The Gentle Trap

The title suggests a romantic comedy, but it generally proves yet another bleak, nihilistic little British crime film set in pre-swinging London in which almost everyone is looking after number one while an extremely unendearing petty crook finds himself out of his depth and as usual learns that Crime Does Not Pay.

Butcher's Film releases tend to be denigrated but for the budgets and time the producers had, their films had a interesting style. I especially like them and the Edgar Wallace Mysteries for the attractive and capable actresses that populated the casts, more enjoyable to watch than any number of contemporary actresses working today. The writer does blow it with a poor climax about a bungling safecracker sidetracked with sexy girl problems, notably three of them (tart Dorinda Stevens, nice girl Felicity Young, cheater Dawn Brooks). Martin Benson is the nervous nightclub owner/mobster looking to steal Spencer Teakle's swag. Benson was the friendly alien in Cosmic Monsters and the unfortunate Mr. Solo in Goldfinger. He always brought gravitas to the films he did.

A couple of small-time jewel thieves carry out a little job on the quiet, but are soon in way over their heads when they're spotted with the swag by a powerful gang. Said bunch of baddies decide to throw the honour-among-thieves rulebook out the window and pursue the hapless duo to get from them what's rightfully theirs (alright, wrongfully theirs, but not as wrongfully as the gang that's thieving from the thieves). The gang are helped along by a couple of crooked dames who use their feminine wiles to relieve the pilfering pair... of their booty. So the morals of this little story? It's alright to steal, but not to steal from stealers. Oh, and don't trust women. Ever.

Spencer Teakle is a young man who has just qualified as a lock smith. but he's got a girl and ambitions, so he decides to get into a related line of business, and assists an older man with a burglary. When his partner is run down, Teakle finds himself on the run from the police, asking sketchy acquaintances for help. They're willing, for half the take. His problem is they don't see any reason to split with him.

Like many of Charles Saunders' later films, this quota quickie has a nice story, some decent actors, and a budget that doesn't allow much in the way of cinematic frills. With Martin Benson -- best remembered from GOLDFINGER -- as the chief bad guy, it runs through its paces quickly and efficiently enough to never pall, despite an annoying score by William Davies.

I taped The Gentle Trap recently when BBC2 screened it during the early hours and despite reading bad reviews, I thought I'd see what it was like.

A pair of burglars break into a jewellery shop and pinch some diamonds but as they are making their getaway, some gangsters ambush them. One of the pair goes on the run from the police and gang leader. He stays with two sisters and when one of them reports him, he goes on the run once again with the other sister, with the police on their trail. They catch up with them on a farm and he is caught after a shoot out at the end.

The cast is lead by Spencer Teakle and he is joined by Felicity Young and Martin Benson.

Though certainly not brilliant, The Gentle Trap is watchable. The UK made quite a few of these low budget crime dramas in the 1950's and 1960's.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5.