The Criminal

Stanley Baker is effective here as the smart-assed hoodlum "Bannion". Recently released from prison he and some associates cleverly devise a plan to relieve a race track of it's £40,000 takings. He hides the loot in a remote field but his cockiness leads the police easily to his door. Re-incarcerated, he soon finds that it's not just the police, but his erstwhile colleagues - led by the no-nonsense "Carter" (Sam Wanamaker) who want the money! Things are distinctly dangerous for the man behind bars and so getting out quickly and retrieving his loot becomes the order of the day. Joseph Losey paces his direction well here and has assembled a strong cast of supporting characters - not least Patrick Magee as the shrewd and ruthless prison warder "Barrows" and Grégoire Aslan as the duplicitous "Saffron", as this story of greed and brutality gradually edges towards a denouement that is exciting and - to a considerable extent - rather fitting. It's maybe a bit wordy at times but Baker manages to exude a sort of nastiness/decency combination that works well for ninety minutes. It is well worth a watch and is better than many in this British noir genre of the late 1950s.