Crime

Drama

Thriller

The Long Haul

Marksman Productions Ltd.

Warwick Film Productions

United Kingdom

English

Victor Mature

Diana Dors

Patrick Allen

Gene Anderson

Peter Reynolds

Liam Redmond

John Welsh

Meier Tzelniker

Michael Wade

Dervis Ward

Murray Kash

John Harvey

Roland Brand

Wensley Pithey

Madge Brindley

Stanley Rose

Raymond Barry

Susan Campbell

Freddie Watts

Harcourt Curaçao

Van Boolen

Norman Rossington

Martin Shaban

Jameson Clark

Arthur Mullard

Alfred Burke

Sam Kydd

Edward Judd

Trevor Duncan

Ken Hughes

Maxwell Setton

Mervyn Mills

Basil Emmott

Bobbie Smith

Raymond Poulton

Thomas N. Morahan

John Hoesli

Eric Carter

Buster Ambler

Peter Thornton

Tommy Yeardye

Jack Mills

Fred Gunn

Ronald Spencer

Yvonne Richards

Fred Slark

Richard Taylor

Watch out I don't drop you right back among the pigs.

The Long Haul is directed by Ken Hughes and Hughes adapts the screenplay from the Mervyn Mills novel. It stars Victor Mature, Diana Dors, Patrick Allen, Gene Anderson and Peter Reynolds. Music is by Trevor Duncan and cinematography by Basil Emmott.

Harry Miller (Mature) is an American serviceman who after the war has relocated to Northern England to live with his British wife and their son. He hankers to get back to America but his wife is not keen, so he takes up a truck driving job and quickly learns that corruption and under the table deals are the order of the day. Refusing to bend to that way on account of his moral fibre, this puts him on a collision course with violent racketeer boss Joe Easy (Allen), more so when he steps in to help Easy's girlfriend, Lyn (Dors), during an altercation and Lyn becomes quite smitten with Harry.

Gritty and grimy Brit noir that pulses with violence, simmering sexuality and big roaring lorries! By the time of film's release, the plot device of a returning soldier finding things less than worth fighting for had been done to death, but in the case of Hughes' movie it has a relocation slant that gives it a bit of zest. This gives the pic a rock solid foundation from which to tell its tale, and in the main it delivers all the requisite requirements for the film noir buff.

Narratively it revels in film noir tropes, not content with the confused ex-soldier angle, it throws in a classic femme fatale (Dors sexually charged) and a trick up its sleeve that puts some extra oomph into the culmination of story. The look is a suitably shadowy world of wet winding roads and smoky road side diners, while the dockside scenes are so excellently filmed you can practically smell the damp and salt wafting across the working class backdrop.

Some supporting performances are, shall we say too keen, and some of the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, but this is well worth a spin for anyone interested in British noir. Mature and Dors, both under rated actors in their day, are great value as characters desperately trying to find some solid meaning in life, while Allen has a great time playing the cigar chomping - square jawed - bastardo Joe Easy. Check it out, a better than average Brit noirer, pushing boulders and trying to move emotional mountains, indeed! 7/10

THE LONG HAUL (1957) ♦RARE♦ Theatrical Trailer

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The Long Haul

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Cast

Victor Mature

Diana Dors

Patrick Allen

Gene Anderson

Peter Reynolds

Liam Redmond

John Welsh

Meier Tzelniker

Michael Wade

Dervis Ward

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