Brit noir

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday, I watched "Hell Is a City," a 1960 police film from Hammer studios, of all places.

Directed by Val Guest in very sharp black-and-white, this is one police procedural that holds up. In a way, you could call it a British "Naked City," with Manchester standing in for NYC. The final confrontation takes place up in the air, on a rooftop, which made me think of Dassin's film. However, there is a strong narrative drive here and some pretty shocking violence. (The bad guy pulls a woman's blouse off. He shoots a deaf-mute woman. As he is led away in handcuffs, he kicks the policeman he had shot in the lungs.)

Stanley Baker played the detective hero. He brought a real sense of bitterness to the part. In some ways, I had to think of "Madigan," in that "Hell is a City" spells out the toll police work takes on its characters.

The score is excellent. Very jazzy.

Highly recommended.