Never Back Losers ** (1961, Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis, Patrick Magee) – Classic Movie Review 13,281

The 1961 British horse race fixing crime B film Never Back Losers is based on Edgar Wallace’s 1929 novel The Green Ribbon and stars Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis and Patrick Magee.

Director Robert Tronson’s 1961 British horse race fixing crime B film Never Back Losers is written by Lukas Heller based on the 1929 novel The Green Ribbon by Edgar Wallace, and stars Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis, and Patrick Magee. It is one of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, produced at Merton Park Studios in the early 1960s and released between 1960 and 1965 in British cinemas.

Jack Hedley stars as inexperienced and reticent but shrewd insurance agent Jim Matthews who finds himself investigating two rival gangs who are running horserace fixing rings, in a minor but rather tense, intriguing and suspenseful Edgar Wallace filler thriller, with a good cast giving it a needed welcome boost.

George Tovey plays horse racing jockey Wally Sanders, who loses a race, is coshed and left for dead in a stage-managed car crash, and a claim is made on his insurance. The insurance company suspects foul play is behind the ‘accident’ and sends Jim Matthews to investigate.

Edgar Wallace’s story and Lukas Heller’s screenplay are better than usual for the series. Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis, Patrick Magee, Derek Francis and Harry Locke are particularly good, with Hedley holding the centre quietly firm and Magee a compelling,  quietly showy villain. There are pace and professionalism in Robert Tronson’s direction, though the low budget and short running time cramp his style, with a shortage of racing and exterior scenes and a hurried climax.

German-born British screenwriter Lukas Heller (21 July 1930 – 2 November 1988) is known for writing the screenplays of Robert Aldrich films, including What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964);

The cast are Jack Hedley as Jim Matthews, Jacqueline Ellis as Marion Parker, Patrick Magee as Ben Black, Richard Warner as Crabtree, Derek Francis as R. R. Harris, Austin Trevor as Colonel Warburton, Harry Locke as Burnside, Larry Martyn as Clive Parker, Howard Pays as Freddie, Hilda Barry as Mrs Sanders, George Tovey as Wally Sanders, Larry Taylor as Reilly, Harold Goodwin as Floyd, Douglas Bradley-Smith as Carter, Tenniel Evans as the doctor, and Stanley Morgan as police sergeant.

Never Back Losers is directed by Robert Tronson, runs 61 minutes, is made by Merton Park Studios, is released by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK), is written by Lukas Heller, is shot in black and white by Bert Mason, is produced by Jack Greenwood, is scored by Bernard Ebbinghouse, and is designed by Peter Mullins.

Jack Hedley starred in the Francis Durbridge-scripted BBC TV series The World of Tim Frazer (shown from November 1960 to March 1961), comprising three serials of six episodes each. Only two of the 18 episodes are known to exist, one from each of the first two stories.

Edgar Wallace Mysteries

There are 48 films in the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, released between 1960 and 1965.

• Urge to Kill (March 1960)
• Clue of the Twisted Candle (September 1960)
• The Malpas Mystery (October 1960)
• Marriage of Convenience (November 1960)
• The Man Who Was Nobody (December 1960)
• Partners in Crime (February 1961)
• The Clue of the New Pin (February 1961)
• The Fourth Square (June 1961)
• Man at the Carlton Tower (July 1961)
• Clue of the Silver Key (August 1961)
• Attempt to Kill (September 61)
• Man Detained (October 1961)
• Never Back Losers (December 1961)
• The Sinister Man (December 1961)
• Backfire! (February 1962)
• Candidate for Murder (February 1962)
• Flat Two (February 1962)
• The Share Out (February 1962)
• Number Six (April 1962)
• Time to Remember (July 1962)
• Solo for Sparrow (September 1962)
• Playback (September 1962)
• Locker Sixty-Nine (September 1962)
• Death Trap (October 1962)
• The Set Up (January 1963)
• Incident at Midnight (January 1963)
• The £20,000 Kiss (January 1963)
• On the Run (February 1963)
• Return to Sender (March 1963)
• Ricochet (March 1963)
• The Double (April 1963)
• To Have and to Hold (July 1963)
• The Partner (September 1963)
• Accidental Death (November 1963)
• Five to One (December 1963)
• Downfall (January 1964)
• The Verdict (February 1964)
• We Shall See (April 1964)
• The Rivals (May 1964)
• Who Was Maddox? (June 1964)
• Face of a Stranger (September 1964)
• Act of Murder (September 1964)
• Never Mention Murder (November 1964)
• The Main Chance (November 1964)
• Game for Three Losers (April 1965)
• Change Partners (July 1965)
• Strangler’s Web (August 1965)
• Dead Man’s Chest (October 1965)

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,281

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