Hell Is a City
Encyclopedia
Hell Is a City is a 1960 film based on the novel by Maurice Procter
. It was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions
filmed in Manchester
it was also written and directed by Val Guest
. It was partly inspired by the British New Wave
films.
to pick up the spoils from his last job. Martineau is soon investigating a murder during a street robbery which seems to lead back to the same villain. Concentrating on the case and using his local contacts to try and track the gang down, he is aware he is not keeping his own personal life together as well as he might.
Maurice Procter
Maurice Procter was an English novelist. He was born in Nelson, Lancashire, England.- Early life :Maurice Procter was born in Nelson, Lancashire, on 4 February 1906. His parents were Rose Hannah and William Procter who also had two other sons named Emmot and Ned...
. It was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
filmed in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
it was also written and directed by Val Guest
Val Guest
Val Guest was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s.-Early life and career:He was born Valmond Maurice...
. It was partly inspired by the British New Wave
British New Wave
The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The label is a translation of Nouvelle Vague, the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others.There is considerable overlap...
films.
Plot summary
Committed but seen-it-all police inspector Martineau rightly guesses that after a violent jailbreak a local criminal will head home to ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
to pick up the spoils from his last job. Martineau is soon investigating a murder during a street robbery which seems to lead back to the same villain. Concentrating on the case and using his local contacts to try and track the gang down, he is aware he is not keeping his own personal life together as well as he might.
Cast
- Stanley BakerStanley BakerSir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
as Inspector Harry Martineau - John CrawfordJohn Crawford (actor)John Crawford was an American actor.Crawford was born Cleve Allen Richardson in Colfax, Washington. In films from the 1940s, Crawford appeared in bit parts for many years before playing leads in several films in the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
as Don Starling - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as Gus Hawkins - Maxine AudleyMaxine AudleyMaxine Audley was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Throughout her career, Audley performed with both the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company multiple times...
as Julia Martineau - Billie WhitelawBillie WhitelawBillie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
as Chloe Hawkins - Joseph TomeltyJoseph TomeltyJoseph Tomelty was a Northern Irish character actor and playwright. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage, starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.-Early life:...
as Furnisher Steele - George A. CooperGeorge A. CooperGeorge A. Cooper is an English actor.One of his best-known roles was as the caretaker Mr. Griffiths in the long-running children's TV series Grange Hill...
as Doug Savage - Geoffrey Frederick as Detective Devery
- Vanda GodsellVanda GodsellVanda Godsell was an English actress.-Early life:She was born near Bristol into the well known Godsell family, best known for its brewery based in Stroud. Her father was an officer in the Navy and served in the Battle of Jutland whilst her mother, Muriel, was the sister of novelist and actress...
as Lucky Luske - Charles Houston as Clogger Roach
- Joby Blanshard as Tawny Jakes
- Charles Morgan as Laurie Lovett
- Peter MaddenPeter Madden (actor)Peter Madden was a British actor who was born in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya.Madden was a character actor who made several notable appearances in Hammer films...
as Bert Darwin - Dickie Owen as Bragg
- Lois Daine as Cecily Wainwright
- Warren MitchellWarren MitchellWarren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
as Commercial Traveller - Sarah Branch as Silver Steele
- Alister WilliamsonAlister WilliamsonAlister Williamson was an Australian-born character actor, who appeared in many British films and television series of the 1960s and 1970s. A big, craggy-faced man, he would usually be found playing gruff police inspectors or henchmen in adventure series and police dramas of the period...
as Sam - Russell NapierRussell NapierRussell Gordon Napier was an Australian actor.Russell Napier was born in Perth, Western Australia. Originally a lawyer, Napier was active as an actor from 1947 to 1974, playing both comedic and dramatic roles in both cinema and television. Notably, he starred in a live BBC television production...
as Superintendent - Philip BondPhilip Bond (actor)Philip Bond is a British actor best known for playing Albert Frazer in 24 episodes of the 1970s BBC nautical drama The Onedin Line....
as Headquarters PC (uncredited) - John ComerJohn ComerJohn Comer was a British actor best known for his comedy roles in the television series I Didn't Know You Cared, Last of the Summer Wine and All Our Saturdays.-Early life:...
as Plainclothes Police Driver (uncredited) - John HarveyJohn Harvey (actor)John Harvey was an English actor. He appeared in 52 films, two television films and made 70 television guest appearances between 1948 and 1979....
as Fingerprint Officer (uncredited) - Doris SpeedDoris SpeedDoris Speed, MBE was an English actress, best known for her role as snooty Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker on Coronation Street, a role she played from 1960 to 1983.-Early life and career:...
as Older Nursing Sister in Hospital (uncredited)