Violent Playground

Seven years after A Hard Day's Night came out and the world heard John, Paul, George and Ringo spoke the Liverpudlian accent. We in America knew what the main criticism of Violent Playground was, that few if any used Liverpool's distinctive speech pattern.

The underrated Stanley Baker plays a sergeant with the Liverpool PD. who reluctantly is working for the juvenile division. In said capacity he comes across Anne Heywood and her juvenile delinquent brother David McCallum in his salad days,

My earliest recollection of McCallum was in The Great Escape. Violent Playground is five years earlier and the best part of this film is the cinematography of post war Liverpool showing the still unrepaired damage from the war. It's the background from which these kids come from and pretty nasty too.

McCallum is suspected of being an arsonist responsible for several fires in the city. He's a charismatic sort and the other juveniles don't want to turn him in.

As for Baker he's in a conflict with growing feelings for Heywood and his duty as a cop in regard to McCallum.

Violent Playground is a gritty realistic film even with the wrong accents being used. It holds up well after half a century.

I read Paul's comment as to the film's location in Liverpool,but the school used was St Mary and St Michaels,Sutton street in Stepney London. the schools name was changed to Scotland rd. I was one of the children who looked on with much interest,and we were watching the catering waggon which had real cream cakes,and suddenly Peter Cushing appeared and told the man to give us a cake each,the man's face turned to thunder. also i remember a stunt man hurt himself falling from the school's window and missing the mattress's. I suppose they use a location,then switch to another like they did with To sir with love.

Jeff.

This film was the first British teen movie to actually address the reality of the violent rock and roll society, rather than being a lucid parody of 1950s teenage life. In an attempt to celebrate the work of Liverpool's Junior Liaison Officers the opening title points out that 92% of potential delinquents, who have been dealt with under this scheme, have not committed a second crime. However, this becomes merely a pretext to the following teen-drama until the film's epilogue where we are instructed that we shouldn't feel responsible or sorry for such delinquents however mixed-up they might seem.

Stanley Baker plays a tough detective who reluctantly takes on the post of Juvenile Liaison Officer. This hard-boiled character is a role typical of Baker. Having been currently on the trail of a notorious arsonist known as the firefly and does not relish the distraction of the transfer. However, as in all good police dramas he is led back full circle by a remarkable turn of events, back to his original investigation.

His first case leads him to the home of two young children, Mary and Patrick Murphy (played by real-life brother and sister duo), who have committed a petty theft. Here he meets Cathie (satisfyingly portrayed by Anne Heywood) their older sister whom he eventually becomes romantically involved with. It quickly becomes obvious that the squalid environment of such inner-city estates is a breeding ground for juvenile delinquency.

The elder brother of the Murphy family, Johnny, is the leader of a gang of rock and roll hoodlums. McCallum does an eye-catching turn as the Americanized mixed-up kid, who owes more to the likes of Marlon Brando, than any previous British star. One is reminded of Brando's character Johnny from 'The Wild One' who led a leather-clad gang of rebellious bikers in much the same way as this film's 'Johnny' leads his gang.

Thankfully the preachiness of earlier Dearden crime dramas such as 'The Blue Lamp' is not so apparent. Instead we are presented with several well drawn-out characters on both sides of the law as the drama of the delinquents and the romantic interest between Heywood and Baker takes the forefront.

The plot, whilst at times predictable, does deliver some memorable scenes. The disruptive influence that rock and roll music was thought to have had is played out in a scene where Johnny abandons himself to the music, leading a menacing advance on the police sergeant. The most grippingly memorable piece of film however is the climatic classroom scene where a bunch of terrified school children, including Mary and Patrick, are held hostage at gunpoint by Johnny. Obviously in the light of the real-life Dumblaine Massacre this scene seems all the horrifying. Understandably because of this the film is seldom aired or available to modern audiences.

VIOLENT PLAYGROUND sees tough detective Stanley Baker assigned to a new role after falling foul of his boss; he's directed to head up a juvenile crime prevention scheme. Baldwin fears that his new role will be anything but interesting, but things turn out otherwise as a sub-plot involving an arsonist terrorising the streets of Liverpool becomes mixed up with the main story.

This is a gritty, ahead-of-its-time thriller that mixes social drama with a hard-hitting crime flick. It's surprisingly modern in feel, with tight, character-based drama mixed with action, ranging from car chases to hostage scenarios and of course one or two fiery set-pieces. Basil Dearden's black-and-white photography is crisp and clear and he makes sure to elicit strong performances from his cast members.

Baker is one of those underrated actors who sort of got forgotten about after his death, aside from his role in ZULU, of course, but he's very good given the right material and VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is perfectly suited for his talents. Baker is supported by an engaging cast, including Anne Heywood's love interest and Peter Cushing's priest, and it's worth looking out for future stars Tsai Chin and Freddie Starr in more minor parts. The best actor of the lot is David McCallum in a real star-making turn as the disturbed delinquent whose storyline propels the narrative. Altogether VIOLENT PLAYGROUND is a pacey and engaging piece of film-making which mixes drama and thrills in an effective way.

This movie pops up reasonably often on VERY late night TV in Australia on ABC TV (Not the american network).ABC tends to show very old British movies late at night, so I got to watch this one not too long ago.I quite liked it, it's certainly no worse than a lot of simular American films from around that time (Anything by American International for example). The locations and sets were good, Liverpool was an excellent choice for the movie.The fact that it was shot in black and white only enhances the mood and feel of this film. My only complaints about it are, I think that the romantic sub plot between the sargent and the older girl was tiresome and un necessary. The plot was strong enough without it, not to mention in real life, most policemen would be a lot more distant in the situation the good sargent found himself in. But hey. I'm not a policeman so it's only my opinion. My other complaint is that the title song was played throughout the movie ad-nauseum. It was ok for the intro, but after you heard it for the sixth or seventh time, it really started to get annoying. I can't help thinking that the movie was partially intended to be a promotional vehicle for whoever it was that sung it, the closing credits even mentioned that he/she was an artist with Fontana records. Obviously this ploy didn't work if that was the case. But the twins were absolutley gorgeous, especially Mary, it wouldn't have been as good without them. And David Maccallum was also very good as Johnny, happily he went onto much bigger things and deservedly so. It may seem a little dated now, not it's still an excellent movie, Well done!