Hell is a City (1960)

Looking through the shelves of movie-related books at the local library last year, I stumbled across Hardboiled Hollywood by Max Decharnea British writer and musician. Chapter by chapter, it deals with the adaptation, from books or real-life events, of famous crime films over the years, some noir (In a Lonely Place, The Big Sleep), and some not, or at least not quite (Psycho, Bonnie and Clyde). Although it might not be the definitive source on some of the movies covered, it's a pretty entertaining book that I ended up buying. I'd seen or at least heard of all of the movies covered in the book, with one exception: Hell is a City, a British cop vs. criminal thriller from 1960. It sounded interesting, so when I checked to see if it was on DVD, I was happy to find out that it had been released by Anchor Bay a couple of years ago, and that the disc had gotten good reviews for image and sound quality. To the top of my Netflix queue it went, and when I saw it, my expectations were easily fulfilled: it's a terrific movie!

Hell is a City was based on a mid '50s novel of the same name by Maurice Procter, a former Manchester policeman turned writer. Hammer Films producer Michael Carreras purchased the rights and enlisted director Val Guest to adapt and direct. Guest had directed more than 10 films for Hammer by that point, including one of their first international horor/sci-fi successes, The Quatermass Xperiment. Although most of Hammer's low-budget projects were done entirely on sets, Hell is a City used real locations in and around Manchester for many of its scenes. Here's a pretty much spoiler-free plot synopsis:

As the movie begins, Manchester Police Inspector Harry Martineau (played by Stanley Baker) has just read the news of a jailbreak from a different part of the country by Don Starling (John Crawford), whom Martineau had put behind bars several years earlier. Starling might be headed back to town to recover the loot from a big jewel heist, which hasn't turned up since. Martineau is having trouble at home with his clingy wife (Maxine Audley), while the divorced barmaid "Lucky" Lusk (Vanda Godsell) is constantly throwing herself at him. Martineau informs Lucky of Starling's escape, and since she used to be romantically involved with Starling, Martineau warns her not to help him if he turns up.

Starling's arrival in town immediately leads to his rounding up a small gang to snatch some money being transported by underlings of bookmaker Gus Hawkins (Donald Pleasence), since Starling needs a quick score to round up enough cash to leave the country. He's also going to make off with the jewels from years earlier, though he doesn't let any of his compatriots know where they are. Starling mainly organizes the job with muscle, more Dix Handley than Doc Riedenschneider. The robbery ends up being more violent than they planned for, after which Starling gets in touch with some old contacts looking for a place to hide out for the night, issuing threats along the way: Lucky Lusk gets a call, as does "Furnisher" Steele, a furniture salesman who lives with his daughter Silver, a deaf mute since birth. Steele had "shopped" Starling to the cops several years earlier, but Starling seems to accept the fact that Steele won't be doing him any favors this time around, no matter what he might threaten them with. Starling eventually hides out with another old flame, Chloe Hawkins (Billie Whitelaw), the wife of bookmaker Gus, a high society woman of easy virtue who appears to be able to make men melt with baby talk.

Through a series of clues centering on the green dye that the stolen money was laced with, Martineau closes in on the Starling gang, dealing with tight-lipped people who seem to have relevant information by issuing his own threats: the exposure of Chloe Hawkins' various dalliances, a business-damaging police presence at a bartender's pub, and a murder charge against a hood's presumably innocent younger brother. One set piece highlight centers around a "tossing school" on the moors outside of Manchester, a gathering of various mugs getting together to gamble illegally on coin flips. As Starling's associates go down one by one, he makes his way back to the hiding place for the jewels, ready to leave town...but will an innocent bystander give him up? Will Martineau get there in time?

Briskly paced, with some rough violence and an excellent up-tempo jazz score by Stanley Black, Hell is a City features strong performances from the entire cast and great direction by Guest, particularly in its use of locations. The domestic squabbling scenes between Martineau and his wife seem a little forced to me, although the actors sell it well enough. I really like the chemistry between Baker and Godsell--she comes off as a Joan Blondell type, with a similar "man in his early 30s, woman around 40" dynamic to the Blondell/Power pairing in Nightmare Alley, although this one is a different sort of relationship. Crawford, a Canadian without much of an accent who was a name actor in Britain at the time, doesn't seem too much like a local, even though he's supposed to be (Martineau makes one reference to their having grown up together, gone to the same schools, etc.), but he brings a strong sense of menace to his role. The various supporting characters are all quite memorable as well, particularly Pleasance, playing his character with a fidgety sense of irritation at everything happening around him.

With all that said...is it noir? In my opinion, yes, close enough. In the DVD commentary track, with Guest and Hammer documentarian Ted Newsom, Guest specifically cites The Naked City as a major influence for its documentary style, although he claims that he applied it to a lot of his movies, not just this one similar instance of an urban crime drama. Newsom does mention Asphalt Jungle in connection with the dynamics between the crooks, and although Guest says that there wasn't any deliberate influence from that one, the scenes involving the Starling gang definitely have the feel of an inside look at "The City Under the City." The idea of the thin line between cop and criminal, i.e. "The Narrow Margin" between good and evil, isn't quite as directly developed here as it is in that earlier film, but Martineau's rough tactics leave little doubt that he's always willing to bend the rules.

In summary, Hell is a City is a great thrill ride for anybody inclined toward tales of rough characters, fast dames, and tough-minded cops. I'll wrap up with a few DVD screenshots.



The criminal and his ex-lover:



The cop and his potential lover:



The "tossing school," with lookouts on the hills to watch for any bobbies:



"Silent" scream:

Click To Play

Written by Haggai