Review of Hell Drivers (1957) by Stephen C — 27 Aug 2012

The term Film Noir is not something you would expect to associate with a film made by Rank in the late 1950s.

But director Cy Endfield and leading man Stanley Baker give us just that a lean and tough thriller about a group of hardened truck driver.

Baker plays Tom Yateley a man with a criminal past who comes to work for a trucking firm where speed and danger are all part of the job.

Yateley incurrs the wraith of Red the companies best driver and is torn between his new friend Gino played by Herbert Lom and Ginios girl friend Lucy played by Peggy Cummings.

At first Yateley stays in the shadows determined to break Reds record of 18 loads a day ,but he is soon drwan into a dangerous world of murder and corruption that will pit him not only against Red but his boss Cartley.

The film has a nice ruthless streak running through it which makes it even more of a wonder that the home of the Carry On and Doctor films gave it the green light.

The film made Stanley Baker as an actor and he would go on to work with Endfield on the classic Zulu.

The supporting cast has some familliar faces too witha yound Sean Connery and Sid James playing the Hell Drivers of the title.

The driving sequences are pretty hairaising and the finale is packed with excitement.

The kind of film they just dont make anymore,which is a shame as its a real tough classic.