The Passing Stranger

There is nothing original or exciting about this film. In fact, the only reason to watch is its very attractive leads, Lee Patterson and Fiance Ciento. There are some bleak landscape shots of early 1950s Britain.

There is very little plot, very little tension, a minimum of romance and virtually no suspense. You've seen it all before.

As said earlier, Patterson and Cilento were quite attractive. It is a shame they didn't have better chemistry and their romance built up.

This is basically a time capsule. A cheaply made b film to take Brit's minds off the stress of rebuilding and paying for the war.

An attempt to break into features by several interesting talents offering a moody but drab & tinny slice of low life with the novelty of being set in Oxfordshire, a rather monotonous guitar score and an interesting cast of youngsters (including fleeting appearances by Harry Corbett before he added the 'H.' and Warren Mitchell).

The best aspect of "The Passing Stranger" is the array of recognisable minor actors of the 1950s in the cast and the backdrop in some scenes of London docklands.

Lee Paterson was underwhelming in the lead and my first reaction to Diane Cilento was that she was an unlikely person to run a "greasy-spoon" cafe for lorry-drivers, especially when wearing a tight-fitting top in the early scenes. But later close-ups showed a woman without the glamour of her later roles.

As has been stated by one of the other reviewers there is sometimes more pleasure at watching familiar actors and Britain in the fifties than anything in this film.That is definitely the case here.Clearly a minimal budget and the incorporation of all the usual cliches contributes to this particularly the climax.I have Diane Cilentos autobiography to dad and it runs to a massive 528 pages

Lee Patterson as Turner and Lyndon Brook as Johnny Sanderson in "Reach for the Sky" (1956), Liam Redmond as an Irish immigrant in "A Night to Remember (1958), Paul Witsun Jones in "The Gordon Honour" (1954) BBC tv childrens hour serial, Diane Cilento in "The Little Hut" (1953) with Kenneth More; are just some of the actors I recognised from my childhood.Recently there is a new tv channel 81 in the London area called "Talking Pictures" which I increasingly find myself watching as they show the old films I relish and which remind me of my youth ( I am now 72).

No spoilers I promise but you must always remember there was a film code which producers had to abide by in films like "Passing Strangers (1954), which meant characters could not profit from their mis-deeds.Lee Paterson as Chick a US deserter in the UK, elicits our sympathy when he falls in love with the attractive blonde Diane Cilento as Jill (Sean Connery's ex-missus).Another fascinating aspect of these old films is seeing cars on the street I remember in the 1950s.I believe I am one of the first users to comment on this film but don't worry "Talking Pictures" are bound to repeat it in the not too distant future.