A bar snack served cold... Revenge! (1971)

Unlike many films of this era and genre, Revenge! Is actually a thriller… adult-paced and unsettling throughout with some visceral performances I’d say it’s one of the better films of this period when British cinema, freed by permissive influence, got violent and increasingly sexy. Of course there’s some of the latter here, no least in Joan Collins just being encouraged to be Joan Collins, a Rank Starlet in her late teens, bound for Hollywood in her twenties and finally, in her middle years finding her mark as the Queen of British crime films and then, after The Bitch and others, the true star of Dynasty, her limited acting ability more than offset by her humour and frank sexuality.

Possibly influenced by my parents, I’ve never been a huge fan, having watched her struggle alongside Gregory Peck in one US film, The Bravados (1958), yet in early British crime like Cosh Boy she excelled and she was just as funny as the boys with Roger Moore and Tony Curtis in The Persuaders and now I look forward to seeing her in just this kind of oddity more and more.

This is another film produced by Carry on’s Peter Rogers with music from Carry on’s Eric Rogers (see earlier post: no relation) and directed by Sidney Hayers who also worked with the duo on Assault (1971) – they were big on one name titles although this one ended up going by many names, including Inn of the Frightened People which, whilst more descriptive, doesn’t really catch the raw energy of this surprisingly impactful film, one of three missteps aside.

Joan Collins

In an all too believable and possibly near future scenario, James Booth and Joan Collins play a couple running a nice village pub, Jim and Carol Radford. They are mourning the death of their young daughter, Jenny, who was sexually assaulted and killed by a man called Seely (Kenneth Griffith, who is excellent here, a mess of sickly, nervy humanity, terrified and unsettling… inscrutably scared) … or, at least everyone assumes so.

Seely is released after questioning and whilst Jim and Carol are convinced it was him so too is the father of another young girl who was killed, Harry (Ray Barrett) who encourages Jim to take the law into their hands and finish off what the police have seemingly failed to do.

Jim also has two other children by his first marriage, an older son Lee (Tom Marshall, voiced by Nicky Henson) and Jill (Zuleika Robson dubbed, by Michele Dotrice). Lee is in general agreement with his father whilst being on rather touchy-feely terms with his stepmother, in spite of his girlfriend Rose (Sinéad Cusack). For her part Jill hates Carol and any attempt to replace her mother, the fact that her lines were voiced by Michele Dotrice shows the filmmakers’ lack of faith in her expression, that Henson voices for Lee and even the experienced Ray Barrett is dubbed by Garfield Morgan, is odd, adding an extra layer of “distance” to their roles…

Ray Barrett with James Booth

Ultimately, it’s James Booth who has to carry the film and he has plenty in his armoury, a mercurial edgy presence at his best and here largely believable as a man bent on revenging his daughter at any cost. He and Harry follow Seely and see him watching a primary school before deciding to bundle him into the back of a car and tie him up in the cellar of the Radford’s pub. The initial scenes are unsettling, especially when Carol realises who he is and tries to avenge her daughter herself. There’s so much certainty and anger it’s almost like the experience of social media in 2023…

They beat Seely so severely they think they’ve killed him and their minds race as they try to decide what to do, surely it’s their word against his reputation, they can act with impunity, even the police would want this… the ideas are thrown around thick and fast, even when Seely recovers to be now just a prisoner in their basement whilst pub life continues as normal up above.

At this point he becomes something on their conscience, a violent act of their own for them to try and rationalise. Harry starts to distance himself literally, by heading off to a business meeting in Manchester, whilst Jill is appalled and wants them to call the police. Lee and Carol meanwhile are drawn together by the brutality of their actions… as if the rogue alpha male, Jim, is being supplanted.

Tight camera angles abound as Sidney Hayers creates a claustrophibic intensity

Then news comes that another man is being investigated for the murder and the fractured gang of kidnappers starts to fall apart leaving Jim with the rather battered baby and a difficult negotiation to make in terms of returning him to the wild…

Dusty Verdict: There are some daft developments but overall, this film does keep you guessing and that’s chiefly due to deft work from Booth, Collins and Griffith but also from a script that asks some difficult questions and also focuses on telling the story of Jim’s mid-life disappointment. He’s already lost his daughter and now, in his moment of revenge, he’s gradually having everything else that counts in his life stripped away. I didn’t see a lot of this coming and the moral dilemma is inventive and excruciating.

