cult film freak: VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

Written by James M. Tate / 4/04/2021 / No comments / billie whitelaw , british neo noir , british new wave , donald pleasence , geoffrey frederick , hammer films , jazz score , john crawford , lois daine , sarah branch , sixties , stanley baker , val guest , vanda godsell

VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

4/04/2021 | No comment

John Crawford & Lois Daine Year: 1960 Rates: ****

The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest directing his YESTERDAY'S ENEMY leading man Stanley Baker, HELL IS A CITY is not only a Noir-like Police Procedural but an Escaped Convict Procedural as sinister John Crawford hops from various former colleagues and lovers while intense cop Baker, who'd originally put him away and is revenge-driven to nab him back, visits/questions the same people, from a bookie's cheating wife (Billie Whitelaw ignoring rich husband Donald Pleasence who employed doomed Lois Daine); a flirty waitress; a stubborn salesman with a gorgeous deaf/dumb daughter (Sarah Branch); and featuring various locales run by a shady gang with deliciously pulpy nicknames like Clogger Roach...

A gritty hybrid of action and thriller, CITY hits a slight wall only during the third act after Crawford's equally desperate and resilient and entirely scene-stealing menace vanishes for a bit, focusing more into Baker sweating-out the real accomplices aided by faithful young partner Geoffrey Frederick: But overall the tightly-wound cadence, juxtaposing the tough good and rough bad guy — shifting smoothly from busy Manchester to the outlying Moors to a brawling rooftop climax — features raw violence even for 1960 after Film Noir had ended... yet this kind of stylistic crime thriller was just reigniting it with the British New Wave.

John Crawford in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY with Geoffrey Frederick

Sarah Branch in HELL IS A CITY with Geoffrey Frederick

Vanda Godsell in HELL IS A CITY

Billie Whitelaw in HELL IS A CITY

John Crawford in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY and John Crawford

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY and Maxine Audley

Lois Daine in HELL IS A CITY and Donald Pleasence

HELL IS A CITY with Sarah Branch

A murdered Lois Daine in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY with Geoffrey Frederick

John Crawford and Billie Whitelaw in HELL IS A CITY

John Crawford as Don Starling in HELL IS A CITY

John Crawford in Hell Is A City and on THE TWILIGHT ZONE with Cliff Robertson

A driven John Crawford in Hell Is A City

Donald Pleasence and Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY

Warren Mitchell and Geoffrey Frederick on The Moors in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker in Hammer's HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker with Charles Houston as Clogger Roach in HELL IS A CITY

Stanley Baker and Geoffrey Frederick in Manchester for HELL IS A CITY

Sarah Branch as Silver Steele in HELL IS A CITY

Geoffrey Frederick and Stanley Baker (with a cute extra) in HELL IS A CITY

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Tags : billie whitelaw , british neo noir , british new wave , donald pleasence , geoffrey frederick , hammer films , jazz score , john crawford , lois daine , sarah branch , sixties , stanley baker , val guest , vanda godsell

James M. Tate

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FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)THE CROWDED SKY 3)JUNGLE STREET4)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)HELL IS A CITY 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)HOT CARS 9)NIGHT CREATURES 10)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 11)HARDCORE 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)ASH WEDNESDAY 15)PULP 16)THE SYSTEM 17)THE FEARMAKERS 18)THE SERGEANT 19)AL CAPONE 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)THE DEFECTOR 24)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 25)A PRIZE OF ARMS 26)AIR PATROL 27)WHITE HEAT 28)BEAT GIRL 29)EASY LIVING 30)ATLANTIC CITY 31)COMPULSION 32)THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN 33)THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY 34)MADISON AVENUE 35)THE SHARKFIGHTERS 36)DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 37)MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 38)ROYAL FLASH 39)SWAMP WATER 40)THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND 41)THE BREAK 42)THE HIJACKERS 43)THE HEARSE 44)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 45)CANYON RIVER 46)KILLER FISH 47)FRENZY 48)LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN 49)THE KILLING 50)FORCE TEN FROM NARAVONE 51)BULLITT 52)WICHITA 53)WAR OF THE WORLDS 54)KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE 55)LAURA 56)THE LINEUP 57)DEATH WISH 58)SORCERER 59)THE STONE KILLER 60)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)MARLON BRANDO 4)JACK NICHOLSON 5)ORSON WELLES 6)PETER O'TOOLE 7)TOM COURTENAY 8)CHARLES BRONSON 9)STANLEY BAKER 10)VICTOR MATURE ACTRESSES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN CARPENTER 7)VAL GUEST 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)MICHAEL WINNER 10)SAM PECKINPAH