Track the Man Down

Moviecut—Track the Man Down

source: Track the Man Down

I've seen a number of British b-movies from the 50s that feature an American star and were distributed stateside by Lippert Pictures. This film, although made in Britain with an all-British supporting cast, stars American actor Kent Taylor (an actor in the Robert Taylor mode, for those not familiar with him---probably best known to audiences under 50 for his Al Adamson and Filipino horror films) and was directed by longtime Republic pictures director R. G. Springsteen--it was released in the USA by Republic. The film begins with a dog-track robbery, then veers off into the story of one of the robbery's participants, his girlfriend, and her sister (played well by Petula Clark who, unlike in her French crime film DAGGERS DRAWN, does not sing here), and then by a cleverly plotted coincidence newspaper reporter Kent Taylor, who was in the police station after the crime was committed, gets brought into the story, although he is following something else. I won't give too much away, but in the classic "petrified forest" tradition, much of the film takes place in a limited setting with a limited number of characters--a tempermental actress, her manager, a drunk, a young mother, Kent Taylor, Petula Clark, and others who shall remain nameless as I won't be a spoiler. Each character is well drawn, there's even some comic relief, and Mr. Taylor brings his usual class to the film. There are no great surprises here, but it's an entertaining way to kill 75 minutes for the fan of b-crime and mystery films. Director Springsteen went on to direct a number of Western tv shows in the late 50s and early 60s and then a number of A.C. Lyles productions in the mid-60s--a personal favorite of mine is HOSTILE GUNS with George Montgomery and Tab Hunter. His final film is the obscure TIGER BY THE TAIL starring Christopher George from 1968, which I've always wanted to see. The few references I've seen to this film are due to Petula Clark's being in it. She is excellent, and while watching it I completely forgot that she was Petula Clark, singing star, because she played the character so well. My only complaint is that Kent Taylor seems a little too old to be attempting to romance her (KT was 48 at the time, PC was 23). Other than that, this is solid b-movie entertainment. My copy was taped off CBN in 1984...hope you can find one. If ONLY tv still showed films like this!

So tells Renee Houston, the Tallulah Bankhead like Scottish actress who steals his film, to George Rose as the mastermind behind a dog track racing heist. Indeed, he is a small man, even going so far as to strike Houston for her brave words against him. This film starts off with the crime with a group of crooks successfully escaping from the arena but having two separate in order not to be caught. Reporter Ken Taylor, on Houston's Trail, is desperate to get a serious story and he finds more than he bargained for as he boards the bus that includes Houston, her agent, a constantly drunken lush and pretty Petula Clark whom he first encounters when she intrudes on his phone call in a tight booth. When Rose and his cohort home he basically bribed into joining him on the run are exposed, the passengers on the bus end up in the middle of nowhere inside a barn where the blessing of a sick baby happens to be the possible way that Rose will be captured. Pretty standard British new wave, this is still far in advance to similar heist films made in the United States at the same time. The location photography is brilliantly photographed with the detail so crisp that you literally can see the cracks in the buildings and far more detail then you would otherwise. Other than Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing", I can't think another American heist film that had the same type of realism that this has although the comedy involving the drunken character gets to be a bit too much after a while. Taylor and Clark do seem mismatched, but Houston's character is so well-developed that you can't help but be entranced by her. In spite of it's predictability, it's quite fast-moving and fully enjoyable,

The first of several crime supporting features to made in England by Republic Pictures, who brought over R.G. 'Bud' Springsteen to direct. It begins quite promisingly with a robbery at that very 1950's venue, a greyhound stadium, with one of the gang making off with the loot. He leaves this with his girlfriend (Ursula Howells) but the police are soon on to her, and it's left to her innocent sister (Petula Clark) to deliver it to him as he flees from his fellow crooks and the law. Trouble is, this situation is never developed very satisfactorily. Little is seen of the police after the first thirty minutes or so, Walter Rilla's gang leader hardly seems very dangerous and the thin story is padded out by a number of minor characters, presumably to provide comic relief. They include a middle-aged actress (Renee Houston) and two hackneyed stereotypes, a blustering newspaper editor, and an annoying stage drunk. There's the odd moment of tension, but the final scenes are hardly convincing. Lead actor Kent Taylor makes little impact, but then all the characters are constructed from the thinnest of cardboard. There's some good location shooting though and it's watchable if you don't expect too much.

