns her open ended offer down on the grounds that he is still married. "Well, she says, in wry resignation, "If you ever have a kid name it for me".

The Martineau hard boiled cop figure who doesn't mind bending the law to get his man is a predecessor of Dirty Harry by some twenty years and the mean streets of the city of Manchester are portrayed like another character hovering over the picture. A major city rarely seen in British films sits for a remarkable portrait. I had seen this movie years ago when it first came out but quickly disappeared. All I remembered was the white knuckle scene in the attic with the vicious killer relentlessly stalking the pathetically defenseless deaf and dumb girl -- every bit as harrowing and suspenseful now as it was back then. BRAVURA filmmaking beginning to end by Val Guest in a classic B/w mold. Unforgettable. The perfect thriller. Stanley Baker, usually seen in meaty supporting roles, never quite became a top star, but was nevertheless one of the best and most businesslike British actors of his time. K

Excellent UK Crime film

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 2 July 2014]

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!

A strong and surprisingly gritty British noir crime thriller

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 23 September 2007]

Cunning, lethal, ruthless criminal Don Starling (excellently played by John Crawford) escapes from jail and returns to Manchester to perform a robbery. Rugged, no-nonsense, hot-tempered Inspector Harry Martineau (a superbly hard-boiled performance by Stanley Baker) is bound and determined to nab Starling. Things get sticky when Starling kills a 19-year-old girl during the heist and the manhunt becomes a much more deadly pursuit. Writer/director Val Guest keeps the pace rattling along at a brisk clip, maintains an uncompromisingly tough-edged tone throughout, and does an expert job of creating a seedy urban atmosphere. Stanley Black's rousing, swinging jazz score really hits the spot. Arthur Grant's crisp, handsome, agile black-and-white cinematography likewise impresses. The occasional outbursts of raw violence are shockingly brutal. The climactic rooftop chase between Starling and Martineau is genuinely tense and exciting. Baker and Crawford excel in the leads; they receive fine support from Donald Pleasence as irritable book maker Gus Hawkins, Maxine Audley as Martineau's fed-up, neglected, long-suffering wife Julia, Billie Whitelaw as Gus' trampy wife Chloe (she's also Starling's frightened former old flame), Vanda Godsell as sassy bar maid Lucretia "Lucky" Luske, Joseph Tomelty as feisty old duffer Furnisher Steele, and George A. Cooper as petty gambler Doug Savage. A highly atypical Hammer Studios production, this rough and hard-hitting crime thriller winner makes for completely absorbing and satisfying viewing.

The Americanisation of British Crime

[Popey-6 · 14 December 1999]

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.

Tough talk tedium.

[st-shot · 5/10 · 20 April 2017]

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.

Well paced and atmospheric

[chrischapman-47545 · 8/10 · 4 March 2018]

This is a very competent action crime film with an excellent cast and very atmospheric photography - the Northern industrial scenes are almost surreal. Stanley "Could Have Been James Bond" Baker is on great form with a good supporting cast. The script is tight and fast paced with good lighting/cinematography. One of those films to watch late at night and stay up to find out what happens in the end. The treatment of women is typical of 1960's Britain - it's a period piece and the attitude/demeanour of men, given that many went through the Second World War, is a notable contrast with today's society. My only aside is that the opening/closing credits inappropriately reminded me of Police Squad...

British 'noir' crime caper well worth your time.

[khunkrumark · 8/10 · 28 July 2017]

This 'Hammer Films' production is still comfortable viewing, even now (2017), largely because of the familiar cast and memorable outdoors scenery. It also helps that the rapid-fire screenplay keeps us moving along with the plot at a brisk and exciting pace. There's also lots going on to pay attention to besides the main cop pursuit.

Inspector Martineau (Stanley Baker) marches through the plot leaving his neglected wife, Julia (Maxine Audley) behind. (Despite a rather significant part in the story and being an actress of some renown, she isn't on the list of credits. I have no idea why.)

American actor John Crawford plays villain Don Starling and is convincing as the hardened prison escapee trying to round up his swag while avoiding the cops.

There are familiar faces aplenty for those 'spotters' among us... and even a turn from an unrecognizable Warren Mitchell (In Sickness and in Health) as a traveling salesman who comes across a dead body. (If you look carefully you can see the victim blink when she's discovered.)

A busy Donald Pleasance found time to squeeze in this project with nearly 20 other film and TV commitments in 1960! He plays a bookie with a heart... and a cheating wife (Billie Whitelaw).

