A Place to Go

A PLACE TO GO is an odd little blend of the classic British kitchen sink social drama and the more old-fashioned crime thriller that was popular a decade before and still doing the rounds even in the early 1960s, although this is very much a last-gasp attempt with the burgeoning popularity of the spy genre soon wiping away the trend for safe cracking and night time robberies.

It works better as a kitchen sink film than a crime thriller, because the heist itself, although the best part of the movie, is dealt with very hurriedly and doesn't take up much of the running time. Instead the viewer is treated to a slice-of-life drama involving a poor working class family presided over by Bernard Lee, cast against type as a street performer with a Houdini-style breaking chain act!

Pop star Michael Sarne is the idealistic hero seeking to escape from his drab existence. He hooks up with the inimitable Rita Tushingham, who proves to be more than a match for his wiles as her character is full of life and rather independent. She's the best actor in the whole thing, certainly showing up Sarne as a rather bland leading man (at least we get the likes of John Slater and Roy Kinnear who are rather more fun in delivering mannered supporting characters). The feisty romance scenes are rather well handled, although the pacing is a little slow and the crime elements feel rather unnecessary and tacked on to the story. Still, it's a perfectly watchable film for lovers of the era.