Written by / 5/06/2022 / No comments / , , , , , , , , ,

STANLEY BAKER IN 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND' WITH PETER CUSHING

Title: VIOLENT PLAYGROUND Year: 1957 Rating: ****

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 before he can close an arson case...

Little does he know McCallum's street punk Johnny is the fire-starter. And as the movie begins with a Rock Around the Clock clone inspired by BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, this gang not only fights but dances wildly...

Artwork of David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

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 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
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum and Clifford Evans in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Bad Blonde actor John Slater and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Peter Cushing in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Tsai Chin and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Brona Boland and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker and Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum & Freddie Starr VIOLENT PLAYGROUND Sean Lynch & Bernice Swanson
David McCallum & Freddie Starr VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Freddie Starr VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

Freddie Starr with Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Freddie Starr with Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Anne Heywood in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Hell Is A City actor George A. Cooper with John Slater in Violent Playground
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
David McCallum in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND
Future Hell Is A City's George A. Cooper and Stanley Baker in VIOLENT PLAYGROUND

Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

FIONA FULLERTON, ERIN GERAGHTY & JULIE DAWN COLE IN 'ANGELS'

Fiona Fullerton in ANGELS Year: 1975-1976 First Season Rating: **** The 1975 British/BBC television series ANGELS is a character-driven stor...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Yeah, and the devil serves lemonade, right?" David Proval, Kojak

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)THE BREAK 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)MODEL SHOP 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year