The Shakedown

THE SHAKEDOWN is a fine British thriller and one of the best B-movie crime films I've seen from the era. It's a film blessed with a strong cast of familiar faces and an interesting, atypical storyline that's much, much more than your usual detective-pursues-robbers type tale from this era. The action is centred in and around a photography studio, where an ex-con has apparently gone straight after serving a long jail term. However, the studio is a front for something much more sinister, and the police are baffled on how to proceed.

The underrated star Terence Morgan (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB) takes the main protagonist lead as a character you love to hate. Certainly he has much more depth of character than is usual for a stock villain in these films, and you even end up admiring his bravado at some points. The rest of the (excellent) cast includes the lovely Hazel Court as a top model, Bill Owen as a ne'er-do-well, Robert Beatty as the detective, Donald Pleasence as an alcoholic photographer, Eddie Byrne as a barman, Gene Anderson as a gangster's moll, Harry H. Corbett as a criminal, Paul Whitsun-Jones as a boozer, Edward Judd as a barber, and the likes of Angela Douglas and Jackie Collins as young models. That cast alone is rather incredible.

The cherry on top is really the quality of the script, by director John Lemont (of KONGA infamy) and Leigh Vance (WITNESS IN THE DARK). It twists and turns all over the place and even if you have some idea of what the ending is going to be, you've never quite sure what's going to take place along the way. The sequence in which Morgan robs his former accomplices is my favourite moment and a real highlight in an undeservedly forgotten minor film.

"The Shakedown" is a great crime movie around the character of Augie Cortona, seducer and blackmailer played impressively by Steve Morgan, just enjoy the lift sequence. This threatening seducer reminds me of Legs Diamond played by Ray Danton, in another context. Gripping from beginning to end, "The Shakedown" is nervously directed by John Lemont, who directed only 5 movies for big screen, so there are definitely lot of great surprises in british cinema.

As well as being an entertaining picture, this is a realistic examination of crime and criminals. The descent of the photographer, essentially a decent enough man, into crime, and his staying with it even when offered an out, is very well handled.

We see there are three main things keeping crime in check. The police of course, but also pushing victims until they crack and are no longer rational and predictable, and rivalries among the insanely greedy and self-centered people we call criminals.

My TV guide gave this a very lukewarm review and I nearly didn't bother with it, but I'm glad I did.

Clunkily made, but score and acting are good. And the set is decorated by a bevy of would-be models. Augie comes out of prison and finds his old vice racket has been taken over by the sinister Harry H Corbett (Gollar). So he dreams up a new scam, thanks to Donald Pleasance's out of work photographer he meets down the pub. Pleasance (Jessel) provides the business front by taking snaps and running a model school. Meanwhile Augie uses the premises for blackmail. Little does he know that the most beauticious of the girls is an undercover cop. Aaaaah, Britain could really do gangster movies in those days.

So far nobody has commented on the truly hilarious title song which is sung in a club scene and over the credits at the end.Films of that era used to like to have a title song as a tie in.The lyrics of this are brief but memorable.The poor songwriter could only come up with "slakedown" and "askdown" as rhymes for shakedown.it has to be heard to be believed.The film itself is a very enjoyable example of a British 1950s gangster film.Mind you poor old Harry H Corbett doesn't look as if he could kill Sooty let alone Terence Morgan.His accent varies tremendously starting off as mid Atlantic.Donald Pleasance gives an inspired performance as a seedy photographer.However as to the blackmail racket,would it have been possible to blackmail someone for taking photos of a nude model.After all married men went to the still open Windmill Theatre and nobody blackmailed them.A bit quaint really,however a very entertaining film nonetheless.Plaudits to distributor Renknown for such a fine print.