Clash by Night (1964)

Perfect cast and a good story

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This looked to be a possibly decent action movie from the early 1960's and I wasn't disappointed. Having missed the opening credits when it was shown on television, I nonetheless identified four of the cast (Longdon, Sallis, Fowler, Meadows); all stalwarts of British screen and TV. The plot could have been straight from 'The Tales of Edgar Wallace', the box-set of which I own and love! England isn't like it's portrayed here anymore but it was like that then in terms of values, crime and punishment, scenery, dress and even the vehicles and road markings etc. People shared WW2 experiences and this often included the characters and of course the actors who are so professional in their performances despite some shortcomings in story and other aspects of film-making. Yes, it's not as good as some of my favourite classic British films from the preceding years such as 'The Cruel Sea' or 'The League of Gentlemen' but this has a decent 'B' movie plot including one or two unexpected twists and keeps your attention until the not entirely predictable ending.

There are a number of flaws in the film which have to be accepted before you can even consider the film.Firstly prisoners would not have been driven from court to prison in a coach.the vehicle would not have been driven by a civilian driver.The prisoners would have been searched before they were taken into court.Matches would have been found and confiscated.If prisoners hadnt arrived at their prison within a couple of hours an alarm would have been raised.If Terence Longden had used reasonable force against the intruder he would not have been prosecuted.When you take away these plot points you aren't actually left with much of a film.It is though quite entertaining on its own particular level.don't expect too much and you wont be disappointed.

I don't agree fully with the first reviewer of this film. Whilst I accept that all the clichés are indeed overworked and obvious as the previous reviewer points out , the film itself is entertaining in other ways. As a period piece of the 60's it is great to see that the British stalwarts are all there. Terence Longdon , the lead is o.k. It's good to see Harry Fowler in a typical wide eyed cockney performance. Also of interest is Alan Wheatley ( t.v's villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in the Richard Greene - Robin Hood series ) and lo and behold there is John Arnatt ( the deputy sheriff from the same series ). This time however they are on opposite sides of the law. I suppose it's especially interesting for me as for many years I was a friend of Alan Wheatley's. He was a fine educated man who enthralled me with his tales of filming and the many stars he worked with. I always enjoy his film performances.Then there is Jennifer Jayne ( from t.v's William Tell ), Peter Sallis, Robert Brown, all great supporting actors of British cinema. Taken as a low budget filler there is much enjoyment to be had from the film. O.k. so prisoner's bus is hi jacked and the passengers who all but one are criminals are left stranded in a barn covered with paraffin. One of the prisoners is a loony, another is a decent guy who may have committed fraud, another is a petty thief who has to discover the error of his ways, plus we have the lead's character who killed a guy attempting to rape his wife. So there you have it, all the plot lines are indeed cliché, but the acting from the stalwarts fleshes out the characters and time flies by. Give it a whirl and don't be too harsh.

Hard to believe this dates from 1964, the clichéd plot could be from any English quota quickie of 20 years earlier. The risible idea of a mixed bag of prisoners being transported in a civilian coach from court to serve their sentence is bad enough. Add the full complement of stereotypes; chirpy Cockney thief, ex-Army Major in for fraud, a retarded man who killed accidentally, the religious fanatic who "took brotherly love too far" (Hmmm...they didn't pursue that one...) The leading man hewn out of English oak killed a man who attacked his wife (so quite nice, really)and thanks to the plot manages to get home for a little snogging session. A fair example of WHY the British film industry died, static, stagey and lacking any narrative drive or excitement.PLOT SPOILER A gang boss is sprung from the coach and the remaining prisoners and guards are locked in a barn which is doused in paraffin whilst bad guys wait outside to set it alight if they try to escape (why?) In the event, the escape "plan"(Hah!)goes awry when the getaway car (a nice Austin Healey 100/6) crashes and kills him - since the budget didn't run to wrecking cars you get this in a verbal police report, meanwhile the hero remembers a trap door for dogs in the barn (don't ask)and with the chirpy Cockney goes home to wifey, but returns to the barn just as the retard sets fire to it from the inside, all escape but the retard runs back in to get some flowers and gets turned into a crispy critter. Thankfully, the police arrive, hero and Cockney are given pats on the back and driven off to jail.