This is a sort of British version of film noir. While it has many qualities of noir (such as vile bad guys, killings and a lack of sentimentality), it lacks the usual language, style and cinematography you might associate with the genre. Because of this, although the film is pretty good, it lacks the style to make it great. The film begins with a robbery of a racetrack. During the robbery, a guard is killed and the gang takes off in a car...only to crash and then scatter. The weak link in the gang is Rick...and the police are soon looking for this loser. However, instead of staying put and playing it cool, he tries to double-cross the gang and ends up on the run. He ends up on a bus with a bunch of characters--some of which are horrible. The drunk, while entertaining, is way over- played and makes the film seem a bit light in spirit--which is odd considering its other dark qualities. There are also a couple characters that simply don't make a lot of sense. Still, it's modestly entertaining and worth your time. It's a shame, as with a slight re-write it could have been exceptional.

A band of criminals rob a dog track and get away with a lot of money.... and a murder. The police start closing in on the one with the loot, and the head of the gang explains to a henchman that if he's caught, he'll squeal. It all winds up with reporter Kent Taylor on a bus that the desperate crooks hijack. It's a rather confusing plot, with some fine performers acting in character, under the direction of R. G. Springsteen. Springsteen was a fine western director for Republic, and did a good job when given a shot outside the field. He certainly delivers here for Republic in their second British production, although the script is a bit muddled, and far more violent than most British movies were; clearly this was intended for American production, but Republic had all this cash sitting in Britain, just like the major studios. Still, there are good, roles for Petula Clark, Renee Houston, and Walter Rilla.

source: Track the Man Down

So tells Renee Houston, the Tallulah Bankhead like Scottish actress who steals his film, to George Rose as the mastermind behind a dog track racing heist. Indeed, he is a small man, even going so far as to strike Houston for her brave words against him. This film starts off with the crime with a group of crooks successfully escaping from the arena but having two separate in order not to be caught. Reporter Ken Taylor, on Houston's Trail, is desperate to get a serious story and he finds more than he bargained for as he boards the bus that includes Houston, her agent, a constantly drunken lush and pretty Petula Clark whom he first encounters when she intrudes on his phone call in a tight booth. When Rose and his cohort home he basically bribed into joining him on the run are exposed, the passengers on the bus end up in the middle of nowhere inside a barn where the blessing of a sick baby happens to be the possible way that Rose will be captured. Pretty standard British new wave, this is still far in advance to similar heist films made in the United States at the same time. The location photography is brilliantly photographed with the detail so crisp that you literally can see the cracks in the buildings and far more detail then you would otherwise. Other than Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing", I can't think another American heist film that had the same type of realism that this has although the comedy involving the drunken character gets to be a bit too much after a while. Taylor and Clark do seem mismatched, but Houston's character is so well-developed that you can't help but be entranced by her. In spite of it's predictability, it's quite fast-moving and fully enjoyable,

A band of criminals rob a dog track and get away with a lot of money.... and a murder. The police start closing in on the one with the loot, and the head of the gang explains to a henchman that if he's caught, he'll squeal. It all winds up with reporter Kent Taylor on a bus that the desperate crooks hijack. It's a rather confusing plot, with some fine performers acting in character, under the direction of R. G. Springsteen. Springsteen was a fine western director for Republic, and did a good job when given a shot outside the field. He certainly delivers here for Republic in their second British production, although the script is a bit muddled, and far more violent than most British movies were; clearly this was intended for American production, but Republic had all this cash sitting in Britain, just like the major studios. Still, there are good, roles for Petula Clark, Renee Houston, and Walter Rilla.