Well worth a watch and of course Joan’s on good form, it’s not a glamourous role but it is one that calls for a glamourous actor. She's adds the heat for a film that proves that revenge is indeed a dish best served cold, possibly involving a sausage roll with some pickled eggs... seventies hospitality.

Records for sale include Abbey Road, Moody Blues, Chicago plus the samplers Total Sound and Impact, both still in my family's record collection.

Don’t go down to the woods today… Assault (1971), Network Blu-ray

 

Now, here’s a thing, I had no idea that the composer Eric Rogers was no relation to Peter Rogers despite their working together dozens of times mostly on Carry on films, all but two had Eric’s scoring. Born in Halifax, Eric’s real name was Eric Gaukroger although he later hyphenated his surname to Gauk-Roger. As with Peter though, Eric diversified and this thriller was one of a number of a number of more “adult” crime thrillers they worked on including Vengeance (1971) and the excellent All Coppers Are (1972), also available on Network Blu-ray and also directed by Sidney Hayers.

I've started off with the Rogers as I’m always slightly surprised to find them away from comedy and especially Eric as clearly, he’s more evident in the films than the Producer. His score here very effectively contributes to the brooding menace and the sense of threat that powers the narrative. In terms of visual subtlety, Hayers is more efficient than inventive but it still works as an unsettling watch albeit one reliant on the male gaze and sexualised threat to femininity. Is it exploitation, probably but it’s well acted and sincere entertainment of its time…

We start off at a posh all-girls school as an array of period cars arrives to collect the slightly mature looking young women. If you like classic British motors, then you will not be disappointed with the films deployment of Morris, Triumph and Jaguar cars; art-teacher Julie West (the divine Suzy Kendall) drives a Morris Minor estate, Det. Chief Supt. Velyan (Frank Finlay) has a Morse-type Jaguar and Freddie Jones’ nasty reporter has a sporty model I’m yet to identify, possibly and MGA Coupe? That plus all of the Morris Minor Panda cars…

Shouldn't you be studying for your A-levels Lesley-Anne?

But the real story starts with one of the girls, Tessa Hurst (a 17-year old Lesley-Anne Down in her first starring role) taking a short-cut home through the woods which leads to her being viciously assaulted under the shadow of an electric power station, it’s unsettling to watch, a bit too voyeuristic for me, but thankfully not overplayed. The result leaves Tessa catatonic with shock and unable to talk as she’s taken in to care at a mental hospital by Doctor Greg Lomax (James Laurenson) who along with specialist Mr. Bartell (Anthony Ainley, famously The Master in Doctor Who after Roger Delgado).

The police launch an investigation under the command of Chief Super Velyan and Det. Sgt. Beale (James Cosmo, evergreen as he is and still performing!) and from this point on we will be introduced to a series of characters who are all a bit suspicious to some extent, the game of cat and red herring is afoot!

Obviously, it’s not going to be the lovely Julie who is as down with the kids as anyone in this rather odd school. Headmistress Mrs. Sanford (Dilys Hamlett) is so strait-laced it’s rather unlikely that she’s married to Tony Beckley’s creepy Leslie Sanford but that’s the point. Whilst she looks after the girls’ spiritual well-being he keeps an unblinking eye on their more earthy qualities, greedily eying them up in the playground or touching them up in the library (Janet Lynn, definitely over 18 and who played Carol Thatcher – no, not that one - with Robin Askwith in Cool it Carol! the year before).

Under suspicion: Tony Beckley, James Cosmo and Frank Dinlay

Then the situation gets even worse as another girl, Susan Miller (Anabel Littledale, aged 19) ignoring instructions and common sense, takes the same short-cut and this time the crime escalates to murder, with accompanying fleshy details. Julie, driving four other girls home, spots the missing pupil and drives her Morris into the woods, only to arrive just too late as she glimpses the killer, face lit by her red break lights in a demonic glow…

She cannot escape the image she saw nor explain it to the police and is all but laughed from the inquest when she describes her vision. Luckily for her Doctor Greg is on hand to support the very beautiful young woman in her hour of need, he has ulterior motive alright but is there anything more…? Certainly, of ill-intent is reporter Freddie Jones, playing a blinder as the grubby tabloid hack pushing for an angle and any salacious detail right to the point of pestering Julie at home.

