SUSAN HAMPSHIRE IN 'THE VIOLENT ENEMY' STARRING TOM BELL

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY Year: 1967 Rating: **1/2

Before infamously heckling Prince Philip while seated next to very nervous future knighted actors, sharp-faced dark-horse Tom Bell would often play unpredictably argumentative henchmen of the crime boss... a kind of villain's villain... so in one of his few starring roles, he seems more befitting one of several edgy side-characters...

Who are actually Irish performers... the plot involving the IRA breaking Bell's former iconic patriot Sean Rogan from a British prison: returned to Ireland where most of the expository-plotline takes place within a tight-knit tavern...

Ed Begley, Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

And where genre director Don Sharp clashes dark interiors against lovely natural landscapes with creative camera angles... yet befitting more of a taut political thriller that THE VIOLENT ENEMY aspires for: built right into the edgy (and somewhat misleading) title...

Featuring American actor Ed Begley, faking an Irish accent as capably as British-born Bell and perfect girl Susan Hampshire... so instantly smitten with our scowling anti-hero, she's merely pretty wallpaper within a slow-burn, preachy melodrama set around a factory bombing that turns into a last-minute heist — while never quite embracing any of those literally explosive anticipated elements.

Tom Bell in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY with Michael Standing

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Michael Standing, Ed Begley and Tom Bell in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY

Tom Bell and Susan Hampshire in THE VIOLENT ENEMY