They Can't Hang Me (1955)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Sentenced to death for murder, a civil servant reveals that he has long been a foreign agent smuggling secrets out of the country. He meets with special branch officer Inspector Brown (Terence Morgan) and offers to reveal the identity of an elusive master spy in return for a reprieve. With five days before Pitt (André Morell) is to be hanged, Brown sets out to trace the identity of the spy without having to offer Pitt a reprieve.
- Actors:
- Terence Morgan, Yolande Donlan, André Morell, Ursula Howells, Anthony Oliver, Guido Lorraine, Reginald Beckwith, Basil Dignam, Raymond Rollett, Fred Johnson, Arnold Marlé, Mark Dignam, John Horsley, Barry Lowe, Diana Lambert, Jim O'Brady, Dan Cressey, Richard Cuthbert, Petra Davies, Fred Davis
- Directors:
- Val Guest
- Producers:
- Roger Proudlock
- Writers:
- Val Guest, Val Valentine, Leonard Mosley
- Aka:
- Die letzte Frist
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of They Can't Hang Me
Spy Film (spoiler) - They Can't Hang Me review by Steve
Short spy drama which triumphs over its meagre budget and minor stars. The premise is taken from a novel by a political journalist (Leonard Mosley) which draws on topical cold war themes. A Whitehall civil servant (André Morell) is sentenced to hang for murder. But if the Home Office agrees to overrule his conviction, he will reveal the identity of a dangerous Soviet mole.
So an agent for counter-terrorism (Terence Morgan) investigates. Which is a good set up. The script is by Val Guest and Val Valentine who came from British comedy, and they bombard the narrative with a constant stream of wisecracks. The film is drily funny, but the director (also Guest) is able to switch on the suspense at key moments.
The main recurring gag is about Morgan never getting to any of the dates he arranges with his girlfriend, played with panache by the director's wife, Yolande Donlan. And there is some enjoyable banter between Morgan and his sidekick (Anthony Oliver), though neither has much star charisma. Morell is better as the manipulative, condemned man.
The production values are shocking, but the script raises it above the ordinary, and Guest tells the story with clarity. It's a cheerful, fast paced B film with car chases and helicopters, which climaxes with Special Branch chasing a rogue scientist who has escaped with a disguised nuclear device... A minor diversion, but fun.