Sat 22 Nov 2014
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN (1960).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[5] Comments
THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN. Argo Film Productions, UK, 1960. US release, 1961. Cameron Mitchell, Marius Goring (Inspector Hazelrigg), Harry H. Corbett, Lois Maxwell, Denis Gilmore, Humphrey Lestocq, Ann Sears. Based on the short story “Amateur in Violence,” by Michael Gilbert. Director: Terry Bishop.
Sometimes criminals, despite all the possible planning, still pick the wrong target. That’s definitely the case in The Unstoppable Man, a taut British thriller. Directed by Terry Bishop, the movie stars Cameron Mitchell, a veteran actor best known for his work in American and Italian film as well on American television.
Mitchell portrays James Kennedy, an American businessman in London whose business acumen seemingly is unparalleled. Kennedy is put to the test when his young son is kidnapped and held for ransom by a motley crew of thugs. Scotland Yard wants to take the lead, but Kennedy has his own plans. They include paying off the hostage takers in a greater amount than they demand, with the expectation that thieves aren’t the most honest of men and will gladly turn on each other for a few quid more.
In The Unstoppable Man, that proves to be the case.
One of the kidnapper gang ends up dead and helps lead Kennedy (and the cops) to the house where his son is being held. It’s there that the action finally, and somewhat belatedly, kicks in. Although he’s a man more used to the boardroom, Kennedy shows he can brawl as if he were in a barroom. There’s even a great scene – a pivotal one – where Kennedy utilizes a would-be flamethrower against a man involved in his son’s kidnapping.
While there’s nothing in The Unstoppable Man that’s exceptional, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good — make that a very good — crime film. Running at around seventy minutes, it’s economical both on plot and the viewer’s time. But what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in atmosphere and an early 1960s jazz-influenced soundtrack that works very well.
For crime fans, it’s worth watching if you get the opportunity. For Mitchell fans (and I know that some are out there), it’s a must see.
November 23rd, 2014 at 12:02 am
It almost doesn’t pay to point out that Inspector Hazelrigg, who’s in charge of Scotland Yard’s end of the case, appears in quite a few of Michael Gilbert’s detective novels and stories. But in THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN his character really doesn’t have all that much to do. It’s Cameron Mitchell’s story all the way, and he makes the most of it.
And I’m sure everybody reading this recognizes Lois Maxwell immediately for playing Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies. So did I, of course, and before the movie began, I was looking forward to see her play a much longer part of the proceedings than she ever did in those big spy extravaganzas.
I was wrong. In THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN she plays the aunt of the missing boy whose care he was in when the kidnapers pulled him off the street into a waiting taxi, but after the first fifteen minutes, she simply disappears, never to be heard of again. Ann Sears, who plays Mitchell’s highly efficient secretary, has a more bigger role but a lot lower billing.
November 23rd, 2014 at 5:21 am
Gilbert’s “An Amateur in Violence” is one of the most anthologized shorts in the genre, used in quite a few of the genre bests, with that flamethrower scene producing a powerful ending and a great last line for Hazelrigg.
In fact outside of the Calders and Behrens stories it is my favorite Gilbert short story, a model of his talents and abilities and the quiet but savage side of the classic British thriller.
I didn’t know this one was filmed, or had forgotten it if I did, but it’s one I’ll be looking up.
Lois Maxwell had a long pre Bond career and appeared in a few British mystery/thriller films of the era including as a Peter Cheyneyish lady in SCOTLAND YARD INSPECTOR opposite Cesar Romero, and almost any film was better for Marius Goring being in it.
November 23rd, 2014 at 7:36 am
Cameron Mitchell largely diddled away his career in sub-sub-par horror films, but he was quite good in GARDEN OF EVIL and excellent as the noirish outlaw in OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT (1952)
November 23rd, 2014 at 2:11 pm
I’ve sadly neglected Michael Gilbert as a mystery writer over the years. I’ve read only one novel and a mere handful of short stories by him, not including “Amateur in Violence.” I think I have Gilbert’s collection of short stories with the same overall title. I’ll look for it when I have the chance and do some comparing of story with film.
November 23rd, 2014 at 6:35 pm
Steve,
There are many good Gilbert shorts, but I would start with the Calder and Behrens and Petrella shorts after this one. As for the novels THE DANGER WITHIN is based on Gilbert’s imprisonment in an Italian POW camp and his epic escape with writer Norman Lewis (Lewis wrote the non fiction account, Gilbert took the novel), and a very unusual detective story. Most are well worth reading, but DEATH HAS DEEP ROOTS, SMALLBONE DECEASED, THE LONG WALK HOME, THE 92ND TIGER, and THE ETRUSCAN TOMB are favorites.
He was also a solicitor/agent whose clients included Raymond Chandler.