The Man in the Back Seat (1960)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1960
Running Times: 57 mins
Format: black and white
Ratio:
Sound:

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Independent Artists
Producers: Julian Wintle, Leslie Parkyn
Production Supervisor: Arthur Alcott

SCRIPT
Script: Malcolm Hulke, Eric Paice
Novel: Edgar Wallace (uncredited)

DIRECTION
Director: Vernon Sewell
Assistant Director: Jan Saunders

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Reginald Wyer
Camera Operator: Noel Rowland

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: John Trumper

MUSIC
Music: Stanley Black

SOUND
Sound Recordist: John W. Mitchell
Re-Recording: Ken Cameron

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Trevor Crole-Rees
Hair: Maud Onslow
Wardrobe: Vi Murray

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Harry Pottle

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Joy Mercer

CAST
Derren Nesbitt (Tony)
Keith Faulkner (Frank)
Carol White (Jean)
Harry Locke (Joe Carter)

PLOT SUMMARY

The manager of a greyhound stadium is counting his takings for the night. On leaving with the money in a case handcuffed to his wrist he is coshed by two petty criminals, Tony and Frank, who drag his body into the back seat of their getaway car. Their attempts to break into the case prove increasingly frustrating and the manager's condition worsens. Going back to Frank's house where his wife urges him to leave Tony, the two criminals fight amongst themselves. Tony resolves to dump the body. Again driving around, the man in the back seat proves increasingly difficult to be rid of. Or is his hold on them something supernatural?

CAPSULE REVIEW

Excellent British B movie. Minor crime thrillers were a staple of the British cinema in the fifties and early sixties. They now have a period charm but The Man in the Back Seat transcends its origins to be a really great film. Low budgets usually constricted action, locations and cast numbers to the detriment of the film but here these limitations, thanks to the tight plot and effective use of these constraints, become virtues. There is real feeling of claustrophobia, concentrating on two (subtle rather than caricature) central performances makes it a real character piece, the short length and tight direction gives a genuine sense of mounting paranoia and the supernatural ending gives it a timeless quality. For those who only know the work of Vernon Sewell for his end of career horrors like The Blood Beast Terror (1967) and Curse of Crimson Altar (1968), an education on what a fine film maker he actually was.

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors Ltd

LINKS

SEE ALSO
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Dr Terror' s House of Horrors (1964)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Daily Cinema no.8474 (21 June 1961) p.10 (UK)
review

Kine Weekly no.2802 (15 June 1961) p.19 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.28 no.331 (August 1961) p.115 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

book into film, criminals