Tom, an ex-con, takes a job with a corrupt haulage firm driving ballast along treacherous country roads. The drivers, led by the crooked foreman Red, are given cash incentives to deliver more loads by driving dangerously. Tom aims to beat Red's times on the road, but hasn't reckoned on the lengths Red will go to to protect his lucrative setup.
This is a rare treat - a solid British action drama made in the fifties; exciting, tensely scripted and directed, and extremely well acted. It's a British equivalent of the numerous and enjoyable American drive-in movies of the fifties, with a rock-and-roll sensibility and a fine young cast. And what a cast - Baker is solid in the lead, Cummins makes a great sweater-girl, and Lom, the wonderfully nasty Hartnell, Ireland (who was only twenty-one) and McCallum are all terrific. McGoohan, as the thoroughly loathsome and twisted Red, is electrifying - his whole body seems stretched too tight and he spits out his dialogue like bile. This is one of the best villains in all British cinema and an absolute must-see performance. The other stars of the movie are the horrible ten-ton tipper trucks, roaring along the muddy roads in packs like angry supercharged elephants. Geoffrey Unsworth's Vistavision camera-work is sensational and I particularly love the way he uses so many rear shots, following actors into spaces and creating great depth to the photography. Well-scripted by John Krause and the talented Endfield - a South African who worked in Hollywood but got blacklisted and moved to the UK, and is billed here as C. Raker Endfield - this movie entertains from start to finish. And what other film has a supporting cast featuring Chief Inspector Dreyfus, The Prisoner, a Dr Who, a Man From Uncle and a James Bond !!
This is a rare treat - a solid British action drama made in the fifties; exciting, tensely scripted and directed, and extremely well acted. It's a British equivalent of the numerous and enjoyable American drive-in movies of the fifties, with a rock-and-roll sensibility and a fine young cast. And what a cast - Baker is solid in the lead, Cummins makes a great sweater-girl, and Lom, the wonderfully nasty Hartnell, Ireland (who was only twenty-one) and McCallum are all terrific. McGoohan, as the thoroughly loathsome and twisted Red, is electrifying - his whole body seems stretched too tight and he spits out his dialogue like bile. This is one of the best villains in all British cinema and an absolute must-see performance. The other stars of the movie are the horrible ten-ton tipper trucks, roaring along the muddy roads in packs like angry supercharged elephants. Geoffrey Unsworth's Vistavision camera-work is sensational and I particularly love the way he uses so many rear shots, following actors into spaces and creating great depth to the photography. Well-scripted by John Krause and the talented Endfield - a South African who worked in Hollywood but got blacklisted and moved to the UK, and is billed here as C. Raker Endfield - this movie entertains from start to finish. And what other film has a supporting cast featuring Chief Inspector Dreyfus, The Prisoner, a Dr Who, a Man From Uncle and a James Bond !!