Appointment with Crime (1946) YIFY - Download Movie TORRENT

Reviewed by boblipton 6 / 10

British Noir

This decent British noir is about a petty crook who gets out of prison and is caught between the police looking for a murderer and the crooks who got him put in prison in a smash and grab job. It is a lot grittier than American noir. William Hartnell is very believable as the ex-con and Joyce Howard is fine as the not-too-bright dance hall girl who believes him. American noirs seem to have a sheen of glamor in comparison to this underclass melodrama.There is a strong homosexual component to the underworld in this movie, with Herbert Lom as an effete foreign crime boss; his chief henchman plays his role as flamboyantly homosexual, just shy of a British comedy. The whole thing looks shot cheaply, which adds to the grime, and the direction and actors don't seem to do full justice to the script, but the net effect is decent. Worth a look.

Reviewed by XhcnoirX 6 / 10

Gritty Britnoir which loses steam along the way

William Hartnell is part of a smash & grab crew led by Raymond Lovell. When Hartnell smashes a jeweler's window, a protective gate drops on his wrists, breaking them, and the crew takes off without him before the police arrives. After serving time in prison, Hartnell wants to get even with Lovell and his crew, by framing him for the murder of his chauffeur, using Lovell's gun. He establishes an alibi for himself through dancer-for-hire Joyce Howard, but police inspector Robert Beatty thinks Howard is a bit too eager to support Hartnell's alibi and digs deeper. Lovell's gun however belongs to Herbert Lom, art dealer by day, Lovell's criminal boss by night. So rather than getting even with Lovell, Hartnell now has to deal with the police, as well as Lom.Hartnell ('Brighton Rock', the first Doctor Who) plays his character as tightly wound as possible (or incredibly stiff, depending on your point of view), which works well for me. Every time you sorta start to feel sympathy for him, he does something mean again (despite caring for Howard, he still deceives and lies to her to save his own skin). Lom ('Night And The City', 'Hell Drivers') is great as a suave crook. They are the standouts in an otherwise decent but unremarkable cast. I wish Joyce Howard's character wasn't written as naively as it is, it doesn't work too well with the 'street wise' side of her character.The movie starts out great with a quick set-up and some really nicely done shots, including extreme Dutch angles and shadow-rich scenes. I was hoping for a precursor to the awesome 'Brighton Rock' already, but after a while things start to lose steam. There are still plenty of shadows and decent shots, but the plot becomes unnecessarily muddy and even slow in places. It is however gritty, both in Hartnell's character as in the overall feel. Not a bad effort from director & writer John Harlow (who also directed/wrote a couple of Sexton Blake movies) but it doesn't live up to the great first 10-15 minutes. 6.5/10

Reviewed by AlsExGal 7 / 10

Hartnell is Britain's own James Cagney in this one!

... Just transpose the James Cagney of "The Public Enemy" into immediately post-war Britain and make him a loner, but a bit of an enigma at first. But as the film rolls on you will not like what you learn about Hartnell's character, Leo.Leo is recruited by a couple of gangsters - Loman and Hatchet - who use a dance hall as a front, to do a smash and grab job at a jewelry store. Things go terribly wrong when a protective awning in the display window falls on Leo's wrists and he is then apprehended by the police and does time. The gang does not stand behind him as they had promised after Leo gets caught but, seriously, what could they have done but get caught themselves? But Leo is the type to hold a grudge. When he gets out of jail he goes straight to Loman and says to pay the debt they owe him - the imprisonment and permanent damage to his wrists - they should give him a job. He is rebuffed and thrown out. And from there Leo becomes the original Darkman minus the burns and decides to frame the framers, so to speak.The film is - I think - being intentionally vague about what Leo did before he was caught and imprisoned. The beginning might even have you believing he might have been a musician, as I could not see what his obsession was with the permanent damage to his wrists. That is probably so that he initially has the sympathy of the audience. And they don't really change that characterization much until a true sympathetic character - a dance hall girl, worn down by life at a young age, who is impressed by Leo's kindness and attention in the face of his excon "just one mistake" underdog status - appears.This film has something you would not see in American films at the time since Britain never had an all encompassing production code like the US. In this film the something that you would not see in American movies is an almost openly gay couple who have pretty prominent roles, with one member of the couple being particularly flamboyant for the time.One thing that this film does that you would see in 1946 American films? This British noir, one year after the war is over, when Britain is still largely in ruins, has completely erased the war. Apparently the crime syndicate in the film, the police careers involved, and the dance hall girls along with that noir lifestyle have histories that seem to go back five years without mention of warfare.I'd recommend this one. It doesn't have any stars that most Americans will have heard of with maybe the exception of the always interesting Herbert Lom, but everybody does a commendable job in a film with a plot that will keep your interest and plenty of atmosphere.

Appointment with Crime

1946

Crime / Drama

Appointment with Crime

1946

Crime / Drama

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Movie Reviews

British Noir

Gritty Britnoir which loses steam along the way

Hartnell is Britain's own James Cagney in this one!

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