The Flanagan Boy (1953)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Reginald Le Borg

Writers:

Max Catto (novel)
Guy Elmes (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 April 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Made of FIRE and ICE... and everything DANGEROUS!

Plot:

A scheming blonde seduces a fighter and convinces him to murder her husband, a fight manager. |

Plot Keywords:

Blonde | Beautiful Woman | Seduction | Affair | Wife

Cast

Barbara Payton	...	Lorna Vecchi
Frederick Valk	...	Giuseppe Vecchi
John Slater	...	Charlie Sullivan
Sid James	...	Sharkey (as Sidney James)
Tony Wright	...	Johnny Flanagan
Marie Burke	...	Mother Vecchi
Selma Vaz Dias	...	Mrs. Corelli, Vecchi's sister
Enzo Coticchia	...	Mr. Corelli

Also Known As:

Bad Blonde (USA)
The Woman Is Trouble

Runtime:

USA:81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16250) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser (1957)

The Boy done quite well

In 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers - and include this title.

Directed by American B-meister Reginald La Borg, The Flanagan Boy is a hugely enjoyable tale of a young boxer whose career is destroyed by the blonde of the US title, the aptly cast Barbara Peyton. Peyton, whose short career was marred by disastrous excesses and liaisons in her private life, is marvellous as the scheming fatale Lorna Vechi, whose marriage to a doting boxing manager is a sham, and whose sexual predations draw in most men around her. Surprisingly explicit in showing female desire (at one point Lorna licks her lips in close up as she eyes the torso of the well formed fighter, standing all self- conscious and sweaty after a bout), as others have noticed this is a film that recalls the similar shenanigans of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Sid James makes an appearance as the original manager of the doomed boxer, and it's a film that still bears up well.