Hell is a City (1960)

The British production company Hammer Films is primarily famous for its series of horror films, beginning in the 1950s and through the 1960s; what might be said to be one of two prevailing trends in British cinema of the time. The second trend would be kitchen sink realism, the films about "angry young men" in a working-class environment. But one of the best British films of that time is a cross between the two, namely Hell is a City (1960). Although produced by Hammer, and filmed in the widescreen format Hammerscope, it is not a horror film but a realistic police film, in a working-class environment, and there is plenty of anger. It was written and directed by Val Guest, one of the real workhorses of English film. Guest wrote and directed around 50 films, and he also produced some. He considered Hell is a City as one of his “top four” and although I have not seen that many of his films, I can believe that.

Hell is a City is set in Manchester and the lead role is played by Stanley Baker, who had his heyday during those years, when he often played rough men who grew up far from the high and mighty. A small gang robs a cash-in-transit, but the police is quickly on the trail, led by Baker’s police inspector Harry Martineau. The film has its share of some usual clichés, such as Martineau being so focussed on his work that he neglects his wife, but it is much more than that. The milieu, rarely seen in films, is vividly captured by the cinematographer Arthur Grant. There is no pretty scenery here, instead it is Manchester's industrial environment with a heavy scent of spilled beer, dirty clothes, and bulging chimneys. The pacing is excellent, and the film has a relentless energy, exhausting at times, which becomes an extension of Martineau’s personality. He cannot stay still for very long because then his anxieties and dark thoughts risk consuming him.

Harry's problem with his wife is not only that he prioritises his job, but that there is another woman. Not some young, casual, beautiful flirt, but an older woman who works at the pub he usually visits. Their relationship gives the film an unexpectedly sad dimension, along with Harry's disillusioned outlook on life. After the case is solved, Harry does not go home to his wife, nor does he celebrate with his colleagues. Instead, he embarks on a lonely, nocturnal walk on the gloomy streets of Manchester. The film's last line is "You do not have to be on your own to be alone."

Crime and punishment, and the policeman's everyday life, is what you would expect from such a film, but the forceful storytelling and direction, vivid characterizations, together with the tensions and general malaise, are what give Hell is a City its edge. The ending is more like the ending of something by Antonioni than just another police thriller.

I have seen Hell is a City several times, and each time I am shocked by its brutality and impressed by its style and confidence. It is a superior film. But I also want to watch more of Guest’s films, for example Expresso Bongo (1959), Yesterday’s Enemy (1959), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), and Jigsaw (1962), and I should re-watch The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). But that is for another day.

The best of times. British cinema of the 1940s

Now, where to begin? As mentioned before, there's a film festival in New York celebrating Brit Noirs, and British cinema has since my early teens been very dear to me. It all started when TV3 in Sweden was screening British postwar classics every afternoon. I suppose they must've got a good deal with some distributor, or possible they had to buy these films in order to get newer, juicier films. But for whatever reason, there they were, and I watched most of them. Both acknowledged classics such as Brief Encounter (1945) and much lesser known films such as The Red Tent (1956).

And probably since then I've considered this particular era, the British postwar cinema (actually, it began already during the war) as one of the true golden ages of cinema. Not just British cinema but world cinema. It's so happens that there was something like a perfect storm for filmmaking. There was a lot of cash at hand, both from the government and from wealthy producers such as J. Arthur Rank, and there were a lot of exceptionally creative, inventive and forceful personalities, writer, directors and cinematographers, who were given at lot of freedom to do whatever they wanted to do. Public attendance was also very high.

There were of course David Lean, Carol Reed and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and there were the brilliant Alexander Mackendrick, the cynical Robert Hamer. There were also directors such as Alberto Cavalcanti, Thorold Dickinson, and Charles Crichton. The brothers Boulding and the writer/director team Frank Lauder/Sidney Gilliat. And they were all in it together, with Lean editing films directed by Powell for example, or Crichton directing scripts written by Mackendrick. And there were also the extraordinary writer T.E.B. Clarke, as well as Angus MacPhail and John Dighton, and cinematographers such as Jack Cardiff, Christopher Callis, Robert Krasker and Douglas Slocombe. And the many wonderful actors at that. None more so the Celia Johnson, whose performance in Brief Encounter may be the most heartbreaking I've ever seen.

They were all different of course, with various themes, styles and temperaments, from the extravagant dreamlike passion of Powell/Pressburger to the quiet realism of Lauder/Gilliat. Much more varied than conventional wisdom would have it. All in all, those years, say between 1940 and 1955, were awe-inspiring, still not really appreciated as much as they should. Things started to unravel after 1948, with less money, more competition from America and the internationalisation of both films and filmmakers. And then came the kitchen sink realism, which took much joy out of British cinema. Although The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) is very good.

For prospective connoisseurs, here's a list of my particular favourites, in chronological order (and I'm sure I've forgot a few):

The 49th Parallel (1941) Powell & Pressburger

In Which We Serve (1942), David Lean and Noel Coward

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) Powell & Pressburger

Champagne Charlie (1944) Alberto Cavalcanti

A Canterbury Tale (1944) Powell & Pressburger

I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) Powell & Pressburger

Dead of Night (1945) Robert Hamer, Charles Crichton, Cavalcanti, Basil Dearden.

Brief Encounter (1945) David Lean

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Powell & Pressburger

Great Expectations (1946) David Lean

Odd Man Out (1947) Carol Reed

Black Narcissus (1947) Powell & Pressburger

Oliver Twist (1948) David Lean

It Always Rains on Sunday (1948) Robert Hamer

The Red Shoes (1948) Powell & Pressburger

The Passionate Friends (1949) David Lean

The Third Man (1949) Carol Reed

The Queen of Spades (1949) Thorold Dickinson

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Robert Hamer

Passport to Pimlico (1949) Henry Cornelius

The Small Back Room (1949) Powell & Pressburger

The Man in the White Suit (1951) Alexander Mackendrick

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Charles Crichton

Hunted (1952) Charles Crichton

Mandy (1952) Alexander Mackendrick

The Cruel Sea (1953) Charles Frend

The Man Between (1953) Carol Reed

Hobson's Choice (1954) David Lean (yes, I admit, Lean's second only to Howard Hawks in my very own pantheon of directors. And then Michael Powell.)

The Dam Busters (1954) Michael Anderson

Well, that should keep you occupied for quite some time.

A few other directors are also worth mentioning. One is Val Guest, who made his first film in 1943, but I know very little of his big and varied output. But I do know that he made the weird science fiction/horror film The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), the musical Expresso Bongo (1959) and the very good crime thriller Hell Is a City (1960), which is rather like Ealing studios meets the existentialism of Michelangelo Antonioni.

Two other directors, J. Lee Thompson and Seth Holt, are also worthy of consideration, but they didn't start to direct until the 1950s, and are therefore not part of this timeframe. But I might return to them later on.