Temptation Harbor

For some reason this film has been unseen for more than 30years.Unshown on TV,unreleased on vhs or DVD.I saw it over 30years ago at the BFI South bank.It is a great film,finally now viewable on the BFI player.Great performance from a restrained Robert Newton,atmospheric photography and taut direction.This film deserves a DVD release so that we can watch it whenever we like,not have to wait whilst it is stuck in a vault.

This is a hidden gem of film noir. Not the usual fare of hard-nosed gangsters plugging each other with lead, but a much simpler story of a decent man caught up in the understandable lure of easy money. Robert Newton (Treasure Island) plays a widowed harbor bridge man who lives alone with his adolescent daughter in simple surroundings. He witnesses a murder and tries to rescue the victim. Instead, he dredges up a valise with 5000 pounds; quite a sum in those days. From here there are many unforseen complications, including a very pleasant romance with a circus performer (Simone Simon, who was the original Cat Woman). That would have been more than enough complications for any man, but there are many other forces at play here. The murderer, the police, and a man's conscience. It is interesting to note which of these is the most prominent. Very good viewing.

Released in 1947 it was overshadowed by Brighton Rock of course.

We were delighted to be instrumental, together with Jonathan Duvall, to arrange a one night screening of the the only print(then at the BFI) of this film at The Silver Screen Cinema Folkestone.

I tried to find some of the locals, kindly assisted by John Gale local fisherman, who had appeared as extras to attend too. This was 2012 and pre-digitising of the print.

Robert Newton was said to be partial to a drink on set!

It is a classic film noir and great shots of the sleepy fishing village that is now a bustling resort. As a Dr. Who fan - it is also interesting to see William Hartnell in a very different role.

If you've seen the 1943 French film "The Man From London" you do not need to see this one as well, and vice versa. There are some differences between the two films, but they do have one thing in common: short-story material (admittedly a strong story) is padded out to feature length (in this case 102 minutes, which is about 62 minutes longer than it should have been). Robert Newton seems miscast, and Simone Simon's role is largely redundant; the French police inspector is - in both films - very tiresome, taking 5 minutes each time to say a simple sentence. Young Betty (Margaret Barton) is the one bright spot of this film. ** out of 4.

Railway sigmalman Robert Newton (Bert) witnesses a murder one night whilst at his post. He sees William Hartnell (Jim) push another man to his death into a river. This man was carrying a suitcase and Newton recovers the suitcase to find it full of cash - £5,000 in total. What does Newton do next?

It's quite an entertaining film that is acted well with several story lines intertwining. French carnival performer Simone Simon (Camelia) provides the love interest whilst Hartnell is after the suitcase of cash and is on Newton's tail.

If I found a suitcase with £5,000, I'd keep it. No need to think about that part. How to spend it becomes the issue. What does Newton do.....? ..............Doh!