The police assign Sgt. Milton (Patrick Jordan) to protect Julie as she paints the image she remembers and, in collusion with the reporter, puts a story in the papers that she can draw the face of the killer she recalls… it’s a very high-risk strategy and one we know will bring her into danger. But who will it be, one of the good guys or one of the obviously bad ones?

James Laurenson and Suzy Kendall

Dusty Verdict: Assault is an entertaining thriller that gets the job done with the aid of some very good performances especially from Frank Findley, who’s always so nuanced he could be one of the suspects… maybe he is, and Suzy Kendall who made a career out of playing female febrility, a Derbyshire Julie Christie!

The set pieces are well executed and the villain is a genuine mystery for long enough… And, apart from the classy, classic cars, there’s some fab cameos including Mr David Essex as the leather-jacketed Man in Chemist Shop looking for help for his girlfriend’s nosebleed. It’s definitely not him…

You can order the Blu-ray direct from Network and at a great price, there’s so much on their website, you’ll probably come away with more than you budgeted for!

 

 

 

Freddie

 

 

The Headmistress' Husband is unsuitable for educational work...

David Essex!

 

The car section...
 

Classic cars...

Really Sidney? Cars and short skirts...

Morris Minor Estate with wooden trim: classic!

Jaguar

Morris Pandas

Is that an MGA Coupe?

 

A constable carry-on. All Coppers Are... (1972), Network Blu-ray out now!!

My second time around with All Coppers Are and it grows more impressive as I wonder what my father, a copper himself, albeit in Liverpool, would have made of it.

The film was directed by Sidney Hayers from a script adapted from his own novel by Allan Prior (folk singer Maddy’s father), the founder-writer of ground-breaking, Merseyside police drama Z-Cars (with Troy Kennedy Martin), and spin-off series Softly, Softly. Prior was expert in police procedural narrative and also knew how to write about the police experience off duty, here in a tough part of London with more suspicion than perhaps in most parts of the Northwest.

The producer was, surprisingly, Carry on’s Peter Rogers and there’s even a music score from Gerald Thomas which, though it very occasionally reminds you of his more light-hearted work, generally supports the action well. The film certainly wanted to hit hard in the manner of Get Carter and there’s even a sinister turn from Ian Hendry, rather more menacing than his character in that film.

The power station... where's the pig?

What strikes me most of all is the tremendous sense of place in the film, as we start with a shot across the Thames of the old Battersea Power Station and down to the lone Constable Joe (Martin Potter) on the beat in his native Battersea. This area, and Clapham, are still very recognisable for any of us commuters who’ve had the daily pleasure of watching the old power station be turned into a modernistic mess by soulless developers. Back in the early 70s it was still working and, a few years before Floyd’s Pink Pig flew overhead, the area was charcoal grey, smothered in coal dust and exhaust fumes. Joe spots a young Robin Asquith attempting to steal a car and gives chase over to the slag heaps at the power station.

Martin Potter has a detachment which suits Joe’s self-doubt and whilst these are characteristics well used by Federico Fellini, who cast him as Encolpius in his striking Satyricon, we’re in Battersea now and Potter seems a little lost even as he draws the eye with screen presence. Joe is still unformed and just about the only thing he is convinced about is his job, he has a young child with pretty wife Peg (Wendy Allnutt, once described by Dennis Potter as “paralyzingly beautiful”) who he married in haste after the unexpected result of their short relationship forced their hand. Yes, even in 1972.

Martin Potter

Wendy was at drama school with Martin Potter and this undoubtedly helped their chemistry in their uncertain marriage. Wendy’s recollections in the accompanying interview are revelatory in terms of the location, the bleakest part of Battersea was chosen for their flat and also the wedding party, filled with “characters”, director Sidney Hayers’ efficiency and the whole shoot which was a positive experience: “a fun movie to make”. She even enjoyed working with the baby having no experience with such creatures. On second viewing the couple’s relationship makes for a more convincing arc, as Joe, especially, will learn a lot about himself over the course of events.

The script covers a lot of ground and is what buoys it aloft above the dangerous terrain of un-gritty is the expressive intensity of Julia Foster; she is the class act here and acts with a subtlety and nuanced grace that gives Coppers an emotional anchor it would otherwise lack. She has an emotional openness as well as a perfectly proportioned face which made me, fall in love with her during the course of that play and every time I’ve seen her since, from Alfie, Half a Sixpence, The Small World of Sammy Lee, to the recent Dad’s Army film and Dr Who, she has never failed to impress. At this point she was 29, more than ten years into her career, and she gives the World-weary assurance you expect as Sue, a woman who has already known too much disappointment and is cautiously looking at all those around her not to fail her.

