Hell Is a City

Hell Is a City
Hell Is a City
Directed by	Val Guest
Screenplay by	Val Guest
Based on	Hell Is a City; by Maurice Procter
Produced by	Michael Carreras
Starring	Stanley Baker; John Crawford
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Edited by	John Dunsford; James Needs
Music by	Stanley Black
Production; company	Hammer Films
Distributed by	Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK); Columbia Pictures (USA)
Release date	10 April 1960; 13 November 1960
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£115,000

Hell Is a City is a 1960 British crime thriller film based on the novel by Maurice Procter.^[1] Written and directed by Val Guest, it was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and filmed in Manchester.^[2] It was partly inspired by the British New Wave films and resembles American Film Noir.^[3] The movie is based on the 1954 novel by Maurice Procter.

Plot summary[]

Committed but seen-it-all police inspector Martineau rightly guesses that after a violent jailbreak a local criminal will head home to Manchester to pick up the spoils from his last job. Martineau is soon investigating a murder during a street robbery which seems to lead back to the same villain. Concentrating on the case and using his local contacts to try to track the gang down, he is aware he is not keeping his own personal life together as well as he might.

Cast[]

Stanley Baker as Inspector Harry Martineau
John Crawford as Don Starling
Donald Pleasence as Gus Hawkins
Maxine Audley as Julia Martineau
Billie Whitelaw as Chloe Hawkins
Joseph Tomelty as Furnisher Steele
George A. Cooper as Doug Savage
Geoffrey Frederick as Detective Devery
Vanda Godsell as Lucky Luske
Charles Houston as Clogger Roach
Joby Blanshard as Tawny Jakes
Charles Morgan as Laurie Lovett
Peter Madden as Bert Darwin
Dickie Owen as Bragg
Lois Daine as Cecily Wainwright
Warren Mitchell as Commercial Traveller
Sarah Branch as Silver Steele
Alister Williamson as Sam
Russell Napier as Superintendent
Philip Bond as Headquarters PC (uncredited)
John Comer as Plainclothes Police Driver (uncredited)
John Harvey as Fingerprint Officer (uncredited)
Doris Speed as Older Nursing Sister in Hospital (uncredited)

References[]

^ "Hell Is a City (1960) - Screenplay Info". TCM.com. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
^ "Hell Is a City | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
^ Burton, Alan; Chibnall, Steve (11 July 2013). Historical Dictionary of British Cinema - Alan Burton, Steve Chibnall - Google Books. ISBN 9780810880269. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

External links[]

Hell Is a City at the TCM Movie Database
Hell Is a City at IMDb
Hell Is a City at AllMovie
Hell Is a City at the BFI's Screenonline
Hell Is a City at BritMovie (archived)
Levenshulme: Hell is a City File - website on the Manchester suburb, with a page dedicated to the film and book on which it is based

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[1] "Hell Is a City (1960) - Screenplay Info". TCM.com. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

[2] "Hell Is a City | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

[3] Burton, Alan; Chibnall, Steve (11 July 2013). Historical Dictionary of British Cinema - Alan Burton, Steve Chibnall - Google Books. ISBN 9780810880269. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

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