Piccadilly Third Stop
{{Short description|1960 British film by Wolf Rilla}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Piccadilly Third Stop
| image = "Piccadilly_Third_Stop"_(1960).jpg
| caption = Original British quad poster by Nicola Simbari
| director = Wolf Rilla
| producer = Norman Williams
Sydney Box
| writer = Leigh Vance
| starring = Terence Morgan
Yoko Tani
John Crawford
Mai Zetterling
| music = Philip Green
| cinematography = Ernest Steward
| editing = Bernard Gribble
| studio = Ethiro-Alliance
Sydney Box Associates
| distributor = J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors
| released = {{Film date|1960|09|06|London|df=y}}
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Piccadilly Third Stop is a 1960 British thriller film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Terence Morgan, Yoko Tani and John Crawford.{{Cite web |title=Piccadilly Third Stop |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150042098 |access-date=23 December 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} It was written by Leigh Vance. A wealthy playboy hires a gang of criminals to help him steal £100,000.
Plot
Crook Dominic Colpoys-Owen has his eye on the loot inside an embassy in London after an ambassador's daughter, Seraphina, unwittingly reveals that her father, away on business, has left big money behind in the safe. Colpoys-Owen works his smooth-talking charm on the innocent girl, who becomes so infatuated that she agrees to help his gang with its plan. This involves a robbery from the Knightsbridge embassy via the London Underground.
Cast
- Terence Morgan as Dominic Colpoys-Owen
- Yoko Tani as Seraphina Yokami
- John Crawford as Joe Pready
- Mai Zetterling as Christine Pready
- William Hartnell as colonel
- Dennis Price as Edward
- Ann Lynn as Mouse
- Charles Kay as Toddy
- Doug Robinson as Albert
- Gillian Maude as Bride's mother
- Trevor Reid as Bride's father
- Ronald Leigh-Hunt as Police Sergeant
- Tony Hawes as Harry Prentice
- Clement Freud as Chemin de Fer dealer
- Judy Huxtable as Angela Vaughan
Production
The film was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around London, including numerous locations around Belgravia. Holborn tube station filled in as the fictional "Belgravia station" on the Piccadilly line.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernest Archer.
When Terence Morgan's character is standing in the tube station eyeing the station staff, he is positioned next to some film posters on the station's walls. At least one of the posters next to him is from an actual film that Terence Morgan had starred in earlier that year, The Shakedown (1959).
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "With leading characters as repulsive as the slimy Dominic and the boorish Preedy, and a background of theft, blackmail, watchsmuggling, gambling parties, bounced cheques and adultery, not even Yoko Tani's appealing tears and a bushel of contemporary props can make much of this film attractive. Wolf Rilla's direction has a certain speed and polish, however, and the tube station chase at the end doesn't lack excitement. William Hartnell as a cracksman colonel, oddly reminiscent of Olivier's Archie Rice, and Miss Tani do well in two of the few sympathetic parts."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1960 |title=Piccadilly Third Stop |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305826956/4DE1860695A34400PQ/1 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=27 |issue=312 |pages=143 |via=ProQuest}}
Picture Show gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "competently made, acted and directed but thoroughly unpleasant drama. ... It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth."{{Cite magazine |date=24 Sep 1960 |title=Piccadilly Third Stop |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1879647545 |access-date=26 February 2025 |journal=Picture Show |page=20 |pages= |via=ProQuest |volume= |issue=}}
Allmovie called the film a "fast-paced, standard crime story".{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/piccadilly-third-stop-v106061|title=Piccadilly Third Stop (1960) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie|work=AllMovie}}
The Radio Times wrote: "The late 1950s were an exciting time for British cinema with 'social realist' pictures such as Room at the Top (1959) and Look Back in Anger (1959) receiving international acclaim. This plodding low-budget thriller is more typical of Britain's tired output in other genres, however, with Terence Morgan playing a London lowlife who dates ambassador's daughter Yoko Tani in order to gain access to the embassy safe. Dennis Price, William Hartnell and Mai Zetterling are among those who obviously needed the work."{{cite web |author=David Parkinson |title=Piccadilly Third Stop |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/film/kr62k/piccadilly-third-stop |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002083622/http://www.radiotimes.com/film/kr62k/piccadilly-third-stop |archive-date=2 October 2016 |work=Radio Times}}
References
External links
- {{IMDb title|0054181}}
{{Wolf Rilla}}
Category:1960s crime thriller films
Category:Films directed by Wolf Rilla
Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Category:British crime thriller films
Category:Films set on the London Underground
Category:1960s English-language films