The Good Die Young (1954)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Vernon Harris (screenplay) and
Lewis Gilbert (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 November 1954 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Three good men - a broken boxer, an American veteran trying to win back his mother-dominated wife, and...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | British Noir | Based On Novel

Cast

Laurence Harvey	...	Miles 'Rave' Ravenscourt
Gloria Grahame	...	Denise Blaine
Richard Basehart	...	Joe Halsey
Joan Collins	...	Mary Halsey
John Ireland	...	Eddie Blaine
René Ray	...	Angela Morgan (as Rene Ray)
Stanley Baker	...	Mike Morgan
Margaret Leighton	...	Eve Ravenscourt
Robert Morley	...	Sir Francis Ravenscourt
Freda Jackson	...	Mrs. Freeman
James Kenney	...	Dave, Angela's Brother
Susan Shaw	...	Doris, Girl in the Pub
Lee Patterson	...	Tod Maslin
Sandra Dorne	...	Pretty Girl
Leslie Dwyer	...	Stookey

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001) | USA:Approved (PCA #16841)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Remus

A memorable line

To understand the impact one particular quote from this movie had on me, you need to know that I first saw it at an 'Astra' cinema in the 1950s, while serving in the RAF.

In a scene early on in the film, John Ireland, a sergeant in the USAF, is accusing his wife, played by Gloria Grahame, of infidelity. She turns to him with self-righteous indignation and says (as only she can) :"Eddie, your time in the Air Force has coarsened your mind."

It shouldn't be difficult to imagine how, in front of an audience comprising a couple of hundred airmen, that one line brought the house down!

That apart, this is quite a decent crime caper movie, with some similarities to The League of Gentlemen (1959), but without the humorous touches.The only blemish is the usual wooden performance from Laurence Harvey. (How on earth did that man get so many leading roles in both British and American productions?)

Harvey apart, the acting is of a high standard. Stanley Baker is particularly impressive as the broken down prizefighter and Richard Basehart and John Ireland (the two token Yanks in British minor movies of the fifties) give excellent support as the other two conspirators. The young Joan Collins is ravishing as the wife any man would rob a dozen banks for and Freda Jackson is outstanding as her manipulating witch of a mother. Gloria Grahame is (of course) brilliant as the femme fatale and there is a delightful cameo from Robert Morley as the villain's father.