There Is No Escape

1948 British film
  • 1948 (1948)
Running time
72 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishBudget£20,000[1]

There is No Escape, also known as The Dark Road and The Thurston Story, is a 1948 British drama film from Hammer Films.

It was Michael Ripper's first appearance in a Hammer Film.[2]

The film was based on the career of criminal Stanley Thurston, who appeared in the cast as a character based on himself. Thurston was famous for his numerous escapes from prison, 5 times in 15 years.[3] He was released from prison in October 1946.[4][5]

The film had trouble with the British censors who thought the film glamorised a real life criminal. Thurston had to be billed as "Charles Stuart."[6][7]

James Carreras said, "The picture already has official police approval. I have done everything to show that crime is a mug's game. Thurston is the only non-professional actor in the film. All he asked was £10 a week to cover expenses. At the end of the film he turns to the audience and tells them that a criminal life just isn't worth the candle, especially when guns are brought into crime. He made such a good job of the picture that I had him listed for a racing story on his merits as an actor. That plan will now have to be shelved."[1]

The film was shot at Marylebone Studios.[8]

Cast

  • Charles Stuart as Sidney Robertson
  • Joyce Linden as Anne
  • Mackenzie Ward
  • Patricia Hicks
  • Roddy Hughes as The Chaplain
  • Anthony Holles
  • David Keir
  • Frank Forsythe
  • Rory MacDermot
  • Joanna Carter
  • Peter Reynolds
  • Veronica Rose
  • Maxine Taylor
  • Michael Ripper as Andy Anderson
  • Sefton Yates
  • Cyril Chamberlain
  • Gale Douglas
  • Sydney Bromley
  • Gerald Pring
  • Hay Petrie
  • Farnham Baxter

References

  1. ^ a b "Action To Ban Film Showing Gaol-Breaker". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. No. 22, 060. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 4 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Jones, David (5 July 2000). "Hammer horror film star dies aged 87". Evening Mail. Birmingham. p. 30. ProQuest 323321614.
  3. ^ "Gaol-Breaker Makes Film". Sunday Times (Perth). No. 2569. Western Australia. 18 May 1947. p. 12 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE SUNDAY TIMES). Retrieved 4 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "CRIMINAL AS SCREEN STAR". The Sunday Mail. No. 892. Queensland, Australia. 25 May 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 4 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Robber's Two Months In West End". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 28, no. 1, 447. South Australia. 17 February 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 4 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Meikle, Dennis (2008). A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer. Scarecrow Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780810863811.
  7. ^ "Stanley Thurston | Legendary Dartmoor". 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ Chibnall, Stephen; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 73. ISBN 9781844575749.

External links

  • There Is No Escape at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • The Dark Road at BFI


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