Never Let Go

Some people have said that he is over the top, but I think that is so only if you consider all of his comedic performances and satires. How can I believe this fellow is the incompetent Clouseau and also wince every time his character in this film walks into a room, expecting him to explode with the violence that is obviously seething in him.

Sellers plays the owner of an auto repair shop that runs a ring of car thieves on the side. Then one day his gang of teen thieves steal the car of John Cummings (Richard Todd). Cummings is a mediocre salesman of cosmetics who has just bought the car but not bought full coverage insurance. He only has liability. So with the cosmetics company's son taking over the practical running of the business and implying that Cummings' job is in danger, and Cummings thinking that this car and being able to get to more places quickly is the secret to holding on to that job, he begins to investigate the crime himself, and soon he is getting very close to the truth.

Meanwhile, he finds out from his wife that she sees him as a perpetual dreamer and failure, and she is OK with that, but she is not OK with him getting mixed up with a bunch of hoods to get his car back, but unfortunately Cummings has focused in on reclaiming his car as a way of proving that he can finish what he starts, that he is not the failure his wife says that he is.

In the middle of this you have a dispassionate police inspector, and a couple of kids in love who have no real options in life. Unfortunately one is Meadows' mistress and the other is one of his gang of thieves.

This thing, on what was probably a shoe-string budget is an incredibly engaging movie. There's great dialogue, a tremendous use of music in ratcheting up the tension, and towards the end I felt like I was watching Marshall Dillon of Gunsmoke (Cummings) steeling himself to face down some bank robber (Meadows) on Main Street in Dodge City.

There is just not one wasted minute in this entire production. I highly recommend it.

While the star of this film technically is Richard Todd, Peter Sellers' supporting performance dominates the film and it's no surprise that the DVD features Sellers on the cover, not Todd. It's one of the better performances of his career--and, interestingly, it's not at all comedic but a VERY gritty and serious role.

The film begins with a working man (Todd) leaving work--only to discover that his car's been stolen. He goes to the police but after a couple days there doesn't appear to be any chance he'll get it back--and it's not insured. Todd is a very mild-mannered man and not the sort you'd expect to do anything about the crime, but his car is needed for his job and he won't let it rest. So, he starts trying to find leads on his own--and repeatedly he nearly gets himself killed. Yet, for once this mild-mannered man is NOT going to just back down--he will follow this as far as he can and the consequences be damned. Through the course of Todd's investigations, the trail leads to a truly horrible man (Sellers). On the surface, Sellers seems sophisticated and mild-mannered himself. However, he is a very violent bully--and this comes out with the least provocation. What's to happen next? Tune in to this excellent film to see for yourself--just be forewarned...it's amazingly brutal for 1960--so brutal the Brits gave it what is equivalent to a restricted rating!

As I said, Sellers is at his best here. Wearing bulky clothes (and perhaps lifts to make him look taller), he looks beefier and plays a great heavy. His violent and sadistic routine is mesmerizing--and it was hard to believe this is the same guy who made a career out of making people laugh. Here, he's malevolent and cruel--and very effective. Now all this does NOT mean Todd isn't quite good as well--he is. But even in turning in a dandy performance himself, he is overshadowed by the malevolent Sellers. The sum effect of both of them is quite compelling--making a simple and inexpensive film much better than you'd ever expect. If you like to see excellent acting and characters, then see this one.

I've now seen this film a few times when it gets shown late at night on ABC TV here in Australia and it is still compelling viewing. It is a classic example of the gritty working class social reality/suspense genre in a post Angry Young Men gloomy London setting with a superb cast all giving stellar performances, particularly Peter Sellers as the petty vicious crook (one of his best roles), Elizabeth Sellars as the long suffering wife, Carol White, Mervyn Johns and Adam Faith. The casting of Richard Todd in the lead role of the down-trodden but defiant cosmetics salesman who wants to show everyone he can succeed is superb, inspired and brilliant, particularly given that he was normally cast as heroic and successful types, such as officers.

