Three Steps to the Gallows
{{Short description|1953 British film by John Gilling}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Three Steps to the Gallows
| image = Three Steps to the Gallows poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = John Gilling
| producer = Robert S. Baker
Monty Berman
| writer = Paul Erickson
John Gilling
| starring = Scott Brady
Mary Castle
Gabrielle Brune
| music = Stanley Black
| cinematography = Monty Berman
| editing = Margery Saunders
| studio = Tempean Films
| distributor = Eros Films
Lippert Pictures (US)
| released = {{Film date|1953|12}}
| runtime = 81 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature{{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=The British 'B' Film |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=86}} crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune.{{Cite web |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150055853 |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} It was written by Paul Erickson and Gilling, and released in the US by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.
Plot
An American merchant ship officer on shore leave in London learns that his brother is about to be hanged in three days and sets out to prove his innocence against an organised smuggling gang based in a nightclub. His plight becomes increasingly tense in the face of double crosses and bad decisions in a race against time.
Cast
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
- Scott Brady as Gregor Stevens
- Mary Castle as Yvonne Durante
- Gabrielle Brune as Lorna Dryhurst
- Ferdy Mayne as Mario Sartago
- Colin Tapley as Arnold Winslow
- John Blythe as Dave Leary
- Michael Balfour as Carter
- Lloyd Lamble as James Smith
- Julian Somers as John Durante
- Ballard Berkeley as Inspector Haley
- Ronan O'Casey as Crawson
- Johnnie Schofield as Charley
- Paul Erickson as Larry Stevens
- Bill Lowe as Percy
- Ronald Leigh-Hunt as Captain Adams
- Dennis Chinnery as Bill
- Hal Osmond as desk clerk
- Alastair Hunter as hotel manager
- Arthur Lovegrove as Tommy
- Harcourt Curaçao as Matt
- Russell Westwood as Mike
- Larry Taylor as Sam
- Neil Hallett as Real Counterman
- Conrad Phillips as clerk, travel agent
- Stanley Meadows as 2nd clerk, travel agent
- Arthur Mullard as prison warder
- Leonard Sharp as clerk, Somerset House
- Joe Wadham as police driver
{{div col end}}
Production
It was produced by the Tempean Films and made at the Southall Studios with sets designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold. Location shooting took place in London including on Regent Street, around Chelsea and at the Olympia Exhibition Centre.
Critical reception
Kine Weekly said "Romantic crime melodrama, unfolded in the metropolis. Its tale of mayhem and murder wants a bit of following, yet, for all its complexity it manages to hold the interest and hand out quite a number of thrills. The cast, headed by popular American players, is sound. Grim and good humoured in turn, it provides the variety that is the spice of mystery fare."{{Cite magazine |date=3 December 1953 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2826272946/1E0DC831E7BC4404PQ/1 |magazine=Kine Weekly |volume=441 |issue=2423 |pages=19 |via=ProQuest}}
Monthly Film Bulletin said "A conventional thriller. The only novel idea – using the British Industries Fair as the setting for a manhunt – has not been at all well exploited. Scott Brady adequately fills the role of the American-in-Britain inevitable in this type of crime story."{{Cite journal |date=1954 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305819127/1E0DC831E7BC4404PQ/4 |journal=Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=21 |issue=240 |pages=12 |via=ProQuest}}
Picture Show wrote: "Scott Brady excels as the star and Mary Castle is attractive in the leading feminine role. Skilful blend of smuggling and murder."{{Cite journal |date=29 January 1955 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1880306039 |journal=Picture Show |volume=64 |issue=1661 |pages=10 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
Picturegoer wrote: "Though it piles confusion upon confusion, this well-made murder hunt hangs well together. ... Conventionally exciting, it has many well photographed action shots. The atmosphere is good, the dialogue effective. Brady gives a forceful show of muscles and brain; Mary Castle – the girl who looks like Rita Hayworth – makes pleasant company."{{Cite journal |date=7 January 1955 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1705004002 |journal=Picturegoer |volume=29 |issue= |pages=13 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Very formula thriller, given a litle gloss by its two Hollywood stars."{{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=387}}
Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote that the film: "took [a] walk on London's wild side ...in the company of a visiting American seaman huskily played by Scott Brady. His leading lady was another minor Hollywood star, the Rita Hayworth look-alike Mary Castle. Although formulaic, the action was brisk and often violent, and the settings, as usual, were authentic – including a sequence at the British Industries Fair."
References
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