Hell Is a City

Hell Is a City - 1960 | 98 mins | Crime, Thriller | B&W

The Production Team

Director: Val Guest.
Producer: Michael Carreras.
Script: Val Guest. (from the novel by Maurice Procter)
Cinematography: Arthur Grant.
Editing: James Needs.
Art Direction: Robert Jones.
Costume Design: Jacky Jackson.
Sound: Leslie Hammond, Len Shilton and A.W. Lumkin.
Original Music: Stanley Black.

The Cast

Stanley Baker - Inspector Martineau
John Crawford - Don Starling
Donald Pleasence - Gus Hawkins
Maxine Audley - Julia Martineau
Billie Whitelaw - Chloe Hawkins
Joseph Tomelty - Furnisher Steele
George A. Cooper - Doug Savage
Geoffrey Frederick - Devery
Vanda Godsell - Lucky Lusk
Charles Houston - Clogger Roach
Joby Blanshard - Tawny Jakes
Charles Morgan - Laurie Lovett

Plot Synopsis

Val Guest's Hell Is a City (1960), is an unusually tough crime docu-thriller with some striking Manchester-area locations. Martineau (Stanley Baker), is a tough police inspector tracking down an escaped prisoner Don Starling (John Crawford) who turns murderer, whilst coping with a frigid, nagging wife (Maxine Audley) who resents the time he spends on his work. Billie Whitelaw was involved in a moment of discreet nudity that was quite surprising for a British film of that period.