ROUGH SHOOT/SHOOT FIRST

UK, 1953, 88 minutes, Black and white.
Joel Mc Crea, Evelyn Keyes, Herbert Lom, Marius Goring, Roland Culver, Laurence Naismith, Karel Stepanek, Robert Dickens, Megs Jenkins, Patricia Laffan, Frank Lawton, Joan Hickson.
Directed by Robert Parrish.

This is a surprisingly interesting film.

It is one of those small British thrillers of the early 1950s, good plot, interesting cast, sound entertainment in its brief running time. It also has excellent credentials with a novel by Geoffrey Household (author of the often-filmed Rogue Male) and a screenplay by novelist and screenwriter of thrillers, Eric Ambler.

American actors were also coming to the UK in the early 1950s. In this film are Joel and Evelyn Keyes, both given substantial roles. There is quite a range in the British supporting cast led by Herbert Lom as an eccentric hero and Marius Goring as a villain. Roland Culver is his usual suave self as a British agent. There are cameos from actors like Laurence Naismith, Megs Jenkins, Joan Hickson as an announcer at the railway station and Patricia Laffan the year before she was Poppaea in Quo Vadis. It was directed by actor-director, Robert Parrish.

The film has echoes of the Cold War, infiltration by spies from Eastern Europe as well as a fifth column in the UK. McCrea? becomes involved in the plot when he shoots an agent, thinking him a poacher, and is used by the British authorities to trap the spies. Evelyn Keyes is his wife but does not sit back, rather joins in all the action.

If Alfred Hitchcock had had this screenplay 10 years earlier, it is the kind of film he might have made. Joel McCrea? appeared in his Foreign Correspondent. And there is a Hitchcock-like ending in a chase through Madame Toussauds.

1. British thriller? Geoffrey Household, Eric Ambler (and the Hitchcock touches)?

2. The 1950s, brief film, the strong British character cast? The Americans?

3. The British countryside, the woods, homes, police precincts, the mansion? Travel in the countryside, the chases? London, Madame Tussauds? The musical score?

4. Americans in the UK, the 1950s, post-war?

5. Joel Mc Crea as Taine, military background, authority, his leasing the house, hunting and shooting, the bond with the owner, Blossom? The discussion about poachers? Shooting the alleged poacher, his death, Taine’s anxiety, disposing of the body, the fall and its being hidden? The encounter with the other shooters? His concern about the law, manslaughter, penalties in prison?

6. Cecily, her relationship with her husband, support, concerned, noting his studying the law books? Randall and his visit? Her suspicions about Sandorski? The information,
her wanting to participate in all the action?

7. The mansion, the spies, Eastern Europe, the plans, the shooting in the woods, looking for the body? The spy, the chauffeur? The owner of the mansion, his wife? The issue of the body? The plan for the arrival of the expert, the airfield, the plane landing?

8. The locals, the police? Their investigations, Randall and his control, their backing off and watching?

9. Randall, his visit, secret organisation? Participation and control?

10. Sandorskii, his war record, personality, Cecily suspicious, his interactions with Taine, knowing what happened with the shooting, his organising ability, interactions and control?

11. The plan, the landing, Taine and Sandorski watching, shifting the lights, the plane crashing, their taking the passenger?

12. The passenger, his ideology, his manner, beliefs, his being hurt, the nature of the injuries, keeping up the pretence, holding him, his wanting food? The transfer?

13. The escape, the spies following, going to London, the buildup to the confrontations?

14. London, Madame Tussauds, the statues, the chase, the confrontation with a climax?

15. The Cold War, ideologies – and a contemporary thriller style?