The Criminal – 1960 | 97mins | Crime, Thriller | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Directed by American expatriate Joseph Losey, who fled to England as a result of the Hollywood blacklist, The Criminal is an uncompromising crime drama scripted by Alun Owen from an original story by Hammer screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. Losey’s morality tale of crime, betrayal and institutionalized mistreatment explores the contradictions of the tough guy submerged within the self-contained prison and underworld culture. Robert Krasker’s superb cinematography creates a suitably harsh, bleak visual style. There are fine performances by Stanley Baker as the brutal central character based on notorious Soho gangster Albert Dimes, and Patrick Magee is suitably sinister as Barrows, the corrupt prison guard.

Recently released from prison, tough criminal mastermind Johnny Bannion (Stanley Baker) immediately sets in motion plans for a brazen daylight robbery on a racecourse. His only stumbling block is that the underworld racketeer represented by Carter (Sam Wanamaker) wants a bigger share for laundering the stolen money. The heist goes off without a hitch and Bannion drives out into the country to hide the loot, but when he returns to his West End flat, Bannion discovers police inspector Town (Laurence Naismith) is waiting to place him under arrest. Subsequently sent back to jail and into the clutches of callous prison warder Barrows (Patrick Magee), Bannion offers to hand over all the loot to prison godfather Frank Saffron (Grégoire Aslan) in exchange for being sprung from jail. The escape duly goes ahead when Bannion is being transferred to another prison and now it’s his turn to keep his side of the bargain by telling the double-dealing Carter where the money is.