The Break (1963 film)

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The Break (1963 film) - Wikipedia

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The Break

Directed by	Lance Comfort
Written by	Pip and Jane Baker
Starring	Tony Britton William Lucas Christina Gregg
Cinematography	Basil Emmott
Edited by	Peter Pitt
Music by	Brian Fahey
Production company	Mancunian Film Corporation Ltd.
Release date	7 July 1963 (1963-07-07)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Break is a 1963 British second feature^[1] drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Tony Britton, William Lucas and Christina Gregg.^[2] It was written by Pip and Jane Baker.

Plot

Jacko Thomas is a dangerous criminal who escapes from the train taking him to prison and hides in the secluded Dartmoor hotel run by Judd Tredgar, who had arranged his escape. Also staying at the hotel are Thomas's sister Sue, private detective Pearson, and novel Greg Parker, the man Pearson is investigating. When Pearson discovers that Tredgar is running a smuggling racket, Thomas kills him. Meanwhile Parker has fallen in love with Sue, and finds himself in a dangerous situation. Parker and Thomas fight, and Sarah, the mute servant, kills Thomas, as an act of revenge for his murder of her brother Moses.

Cast

Tony Britton as Greg Parker
William Lucas as Jacko Thomas
Eddie Byrne as Judd Tredgar
Robert Urquhart as Pearson
Sonia Dresdel as Sarah
Edwin Richfield as Moses
Gene Anderson as Jean Tredgar
Christina Gregg as Sue Thomas
Patrick Jordan as driver
John Junkin as Harry
Marshall Jones as Jim

Critical response

Monthly Film Bulletin said: "A routine plot, adequately acted by a cast which deserved better things. Set principally in the farmhouse, the few exteriors used are bleak moorland and quarry – in keeping, perhaps, with the melodrama and general dreariness of the production."^[3]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "The Break has a striking pre-credits sequence (a device not then very common) involving a criminal's leap from a train, a murder and an arrest. Comfort typically takes the film out of that stagy interior setting, avoiding that airless, studio-set claustrophobia with so often bedevils British budget film-making, and the action sequences are handled with real flair. The narrative shifts to a farmhouse, run as a hotel by an edgy married couple who are also involved in a smuggling racket. The setting-and-character mix sometimes recalls old-fashioned three-act plays, but a strong cast (including Sonia Dresdel as a grimly enigmatic cook, and William Lucas as the fugitive) gives point to the film's relationships."^[1]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Lance Comfort directs this plodding whodunnit, in which a detective, a novelist, a fleeing crook and his sister stumble upon dark deeds on a Devon farm. Tony Britton does his best in the lead, but the mystery isn't likely to put too much strain on your little grey cells."^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
^ "The Break". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
^ "The Break". Monthly Film Bulletin. 30 (348): 99. 1963 – via ProQuest.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 127. ISBN 9780992936440.

External links

The Break at IMDb

Films directed by Lance Comfort

Penn of Pennsylvania (1941)
Hatter's Castle (1942)
Those Kids from Town (1942)
Squadron Leader X (1943)
Escape to Danger (1943)
When We Are Married (1943)
Old Mother Riley Detective (1943)
Hotel Reserve (1944)
Great Day (1945)
Bedelia (1946)
Temptation Harbour (1947)
Daughter of Darkness (1948)
Silent Dust (1949)
Portrait of Clare (1950)
The Girl on the Pier (1953)
Bang! You're Dead (1954)
Eight O'Clock Walk (1954)
The Man in the Road (1956)
Face in the Night (1957)
Man from Tangier (1957)
At the Stroke of Nine (1957)
The Ugly Duckling (1959)
Make Mine a Million (1959)
The Breaking Point (1961)
Rag Doll (1961)
Pit of Darkness (1961)
Touch of Death (1961)
The Painted Smile (1962)
The Break (1963)
Blind Corner (1963)
Live It Up! (1963)
Tomorrow at Ten (1963)
Be My Guest (1965)
Devils of Darkness (1965)

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