Sarah Branch (Who?) plays a beautiful deaf and dumb girl innocently caught in the crossfire of crime. And I must say that my only real peeve about this movie is that she never got together with the young detective Devery (Geoffrey Frederick), who comes to interview her. There were obvious sparks going on here yet the viewer is left hanging! Boo!

The story is actually a rather complex one, but basically, Starling escapes from jail and teams up with his old partners in crime. Inspector Martineau reckons he knows what the villain is gonna do next so he races off to Manchester to see if his hunch pays off.

It does of course as Starling beats it back to the scene of the crime to pick up some stashed jewelry. He and his gang also pull off a robbery which nets them a lot of cash but results in a murder. The body is dumped on the Manchester moors but even that doesn't go according to plan...

I suspect that director (and writer) Val Guest was paying his respects to the American 'noir' films of the 1940s here. Hard boiled cops and robbers, fancy dames and dark sleazy surroundings... and it's filmed in black and white!

Get yourself over to YouTube and find out for yourself. There's a great copy there in full wide-screen.

City-Scape

[spelvini · 9/10 · 8 March 2012]

Director Val Guest has said of Hell is a City, that he was very influenced by Jules Dassin's classic Naked City, and many of the location shots attest to this influence. The final pursuit scene with Martineau and Starling in combat are as thrilling as the Williamsburg Bridge scenes from Naked City with the action of the streets below serving as backdrop to the fighting men clambering high above.

Inspector Harry Martineau (Steve Baker), a hard-nosed detective stationed in Manchester England, feels that an escaped thief Don Starling (John Crawford) is going to return to town to retrieve a cache of stolen jewels that he hid before he was convicted. Martineau has domestic troubles as he and his wife Julia Martineau (Maxine Audley) bicker about his role as a policeman and their childless marriage. The escaped criminal Starling arrives in town and immediately forms a gang to rob a bookmaker Gus Hawkins (Donald Pleasance), of what they think will be the minimal amount of money to get the crook out of town but what they steal is a large amount of money marked with a green ink by the bank to prevent theft. Starling accidentally kills a young girl during the robbery and while dumping the body at a deserted location the gang is spotted and Martineau instinctively knowing who is responsible, takes steps to track down as much information as he can, in many instances only steps behind the crook. On the run Starling starts going to as many places as he can for refuge, at one point hiding in the attic of the bookmaker he robbed Gus Hawkins, threatening his philandering wife Chloe (Billie Whitelaw). Starling manages to knock Hawkins unconscious sending him to the hospital and Martineau, following up on his hunch, figures out the truth and squeezes more information from Hawkins' wife Chloe. At a large coin-flipping gambling game, where some of the tainted money exchanges hands, Martineau catches up with the accomplices in the robbery and gets closer to the murderer. When Starling recovers the cache of stolen jewels from a furniture dealer he confronts a young girl Silver Steele (Sarah Branch) and draws the attention of the neighborhood and Martineau who pursues the thief to a final showdown on the rooftops above Manchester.

What is admirable about Hell is a City are the great locations shots taking place in the streets, and moors of the city of Manchester. Guest sets up his camera consistently to show the actions of the protagonist and antagonists mixed into scenes of everyday life, showing how the element of crime exists as something endemic to society as a whole.

The film teeters over into the world of melodrama at points but only to show how Martineau tromps into that world and drives through to get what he wants. The way that Martineau questions Chloe Hawkins shows what he knows about the woman and the ruthless methods he uses to get to the truth. The way the director sets up this relationship is masterful, by introducing Chloe as she is passionately kissing a younger man before going home to see her husband Gus we understand immediately that she is the trophy of an older wealthy man. The later scene with Starling we understand further that her philandering ways has a history as we understand that the two have had a previous relationship. Later as Martineau questions her we know that he is aware of the woman’s behavior, and he uses this information to essentially blackmail her for cooperation.

Director Guest manipulates the mise en scene so well that we can practically feel the breeze hitting our faces on the moors. His choice of background actors at the coin-tossing gambling game says volumes about this community in England.

The garage where the taxis are maintained is covered with excellent high-angle shots showing the large windows and arched ceiling of a burned out church. On the commentary tract director Val Guest talks about some of the choices for locations in the film, and his comments on this building is an interesting one. There isn't really anything that his location manager is trying to put forth with this old religious building as a garage but it certainly adds to the overall appeal of the film.

The commentary tract has a goodly amount of additional perks for the film buff. Journalist Ted Newsom leads a discussion with director Val Guest that includes casting American actor John Crawford in the lead role of Don Starling and his ultimate successes with other Hammer Studio films. In particular the alternate ending is something that should impress many viewers given today's circumstances regarding leaving a positive ending on a movie.

