The Dark Road [There Is No Escape] ** (1948, Charles Stuart, Joyce Linden, Anthony Holles, Roddy Hughes, Patricia Hicks) – Classic Movie Review 13,023

LEGENDARY DARTMOOR CRIMINAL AS SCREEN STAR

Hammer Films’ 1948 thriller film The Dark Road [There Is No Escape] is based on the career of real-life criminal Stanley Thurston, who stars (billed as Charles Stuart) as a character based on himself.

Director Alfred J Goulding’s 1948 thriller film The Dark Road [There Is No Escape] from Hammer Films stars legendary real-life criminal and gaol breaker Stanley Thurston (billed as Charles Stuart), Joyce Linden, Anthony Holles, Roddy Hughes, and Patricia Hicks. The film is based on the career of criminal Stanley Thurston, who stars as a character based on himself, though called Sidney Robertson. Three different names, it’s very confusing.

The Dark Road is an interesting British crime filler, in which a novelist charts the road to ruin of a youth, Sidney Robertson (Charles Stuart), from Borstal who uses a girl, Anne (Joyce Linden), in his plans to stage jewel robberies.

Despite the heavy-handed message about crime being the Road to Ruin (‘a criminal life just isn’t worth the candle’), there are reasonable performances from the unfamiliar lead names, along with competent, documentary-style direction by veteran Goulding, who made his first film in 1916. Well, the heavy-handed message was necessary. This is a real exploiter. Hammer initially got into hot water with the police and the censors, and later had to battle attempts to ban the film.

The film is based on the career of criminal Stanley Thurston, who stars as a character based on himself, but the British censors thought the film glamorised a real-life criminal and Thurston had to be billed as ‘Charles Stuart’. Thurston was infamous at the time for his many escapes from prison, five times in 15 years, though he was officially released from prison in October 1946.

Hammer Films boss James Carreras said: ‘The picture has official police approval. I have done everything to show that crime is a mug’s game. Thurston is the only non-professional actor in the film. All he asked was £10 a week to cover expenses. At the end of the film he turns to the audience and tells them that a criminal life just isn’t worth the candle, especially when guns are brought into crime. He made such a good job of the picture that I had him listed for a racing story on his merits as an actor.’

This was a brilliant deal for Carreras. All he had to do was talk the police and British censors round, pay the star his £10 a week, and he was up and running. That £10 a week idea would have helped to keep the budget down to as low as £20,000. Hammer Films were always known for their cheapness. It was both a virtue and a failing.

There is no credit for the screenwriter, so presumably it was also Stanley Thurston, and unpaid at that.

It is also known as There is No Escape (US) and The Thurston Story.

It is Michael Ripper’s first of many, many appearance in a Hammer Film (as Andy Anderson).

It is shot at Marylebone Studios.

Peter Reynolds (uncredited).

The cast are Stanley Thurston (billed as Charles Stuart) as Sidney Robertson, Joyce Linden as Anne, Mackenzie Ward as Ashcroft, Patricia Hicks, Roddy Hughes as The Chaplain, Anthony Holles, David Keir as Mr Jones, Frank Forsyth as Detective, Rory MacDermot as P C Davidson, Joanna Carter, Peter Reynolds , Veronica Rose, Maxine Taylor, Michael Ripper as Andy Anderson, Sefton Yates (uncredited), Cyril Chamberlain, Gale Douglas, Sydney Bromley, Gerald Pring, Hay Petrie, Farnham Baxter, Roddy Hughes as The Chaplain, Peter Reynolds (uncredited), Maxine Taylor (uncredited), Joe Phelps as Bailiff, Robert Brooks Turner as Police Inspector, and Howard Douglas as Jewel Buyer.

The Dark Road is directed by Alfred J Goulding, runs 72 minutes, is made by Hammer Films/ Marylebone Production , is released by Exclusive Films (UK) and Screen Guild Productions (US), is shot in black and white by Stanley Clinton, is produced by Henry Halstead, is scored by John Bath, and is designed by James Marchant.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,023

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