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The Forgotten Man: The Films of Maxwell Reed... continued.

Maxwell Reed’s next film was a rare leading role as a ‘hero’. Reed was hired by producers Monty Berman and Robert S Baker (future producers of THE SAINT TV series with Roger Moore) to play the role of Chris Pelly in BLACKOUT (1950). Pelly is a blind man awaiting sight restoring surgery, who literally stumbles into a scenario of murder and smuggling. Once his sight is restored Pelly, aided by the lovely Dinah Sheridan as Patricia Dale, attempts to put a stop to the racket that he has uncovered. Smartly written by John Gilling and smoothly directed by Baker, BLACKOUT is almost like a dry run for THE SAINT, with Reed portraying Pelly as a wise cracking charmer with a nose for trouble. It is an extremely likeable performance and Reed looks fabulous, it’s just a shame he didn’t get more roles of this type.

Reed followed this with four films in 1951. The first of these was Lewis Gilbert’s excellent THERE IS ANOTHER SUN in which Reed was top billed with Laurence Harvey. Reed played ex-speedway star Eddie ‘Racer’ Peskett who is reduced to riding ‘The Wall of Death’ at a fairground after causing the death of another speedway rider during a race. Peskett is another of Reed’s arrogant charmers, but this time he adds a hefty dose of cruelty to the performance. Peskett is desperate to return the top class speedway circuit (which was hugely popular in the 50s) and doesn’t care how he does it. He persuades young Harvey, as an ambitious young biker also riding the ‘Wall’, to help him. Peskett’s plan doesn’t go well and results in murder. Reed captures the desperation of Peskett very effectively and works well with both Harvey and the lovely Susan Shaw, who plays Harvey’s love interest. THERE IS ANOTHER SUN is an excellent example of early 50s UK crime films and receives assured direction from Gilbert who draws fine performances from all the cast.

THE CLOUDED YELLOW was next on the agenda for Reed. In this solid Ralph Thomas thriller Reed plays the small but crucial role of Hick, a rather shifty handyman, and he is very good in the role. Flirting outrageously with the young Jean Simmons as Sophie, Reed gives us another glimpse of the skill with smart dialogue that he displayed in BLACKOUT, and it’s a pity he disappears from the scene so soon. Most of the film involves the blossoming relationship between Sophie and a retired secret agent, played by Trevor Howard, and how they cope when being forced to go on the run. The film is fast paced and exciting and benefits from having a splendid villain and some fine location photography.

The third Reed film of 1951 is the author’s favourite, THE DARK MAN directed by Jeffrey Dell. Although this thriller is firmly in the B-movie category, and features one of the most ludicrous pieces of plotting ever, it is a fairly exciting crime film which utilizes its south coast locations to good effect and features a fine performance from Reed as the eponymous villain. Reed’s first appearance in the film is the sort of thing most actors dream about. It begins with long shot of a car which approaches the Hastings seafront. A man in a dark suit is waiting. The camera moves in closer and he quickly turns… it is ‘The Dark Man’. After a particularly nasty double murder, the mysterious stranger is on the trail of the only witness, Molly Lester, played by Natasha Parry. The police are called in and proceed to display spectacular inefficiency when trying to protect Ms Lester. Her love interest is Inspector Viner (Edward Underdown), the cop sent by Scotland Yard to investigate the murders. Throughout all this, Reed is quietly impressive as the desperate killer. He lurks in dark corners and deserted beaches and, in a suspenseful sequence, attempts to murder Molly in her own bedroom. After this failure, all logic goes out of the window leading to an exciting chase and shoot out on a pre-nuclear Dungeness beach. Although generally no different from many other British B-thrillers of the period, THE DARK MAN is worth watching primarily for the fine performance of Maxwell Reed. It is a performance which, in the opinion of the author, deserved to enhance the career of the actor more than it did.

This lack of career advancement may actually have his own fault. He was keen to move to Hollywood where he hoped he could emulate the recent success of Stewart Granger. He got his chance in Universal’s swashbuckling romance THE FLAME OF ARABY (1951) which starred Jeff Chandler and was directed by Charles Lamont. Reed admired Granger to such an extent that he modelled his performance on him. As yet another villain, Reed played the role of Prince Medina. FLAME OF ARABY is not a good film, it’s a mish-mash of tired ideas played out in pantomime style. Reed looks impressive but he can do little with such poor material. Maureen O’Hara also appeared as a strikingly red-haired Bedouin maiden. The film was a flop, and Joan Collins subsequently revealed that she had advised Reed to model himself on James Mason instead of Granger, but he didn’t take her advice. Judging by the way the careers of Mason and Granger developed, it appears to have been sound advice.

Undaunted, Reed repeated his Granger act in the 1953 low budget pirate film CAPTAIN PHANTOM. Again looking impressive, Reed plays another moustache twirling villain. It is difficult to assess his performance as what appears to be the only available print of this film is in Italian. CAPTAIN PHANTOM was a modest success in Europe but did little for Reed’s career.