cult film freak: STANLEY BAKER IN 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND' WITH PETER CUSHING

Written by James M. Tate / 4/03/2021 / No comments / anne heywood , david mccallum , fifties , film noir or melodrama , music , peter cushing , stanley baker

STANLEY BAKER IN 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND' WITH PETER CUSHING

4/03/2021 | No comment

VIOLENT PLAYGROUND Year: 1958 Rates: ****

A year after playing brothers in HELL DRIVERS, making Stanley Baker famous and putting cameo David McCallum on the map, they both starred equally in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND, with Baker as a detective reluctantly demoted to juvenile liaison because he couldn't close an arson case...

Little does he know McCallum's street punk leader, Johnny, is the fire-starter. And as the movie begins with a Rock Around the Clock ripoff, inspired by BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, this gang not only fights but dances to that new thing called Rock N' Roll...

And while Baker wields his usual square-jawed hero, he also displays a vulnerable side, keeping two children out of future trouble while falling in love with their hard-working, cop-hating sister Anne Heywood, who, like oldest brother Johnny, only trusts local priest Peter Cushing (channeling Dana Andrews from EDGE OF DOOM). The best scenes involve the trouble Baker gets into by pressing the truth after figuring it out. Leading to an overlong but still intense third act as gun-wielding Johnny holds a classroom of children hostage, morphing from James's Dean to Cagney i.e. rebel to psychopath. Yet here the picture mostly belongs to the ingenue, playing mind-games to calm her brother, at which point both McCallum and Baker turn from lead actors to audience members. With front row seats.

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND with Sean Lynch

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND with Stanley Baker

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND with Peter Cushing

Stanley Baker & Peter Cushing in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND with Sean Lynch

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

Tough Film Noir font for VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

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Tags : anne heywood , david mccallum , fifties , film noir or melodrama , music , peter cushing , stanley baker

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