Summary
Tread Softly Stranger is a 1958 British crime drama directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in an industrial town in northern England mirrors the kitchen sink realism movement coming into vogue in English drama and film at the time. The screenplay was adapted from the stage play Blind Alley (1953) by Jack Popplewell.[1][2]
| Tread Softly Stranger | |
|---|---|
 UK release poster | |
| Directed by | Gordon Parry |
| Written by | George Minter |
| Based on | play Blind Alley by Jack Popplewell |
| Produced by | Denis O'Dell |
| Starring | Diana Dors George Baker Terence Morgan |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | Anthony Harvey |
| Music by | Tristram Cary |
Production companies | Alderdale George Minter Productions |
| Distributed by | Renown Pictures |
Release date | August 1958 |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot edit
Johnny Mansell has fled to the Yorkshire steel town of Rawmarsh, his home town, after racking up large gambling debts in London. He moves into a cramped flat with his brother Dave, a clerk in a local steel mill. Dave's girlfriend Calico, a hostess in a local nightclub, lives close by and their flats have neighbouring flat roof spaces which they often use. Calico comes up with a plan for the brothers to rob the payroll at Dave's workplace to steal enough money to cover Dave's fraud and Johnny's debts.
Cast edit
- Diana Dors as Calico
- George Baker as Johnny Mansell
- Terence Morgan as Dave Mansell
- Patrick Allen as Paddy Ryan
- Jane Griffiths as Sylvia
- Joseph Tomelty as Joe Ryan
- Thomas Heathcote as Sgt. Lamb
- Russell Napier as Potter
- Norman Macowan as Danny
- Maureen Delany as Mrs. Finnegan
- Betty Warren as Flo
- Timothy Bateson as Fletcher
- John Salew as Pawnbroker
- Michael Golden as St. John's Ambulance Man
- George Merritt as Timekeeper
- Andrew Keir as Inspector Harris
- Hal Osmond as Flatcap
- Norman Pierce as Publican
- Patrick Crean as Blue Blazer
- Wilfrid Lawson as Holroyd (uncredited)
- Jerold Wells as Constable at racecourse (uncredited)
Production edit
The film was shot at Walton Studios in Walton-on-Thames[3] and on location in Parkgate, Rotherham.
The eponymous theme tune was sung by Jim Dale.
Box office edit
Kinematograph Weekly listed it as being "in the money" at the British box office in 1958.[4]
Critical reception edit
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan wrote: ''Thriller has silly dialogue, fails to make use of Rotheram backgrounds.''[5]
Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Hilarious murky melodrama full of glum faces, with a well-worn trick ending; rather well photographed."[6]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "The big question here is, what on earth were Diana Dors, Terence Morgan and George Baker doing in such a dreary little film? Director Gordon Parry was capable of making involving pictures, but here he insists on his cast delivering each line as if it had the dramatic weight of a Russian novel, which is more than a little preposterous for a petty melodrama about criminal brothers falling for the same girl."[7]
Release edit
Tread Softly Stranger received its first DVD release in the UK in 2008.
References edit
- ^ "Tread Softly Stranger". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- ^ "TREAD SOFTLY, STRANGER". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 25, no. 288. London. 1 January 1958. p. 92.
- ^ Nepean, Edith (12 April 1958). "Round the British Studios". Picture Show. Vol. 70, no. 1828. London. p. 11.
- ^ Billings, Josh (18 December 1958). "Others in the Money". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 392. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
- ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 1048. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
- ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 957. ISBN 9780992936440.
External links edit
- Tread Softly Stranger at IMDb
- Tread Softly Stranger at AllMovie
- Tread Softly Stranger at BFI
- Tread Softly Stranger at the TCM Movie Database
- Tread Softly Stranger at BritMovie (archived)
- Tread Softly Stranger at British 60s Cinema
- Tread Softly Stranger at Letterbox DVD
- Tread Softly Stranger at Noir of the Week
- Tread Softly Stranger at ReelStreets