The colorful names add to the pleasure in this detective actioner. Names like Don Starling, Silver Steele, Lucky Lusk, Clogger Roach add to the background for the action in the movie.

The fact that Hammer Studios left this kind of great filmmaking to go heavily into the Horror genre was probably a decision based on economics. Hell is a City is a wonderful Actioner but probably doesn't have a big effect on box office receipts like a good blood splattering slasher or vampire flick.

If you like Film Noir this movie will whet your appetite! Enjoy it with a good black cup of Starbuck’s brew for that extra noir kick!

UNKNOWN Classic FILM NOIR From England is one of the best of the genre

[Barev2013 · 10/10 · 12 March 2015]

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HELL IS A CITY, 1959, Director Val Guest

VIEWED in London at a special Hammer classics reissue press screening, c. 1996. Inspector Harry Martineau (Stanley Baker), a hard-boiled detective stationed in Manchester England, suspects that a ruthless escaped criminal Don Starling (John Crawford) will come back to town to retrieve a cache of stolen jewels he hid there before his conviction. Martineau has problems at home where he and his wife Julia (Maxine Audley) constantly bicker about his role as a cop which monopolizes his time, and their childless marriage. Starling arrives in town as expected and immediately forms a gang to rob a bookmaker Gus Hawkins (Donald Pleasance), to raise enough cash for a clean getaway but what they grab turns out to be a large amount of money in bank marked bills to prevent their theft. Starling kills a young girl during the robbery and dumps the body by the side of the road out in the country but is spotted by Martineau who is hot on his trail following down one hot lead after another.

On the run with Martineau in hot pursuit, now wanted for murder, Starling takes refuge at one point hiding in the attic of the bookmaker he robbed (Pleasance) and threatening his philandering wife Chloe (Billie Whitelaw) he once had an affair with. When discovered by Pleasance Starling manages to knock him out with injuries that put him in the hospital. Martineau, following up another hunch, squeezes more information from Hawkins wife Chloe. At a large outdoor gambling game, where some of the tainted money changes hands, Martineau catches up with the accomplices in the robbery and is now just one step behind his quarry.

Starling recovers the cache of stolen jewels from a crooked fence (Furnisher Steele) but has to hide in the storeroom upstairs when the police, tipped off, arrive on the scene. Here, in an extremely harrowing sequence which becomes the unforgettable centerpiece of the film, he holds the beautiful blonde daughter of the fence, Silver Steele, (Sarah Branch) hostage, but she is unable to scream for help because she is deaf and dumb. a( What a twist!) ~ As he stalks her around the attic room piled high with furniture, in desperation she manages to knock out a window which draws the attention of the neighborhood. Martineau breaks in and pursues the vicious killer in a final showdown up on the rooftops above Manchester -- the most suspenseful Mother of all rooftop chases ever filmed. At the end Martineau chooses his job over his marriage. In a wistful coda at his favorite saloon he runs into Lucky Lusk (Vanda Godsell) the attractive barmaid he has been flirting with all along, and she offers herself to him full on, but he turns her open ended offer down on the grounds that he is still married. "Well, she says, in wry resignation, "If you ever have a kid name it for me". The Martineau hard boiled cop figure who doesn't mind bending the law to get his man is a predecessor of Dirty Harry by some twenty years and the mean streets of the city of Manchester are portrayed like another main character hovering over the picture. A major city really seen in British films sits for a remarkable portrait. I had seen this movie years ago when it first came out but quickly disappeared. All I remembered was the white knuckle scene in the attic with the vicious killer relentlessly stalking the pathetically defenseless deaf and dumb girl -- every bit as harrowing and suspenseful now as it was back then. BRAVURA filmmaking beginning to end by Val Guest in a classic B/w mold. Unforgettable. The perfect thriller. Stanley Baker, usually seen in meaty supporting roles, never quite became a top star, but was nevertheless one of the best and most businesslike British actors of his time.

Film-Noir from Hammer? Yes, and it's brilliant!

[Coventry · 9/10 · 11 November 2021]

"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!

Totally absorbing & enthralling UK crime drama

[marccherry-15866 · 10/10 · 16 November 2018]

Watched this film many times over the yrs & I never tire of it. Great storyline great cast. Very edgy & very atmospheric. Why oh why don't we seem able to make films like this anymore. Stanley Baker, John Crawford, Donald Pleasance, Billie Whitelaw, Vandals Godsell, George Cooper take a bow class acting &:Val Guest great directing. UK film making at it's best