Too many fans seem to be blown away

Let's be realistic.

A Brilliant Conflict

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I watched TCM's 87-minute broadcast of this film from June 2017. What a find! Script-wise, it continually zigs when the viewer expects it to zag. The cinematography is a mix of elements to love -- noir shadings, in-depth focus, unusual but always pertinent camera angles. And I suppose that in the context of films like Scream of Fear and The Nanny, the sober and somewhat cynical auteur side of Seth Holt comes through. George Nader pretty much carries the acting chores and does fine at it. It's a shame he never seemed to break through to the big time. I remember him, of course, in Robot Monster, also in a TV show called Man and the Challenge. Maggie Smith, in her film debut, is anything but a sexy ingenue. Her part is scripted to carry her character in an entirely opposite direction; her large eyes and muted attractiveness do add to the effectiveness of her performance. An uncut, Region 2 DVD adding 13 minutes to the film is available through Amazon UK. I would imagine that the extra footage serves to amplify the evolution of Nader's character -- this, not the suspense (though it is suspenseful), struck me as the focus of this unjustly neglected film. Give it a try!

Admirably elegant and up-to-the-minute 1958, this British crime drama, made at Ealing and released by MGM, suffers from having nobody, really, to root for. George Nader, not looking his best and underplaying to the point of anonymity, is the wily coin thief who cleverly filched a valuable collection from Bessie Love and has broken out of prison to reclaim it. He runs afoul of a nasty accomplice and nastier fate. It's compelling, and it has an arresting leading lady in Maggie Smith (whose part, though she's second-billed, is quite small), and the gray London visuals, fancy camera angles, and so-cool jazz soundtrack combine to create an evocative, downbeat atmosphere. But Nader's character is so repellent you don't want his scheme to succeed, and you're not surprised when it doesn't. It's ahead of its time in its moody, minimalist storytelling, and well worth seeing. But it's a downer.

George Nader has "Nowhere to Go" in this 1958 British film that also serves as the debut for a virtually unrecognizable Maggie Smith. Nader plays Paul Gregory, a Canadian con man in London who befriends an old woman (silent screen star Bessie Love) and winds up stealing her valuable coin collection. He's blatant about it, knowing that he will serve a term in prison, but he'll get the money on release. He escapes early and finds that getting his hands on the money isn't going to be easy. His partner becomes greedy, there's an accidental death, and Gregory is forced to go on the run.Kenneth Tynan and director Seth Holt co-wrote this tight script, and Holt keeps the action going and the tension and frustration building as Gregory runs out of options to get a hold of his money. The production is very good-looking as well.Handsome George Nader was a Hollywood male starlet who wound up playing Ellery Queen on television, as well as starring in two other series and doing guest appearances before concentrating on a career in German film as kind of a James Coburn type. The rumor has persisted for years that Confidential magazine was ready to publish a story on Rock Hudson's homosexuality and traded that story with Universal Studios for one about Nader instead. This rumor emerged again when Hudson died, and left money to Nader in his will. If true, Universal obviously felt Hudson was going to be more important to them. That became a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was perhaps correct. The sad thing is that a story like that mattered."Nowhere to Go" is well worth seeing.

If this film had been made in 1950s France by directors named Clouzot or Melville, this Ealing production would be a regular on the revival circuit and in film school classrooms. Sadly, it's a completely unheralded film. Directed expertly by Seth Holt, who co-wrote the film with critic Kenneth Tynan, the film features an on-his-way-to-Europe George Nader as an American con man in London, looking to score by stealing a valuable coin collection (the owner is played by American expatriate and silent film star Bessie Love). His companion in crime is the docile but dangerous Bernard Lee, and there are double crosses and dirty dealings aplenty. The star of the film is Paul Beeson's amazing cinematography, always artistic but never too showy. Beeson also did sterling work for Ealing's The Shiralee (1957), and it's hard to understand how his career ended up on Harry Alan Towers scrap-heap. Dizzy Reece's outstanding jazz score (his only film work) fits the story like a glove and Maggie Smith makes her film debut as Nader's love interest. This is a great film and a true work of art.