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River Beat

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Wikipedia article




'River Beat' is a 1954 British noir crime film directed by Guy Green and starring John Bentley, Phyllis Kirk and Leonard White.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114185313/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/48501 BFI.org] The screenplay concerns a river police inspector who faces a moral dilemma when a woman he knows gets caught up in jewel smuggling. It was shot at Walton Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Stoll. It was produced as a second feature and distributed in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

Plot



Judy (Phyllis Kirk) is a radio operator on an American ship duped into smuggling diamonds in the belief that she was delivering cigarettes. Stopped by Customs she is in further trouble when the man who involved her is found dead in the river. Customs Detective Dan Barker (John Bentley), who has fallen for Judy has to find out whether she is guilty or innocent and protect her from the smuggling gang, especially if they think she is going to talk.

Cast



* John Bentley as Detective Inspector Dan Barker

* Phyllis Kirk as Judy Roberts

* Robert Ayres as Watford

* Leonard White as Detective Sergeant Mack McLeod

* Glyn Houston as Charlie Williamson

* Patrick Jordan as Bert Fisher

* Ewan Roberts as Customs Inspector J.S. Blake

* David Hurst as Paddy McClure

* Charles Lloyd-Pack as John Hendrick

* Isabel George as Anna

* Margaret Anderson as Nell, Charlie's girl

* Harold Ayer as Joseph Benson, alias Alfred Gordon

* Tony Hilton as Harry, the bartender

* Jack McNaughton as Hickson

* Dermot Palmer as Wayne

* Colin Douglas as Harbor Patrol superintendent

* Bill Nagy as Eddie, deckhand

* Michael Browning as Detective Perry

* Michael Balfour as Adams, sailor

* Peter Collingwood as Coroner

* Warwick Ashton as Constable

* Eric Corrie as Constable

Reception



'Variety' said "The programmer market, currently short of passable supporting filmfare, will find this London-localed melodrama an acceptable filler... Miss Kirk provides a casting

switch to the Anglo-American film efforts Lippert usually releases. Heretofore it has been an American male in England, and mixed up with Scotland Yard and British crooks... The plotting is contrived and everything drops too patly into place as the 70 minutes unfold."[https://archive.org/details/variety195-1954-07/page/n143/mode/1up/search/%22rex+rienits%22?q=%22rex+rienits%22 Review of film] at 'Variety' The film critic Dennis Schwartz called it "a decent adventure film involving ruthless smugglers" and noted the "great location shooting in London, a taut screenplay by Rex Rientis, and a fine acting performance by the American Phyllis Kirk."

References





Bibliography



* Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. 'The British 'B' Film'. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.


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