Rent The Good Die Young (1953)

Heist Noir. - The Good Die Young review by Steve

Stylish London noir which is elevated by an impressive mix of UK and US actors. It's a British version of a classic American genre, the heist film. But the first act, the coming together of the gang, is the main focus. The crime and the disintegration are quite exciting, and well staged by director Lewis Gilbert, but take up little screen time.

Three hard luck fall guys meet regularly in a pub to drown their sorrows. Stanley Baker is a washed up boxer who has lost his left hand and his savings. Richard Basehart is a demobbed GI with a kid on the way and no money in the bank. John Ireland is a soldier gone AWOL , whose sexy wife who is pure hot trouble. Yes, Gloria Grahame

Their latent criminality is activated by Laurence Harvey's psycho-aristocrat. And they hold up a security van. Stanley Baker gives the eye catching performance, primal and brooding. Harvey is nauseatingly over-ripe, but he's supposed to be a villain, so it sort of works. Gloria is the best of the WAGS, lifting some flat dialogue with her incomparable petulance.

Gilbert directs with great élan, though the suspense comes and goes. The film hints at political themes, but mostly concludes that life is unfair and people are users or losers. And as in classic noir, hope is a commodity hoarded elsewhere. It's not the equal of the great Hollywood heist films, but still a fascinating British variation.