Julia Foster toughens up for this role

Chief among life’s disappointments has been her mother (Sandra Dorne) who has shacked up with another freeloading boyfriend, Jock (Glynn Edwards) who, to say the least, is a little grabby when it comes to his “daughter in law”. But it’s her own relationships that cause Sue the most grief and more than once bitten she is very shy of new mistakes.

The third of our leads, small time hustler Barry (Nicky Henson a long way from Charterhouse in this neck of the woods…) who is keeping a watch on a warehouse where he’s planning a robbery. He has a room in a house run by Mrs. Briggs (Carmel McSharry) whose son, Ronnie is played by one David Essex whose next film would be That’ll be the Day. They invite Barry to a wedding reception where he meets and fancies Sue who meets and fancies Joe. After a few drinks they head off to the embankment for some larks and champagne, quickly bonding as friends as the triangle of affection solidifies.

Now, Joe, if you remember, because he’s forgetting… is married but he’s smitten with Sue and the two end up together for the night only for Joe’s conscience to finally kick in as he tries to brush her off. She turns her attention to Barry but the two run into Joe again in a pub run by the Malloys, Eddie Byrne and Queenie Watts - now there’s a surprise. Joe gets the cold shoulder as a copper but its only after he calmly administers first aid to a stricken pensioner that Sue and Barry discover his day job.

Nicky Henson cases the joint

That’s it for Barry, obviously, but Sue, so disappointed to discover his marital state, is more sympathetic… In the absence of anything better though she has ended up living with Barry and, against the odds believes he a) may be honest and b) has work to take them away from SW11. She may have seen it all but she still has a hopeful naivety.

Time for Ian Hendry as sinister Sonny Wade, who brings the Get Carter grit with knowing menace enhanced by his friend Fancy Boy (David Baxter). Hendry’s radiates febrile threat with every quiver, a man of criminal passion who’s flawed ruthlessness presents Barry with a situation only a desperate man would accept, he has little to gain if he delivers the stolen goods to Sonny and everything to lose.

Cue, the finale and some unexpectedly dramatic twists and turns.

Friends forced apart

Before this though there is a well-realised, almost too real, sequence where Joe and his colleagues have to confront a protest march. It’s brutal stuff with truncheons flying before police horses arrive to kettle the ring leaders. Was this a comment on the political upset of the time – the nature of the protest is ill-defined, something about “fascists” and “student grants”, or just a means of showing how the Coppers, “bastards” though they may be, have a tough job to do. It could just be gratuitous of course, a tick of the “counterculture” box but stuntman Chris Webb reveals in his interview that some of the extras got a bit too carried away.

First assistant editor, Jonathan Morris, is also interviewed about the work and he praises Hayers’ approach especially as he had started as a film editor and was very proficient from the point of view of the cutting room, his shots cutting together smoothly, and given the budget, very efficiently!

Dusty verdict: The digital transfer is sparkling and the watching experience is more enjoyable than previous releases. It’s meditation of the role of coppers in society is still a valid one and the character’s struggle to find themselves all too real, especially given magnificent turns from Foster and Henson especially. Julia Foster makes us believe in Sue, and her flawed judgement - but, despite a decent performance, I’m not entirely convinced by Henson’s Battersea boy Barry, he seems too smart to take on this risky job. As for Joe, Martin Potter is sometimes absent without leave and at times magnetic given his conflicted existence. Yet, you care about these characters in the end even whilst feeling that there should have been more to care about in terms of their available life choices.

The release comes with excellent extras including the interviews directed by Chris McCabe, with actor Wendy Allnutt, 1st assistant editor Jonathan Morris and stuntman Chris Webb. Morris is especially insightful given his role but it’s great to have the context from all three. There’s also a very informative booklet essay from Adrian Smith along with an image gallery and trailer.

Sue finds out the truth about Joe...

So, a massive upgrade on the DVD and a very interesting title that’s a must-have for fans of the period as well as the splendid cast.

You can order direct from Network – and you will not be disappointed!

Looking shifty Mr Askwith

Wendy Allnutt: Dennis Potter not wrong.