Scarlet Thread
{{short description|1951 film by Lewis Gilbert}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Scarlet Thread
| image = Scarlet_Thread_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1951-2).jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Lewis Gilbert
| producer = Ernest G. Roy
| writer = Moie Charles
A.R. Rawlinson
| starring = Kathleen Byron
Laurence Harvey
| music = Kenneth D. Morrison
| cinematography = Geoffrey Faithfull
| editing =
| distributor = Butcher's Film Service (UK)
Realart Pictures (US)
| released = {{Film date|1951}}
| runtime = 85 mins.
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Scarlet Thread is a 1951 British second feature ('B'){{Cite book |last1=Chibnall |first1=Steve |title=The British 'B' Film |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=164}} crime drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and produced by Ernest G. Roy.{{Cite web |title=Scarlet Thread |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150054688 |access-date=5 April 2025 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} It was written by Moie Charles and A.R. Rawlinson.
Plot
Two criminals plan a jewellery robbery. The robbery goes wrong and an innocent man is shot.
Cast
- Kathleen Byron as Josephine
- Laurence Harvey as Freddie
- Sydney Tafler as Marcon
- Arthur Hill as Shaw
- Dora Bryan as Maggie
- Eliot Makeham as Jason
- Harry Fowler as Sam
- Cyril Chamberlain as Mason
- Renee Kelly as Eleanor
- Hylton Allen as the Dean
Production
The film was made at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England, and on location.
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Sydney Tafler and Laurence Harvey do well as the unattractive pair of gangsters, and the characterisation and dialogue are as a whole more effective than the improbable story."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1951 |title=Scarlet Thread |volume=18 |issue=204 |pages=281 |id={{ProQuest|1305814418}} |magazine=The Monthly Film Bulletin}}
Kine Weekly wrote: "Well-made, if slightly far-fetched romantic melodrama ... Unusual and intriguing story, exciting climax, feminine angle, and quota."{{Cite journal |date=22 October 1953 |title=Scarlet Thread |volume=439 |issue=2417 |pages=20 |id={{ProQuest|2738578714}} |magazine=Kine Weekly}}
In The Radio Times Guide to Films Allen Eyles gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "In one of his early leading roles, Laurence Harvey working with Alfie director Lewis Gilbert gives this downbeat British crime drama some modest interest. Harvey is convincingly unpleasant as the skirt-chasing spiv and petty criminal with a sleazy charm, who panics and kills a bystander during a jewel robbery. But the twist in the tale is more implausible than ironic."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=808}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0043999|title=Scarlet Thread}}
{{Lewis Gilbert}}
Category:Films directed by Lewis Gilbert
Category:Films set in Cambridge
Category:British crime drama films
Category:1951 crime drama films
Category:Films produced by Ernest G. Roy
Category:British black-and-white films
Category:Films shot in Cambridgeshire