Rent Never Let Go (1960)

Peter Sellers is excellent in this gritty drama. Highly recommended - Never Let Go review by RP

We usually think of Peter Sellers as a comedian and a comic actor - but here he's cast against type as a rather nasty villain.

This film is a great find and deserves to be better known. In its day it was X-rated (over 16s only) and deservedly so; perhaps by today's standards the violence and sexual innuendo is relatively tame but it's still a gritty film.

The story goes something like this: cosmetic salesman (Richard Todd) has his new car stolen, needs it to do his job but only has 3rd party insurance, tries to track it down himself and crosses swords with dodgy garage owner (Peter Sellers), is beaten up but gets his car back in the end. It doesn't sound much but the period detail and acting are excellent throughout.

Richard Todd gives an excellent performance as the insecure man who has repeatedly failed in all his ventures after leaving the army, and Peter Sellers' role is simply vicious. Adam Faith (pop singer turned actor) has a role as a young tearaway and also sings 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' that plays over the titles, giving a flavour of the promise of riches on leaving the forces and returning home in the 1950s only to find disappointment. Carol White - who seems to appear in almost all these early 1960s 'kitchen sink' films plays Peter Sellers' wife, and watch out for many other well known British actors of the period.

I did try to work out where the location shots were filmed. A CUNningham (Maida Vale) phone number is shown on a wall at one point - IMDB tells me that it's Chichester Road W2, now comprehensively redeveloped, and there's also a shot of a trolley bus in the background at one point outside the pub which has the Barclay's Ales & Stout tiled lettering. This is (or rather was) the Southgate Arms in Hoxton, N1 - Google it to see a photo. These background shots add to the period feel of a world now gone, but not far away.

Really good, gritty drama - 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.

Gangster Noir. - Never Let Go review by Steve

This late period British noir was bombed by the critics, but now looks like a genre classic. It was a big change of pace for its two stars. Richard Todd is a brittle middle class, middle aged wage-slave, drowning in debt and about to lose his job. Peter Sellers is a flashy, sociopathic racketeer who runs a criminal gang which steals cars to be customised in his Paddington lock-up.

When the desperate salesman gets his new motor nicked, he goes vigilante. He's tired of getting pushed around. But in fighting back, he destroys himself and his marriage. Though cast against type, this is the best performance of Todd's career, and while not realistic, Sellers is astonishing too. He literally rips up the scenery. Under pressure, both men fall apart.

This is the human jungle where the weak are exploited and the most ruthless get the rewards. The set up has been used many times, but rarely as well. Maybe best of all is the nasty, poetic script (Alun Falconer). There's an extraordinary scene when Todd's loving wife (Elizabeth Sellars) explains that he is a loser and she has settled for disappointment.

John Guillermin directs with a little unexpected style. John Barry composed the jazz soundtrack and scored the title song for Adam Faith, who plays a delinquent carjacker. Carol White is affecting as a pitiful, vulnerable teenager preyed on by the sadistic gangster. All staged in a tough, cruel London. This is one of the best British crime films of the sixties.

1960s London Grit - Never Let Go review by CD

Really enjoyed this very British drama with excellent performances from all the leads. I was reminded a bit of the 1948 film "The Bicycle Thieves" in the way that a man's job and status is so tied up with his mode of transport, and his determination to retrieve it when stolen. Fortunately it goes in a different and ultimately more satisfying direction with the baddies very much visible, and the main character remorseless in his determination. Richard Todd (the main character) reminded me at times of Christopher Plummer, and he and his wife must be one of the poshest couples ever to have lived in a London council flat. However, the characters and emotions are genuine and the directing is excellent. As other reviewers have commented, it is great to see the London scenes of that era and the rather grimy pubs and cafes, before the era of gentrification.