Black Memory *** (1947, Michael Atkinson, Michael Medwin, Myra O’Connell, Jane Arden, Frank Hawkins) – Classic Movie Review 13,320

Director Oswald Mitchell’s 1947 British crime film Black Memory is written by John Gilling, and stars Michael Atkinson, Michael Medwin, Myra O’Connell, Jane Arden, Frank Hawkins, and Sid James.

Michael Medwin stars as Johnnie Fletcher, who embroils ex-borstal boy Danny Cruff (Michael Atkinson) in his robbery plan, in this stalwart, sassy, smart thriller, centring on two lads (Atkinson and Medwin as grown-ups, and Maurice Nicholas and Malcolm Sommers as boys) connected by a common history and a crime.

As a kid Danny poses as a juvenile delinquent when his father is wrongly convicted and hanged for murder, but ten years later he tries to clear his father’s name.

It is notable as Sid James’s debut, though he was credited as Sydney James.

Jane Arden (born Norah Patricia Morris; 29 October 1927 – 20 December 1982)

Welsh-born actress, playwright, screenwriter and film director Jane Arden also makes her film acting debut.

She also acted in Richard M Grey’s A Gunman Has Escaped (1948).

Both films were released on DVD in 2017 by Renown Pictures in a set of three discs, Crime Collection Volume One.

The cast

The cast are Michael Atkinson as Danny Cruff, Myra O’Connell as Joan Davidson, Michael Medwin as Johnnie Fletcher, Sid James (credited as Sydney James) as Eddie Clinton, Frank Hawkins as Alf Davidson, Jane Arden as Sally Davidson, Winifred Melville as Mrs. Davidson, Michael Conry as Carl Broach, Betty Miller as Mrs Cruff, Arthur Brander as Rutford, Gerald Pring as Hawkins, the headmaster, Valerie Hulton as Miss Philpotts, Maurice Nicholas as Johnnie as a boy, and Malcolm Sommers as Danny as a boy.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,320

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com