It is impossible not to identify with the personal struggle against the injustice of the very difficult situation in which Todd's character has found himself and that was not of his own making. Although the film has the typical feel of the late 50s/early 60s era in British urban society (which I love, by the way!), I found his work situation, which is at the heart of the story, and the way he tried to deal with it achingly convincing and clearly reminiscent of more modern eras, particularly with the constant threat of up and coming younger, brighter and sharper sales staff being used by the management as an unsubtle threat to his position if he does not improve his sales figures. I am sure anyone who has ever been paid on a sales commissions basis in a competitive product or service field would be able to identify easily with that situation.

His persistent determination to deal with the unsavoury types he thinks are responsible for the theft of his car in the face of police indifference and try to get back everything that he has lost, while everyone is telling him to just give up, is portrayed very convincingly and the final ending and resolution with the fight scene in the garage is utterly convincing and satisfying. I strongly recommend this film and I have always found it difficult to understand why Richard Todd never became the huge star I believe he deserved to be.

This is not as great a film as the comments lead me to believe. However, it is a well done piece of work and obviously done on a very modest budget. The story is a bit heavy-handed in places, and the scene where the wife tells her husband that he's a loser is very hard to believe. That all being said, it is a dreary, gritty slice of England in the early sixties and is a showcase for the dramatic talents of Peter Sellers. While some of the supporting roles are well done, Sellers shines like a bright diamond with his intense and convincing portrayal of a carjacker, free of any moral pretense. If this film had been widely seen, I am convinced that many directors would have tried to get Sellers into more serious roles. His ability to leave all traces of the Goon comedy figure behind is truly astounding. If you are interested in post-war English cinema, this is an interesting film. If you are a fan of Peter Sellers, it's a must see.

Of course, it's Peter Sellers' name which has attracted attention to this little-known film, made at a time when he was trying out some serious acting work in addition to his renowned comedy talent. It must be said that he does pull off a remarkable performance. As the gangster, Meadows, he does a lot more than put on a tough voice and bash a few heads in. He perfectly portrays an outward smoothie, concerned for appearances, a man who doesn't like getting his hands dirty - but underneath is a barely-repressed streak of sadism verging on psychopathic tendencies. There is a remarkably daring scene (for the time) which distinctly adds a sexual dimension to his dominant personality. As he tells Carol White to take her top off, the sound of his breathing and the look in his eyes verge on the shocking, and the fact that it is Peter Sellers performing this, adds to the shock value.

However, Sellers does not upstage the film from Richard Todd who is also cast considerably against type. In films of this period Todd always played the handsome debonair hero, but in a complete reversal Todd here plays what the Americans refer to as a "milquetoast". But again, multidimensionality in the character is beautifully brought out, as Cummings starts to show the obsessive side of his personality. The expository scene in which his wife tells him, as gently as she can, that he has always been a failure, and that getting the car back would not, as he claims, solve all their problems, is beautifully handled by Todd and Elizabeth Sellars as his long-suffering wife.

This film, an X-Certificate upon release (equivalent to 18 or NC-17 certificates today) doesn't shirk from showing the execution and effects of violence. One scene, in which Todd gets badly beaten up by David Lodge (of all people), must have represented a very early usage of amplifying the sound of a fist hitting a torso for the purposes of magnifying the horror. This scene remains effective over forty years later. As a result of this, the film acquires a beautiful sense of unpredictability. There's clearly going to be a showdown between Cummings and Meadows, but the film very effectively adds to the suspense by a long sequence in which Cummings in a cafe and Meadows in his penthouse flat are both shown waiting for it - without any clue tipped to the audience as to what finally will happen. John Barry's score is very effective, if a trifle old fashioned, in heightening the tension - Barry's trademark chord progressions are still a way off in the future.

De Sarigny and Guillermin put together a brilliant script, two wonderfully talented actors and superlative direction to create a great British noir movie which should be more widely known.

Incidentally, for young Harry Potter fans who think the car in "The Chamber of Secrets" was made up, here is the proof that the Ford Anglia really did exist, all the way back to 1959 (although sadly it doesn't fly) - here an example of one is the cause of all the trouble.