Although formed back in the 1930s, Hammer Films didn’t really get things going until after World War II. Before hitting paydirt in 1954 with the science fiction saga THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (THE CREEPING UNKNOWN in the U.S.) to be followed by the worldwide success of their color Frankenstain and Dracula films, Hammer made a series of low budget film noirs in the early 1950s using their other name, Exclusive Films. These films were co-financed by American B producer Robert Lippert who gave Hammer an up and coming or on their way down American star so the films could play on double bills here as well as in England. Each film was shot over the period of a few weeks and were directed by such B movie stalwarts as Reginald Le Borg and Sam Newfield as well as up and coming Brit directors like Ken Hughes (CROMWELL) and the man primarily responsible for Hammer’s later success, Terence Fisher. This is Volume 1 in a two volume set from VCI which offers these early film noirs. They are also available as double feature single DVDs.A
Unlike the American film noirs, these British offerings could almost be called “film blancs” because of the surprising number of happy endings. The shadowy photography, lurid music, and femme fatales are all there along with the double and triple crosses, mistaken identity and illegal activities you would expect but more often than not, the heroes come out of it pretty much unscathed. Of the 6 movies in this set, 3 are directed by Terence Fisher (MAN BAIT, BLACKOUT, A STOLEN FACE). They turn out to be the most stylish with crisp editing and more imaginative camerawork than the other three (BAD BLONDE, THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY, HEAT WAVE). All the leading men are Americans (Dane Clark, Paul Henreid, George Brent, Alex Nicol) as are most of the “bad girls” (Barbara Payton, Lizabeth Scott, Hillary Brooke). The rest of the cast and the locales are British which gives us a chance to see a lot of early 50s London with it’s vivid nightlife and not yet rebuilt locations. If you love British films and enjoy seeing good rewarded and the guilty punished, then this set and Volume 2 would be an ideal purchase.
The Capsule Critic 