Review of Hell Drivers (1957) by Stephen M — 28 Apr 2008

A gritty and uncompromising film; it pulls no punches at all, portraying tough men in a tough job. Stanley Baker is the ex-con drawn into the hard and seedy world of driving ballast, where money is earned by the number of loads and failure isn't tolerated.

The Foreman, Red (Patrick Mcgoohan), is an evil man with no compassion, employed to pressure the drivers by any means available. McGoohan is perfect as the Irish thug, his menace is palpable. When challenged by Baker, McGoohan responds with intimidation and terrorises the well meaning Gino (Herbert Lom) who has befriended Baker.

Whilst McGoohan is a thug, Willilam Hartnell is particularly nasty as the bent manager, in cahoots with McGoohan and sharing the profits. In his attempts to stop Baker, McGoohan loses the plot and tries to kill Baker, with disasterous consequences.

Peggy Cummins is the love interest and whilst everyone mentions Sean Connery, the remainder of the cast is a line up of British stars from the 50s and 60s. This is up there in my top ten films; not because it's a masterpiece but because it's surprisingly tense and thoroughly watchable.