Dancing with Crime

Boyhood friends and later comrades in the Army, Ted Peters and Dave Robinson are back in civvies. Ted becomes a taxi driver and hopes to marry Joy Goodall, a pretty chorus girl. Dave, seeking easy money, joins a criminal gang headed by Mr Gregory, which has its headquarters in a suburban palais-de-danse. Dave is shot by Paul Baker, Gregory's right-hand man, and staggers, fatally wounded, into the back of Ted's taxicab while Ted is away. When Ted returns to find Dave's body in his cab, he resolves to find the murderer. Ted suspects Baker, so Joy becomes a hostess at the gang's nightclub, to do some snooping. They bring about the downfall of the gang.

• Richard Attenborough as Ted Peters
• Barry K. Barnes as Paul Baker
• Sheila Sim as Joy Goodall
• Garry Marsh as Detective Sergeant Murray
• John Warwick as Inspector Carter
• Judy Kelly as Toni Masters
• Barry Jones as Mr. Gregory
• Bill Owen as Dave Robinson
• Cyril Chamberlain as Sniffy
• Peter Croft as Johnny
• Dirk Bogarde as police radio caller (uncredited)
• Patricia Dainton as Pam (uncredited)
• Diana Dors as Annette (uncredited)
• Danny Green as Sid (uncredited)
• Bartlett Mullins as club barman (uncredited)
• John Salew as Pogson (uncredited)
• Dennis Wyndham as Sam (uncredited)

Attenborough was borrowed from the Boulting Brothers. He and Sheila Sim were married in real life; this was their first movie together.

The film was shot at Southall Studios with sets designed by the art director Andrew Mazzei.{{cite web |title=Dancing with Crime (1947) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a85b6e1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913150544/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a85b6e1 |archive-date=13 September 2017 |website=BFI}} Filming was difficult due to the freezing cold weather.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100472776 |title=Hollywood REPORTS. |newspaper=The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder |volume=37 |issue=2623 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 February 1948 |accessdate=22 July 2020 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Kine Weekly said "Robust gangster comedy melodrama, set around a London palais de danse.The plot is tackled with infectious and disarming enthusiasm by a well-chosen cast and set in convincing and colourful atmosphere. The direction is artfully tongue-in-the-cheek. Good fun and no mean thriller."{{Cite journal |date=3 July 1947 |title=Dancing with Crime |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2687785598 |journal=Kine Weekly |volume=365 |issue=2096 |pages=18 |via=ProQuest}}

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Set against a background of unfashionable London streets, warehouses and the chromium-plated dance-hall, the film bears evidence of capable direction. Its characters are plausible, except for the incredulous detectives, and the actors on the guilty side, headed by Barry Jones and Barry K. Barnes, who are unpleasantly convincing. For the innocents, Richard Attenborough makes a likeable Ted and is modestly partnered by Sheila Sim. A full measure."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1947 |title=Dancing with Crime |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305803856 |journal=Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=14 |issue=157 |pages=111 |via=ProQuest}}

Variety called it "fashioned on formula grounds."[https://archive.org/stream/variety167-1947-07#page/n21/mode/1up Review of film] at Variety

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Not exactly convincing, but a confident piece of filmcraft."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=201}}

Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Tolerable post-war melodrama aping Hollywood."{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=248}}

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Real-life newlyweds Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim co-star in this stark crime quickie, which also marks the feature debut of Dirk Bogarde as a bobby on the beat. [...] With Sim going undercover at the local dance hall, the film will evoke memories of Saturday nights gone by."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=221}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0039297|Dancing with Crime}}
• [https://letterboxd.com/film/dancing-with-crime/ Dancing with Crime] at Letterbox DVD

{{John Paddy Carstairs}}

Category:1947 films

Category:1947 crime films

Category:British crime films

Category:Films shot at Southall Studios

Category:Films set in London

Category:Films directed by John Paddy Carstairs

Category:Films scored by Benjamin Frankel

Category:Paramount Pictures films

Category:British black-and-white films

Category:1940s English-language films

Category:1940s British films

Category:English-language crime films

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