PodBill Just what I expected

Steineded How sad is this?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

jjcarr-49015 This is a well-made movie that satisfactorily and seamlessly combines a crime drama with some social commentary and characters that aren't just cardboard cutouts. The story takes place from a Friday to a Sunday in London. Dan (Bonar Colleano), a sailor on the Rotterdam to London route, engages in petty smuggling to get the money to impress the sort of girlfriend (Moira Lister) who's impressed by having money spent on her. On this trip he's going to make some real money (a hundred quid!) by smuggling out a package and deliver it unsealed in Rotterdam, no questions asked. A gang is going to use the skills of an aging acrobat (Max Adrian) and inside info from the acrobat's pensioned-off brother to commit a jewel robbery. The plan is to carry out the robbery on a Sunday, give the package to Dan who sails that afternoon. A bottle of milk upsets the masterplan and things start to go wrong all around. Not knowing this Dan, because he's known to Customs, plans to get his pal, the more straight-laced Johnny (Earl Cameron), to bring it aboard ship. Johnny is black. Over his weekend he encounters both racism and a naïve "nice girl" (Susan Shaw) who seems oblivious to the problems an inter-racial couple would experience in 1950's London. I've read that this was the first British film to have a black man-white woman love story. To tell more would be a spoiler particularly as you don't know how certain of the characters will react when things don't go as they wished. This isn't a masterpiece of world cinema but it doesn't pretend to be one. It is, as I say, a well-made piece. If imDb let you do fractions I'd give it seven and a half.

ianlouisiana Like a malevolent gargoyle,third - rate variety artiste Max Adrian casts a basilisk glare over The City's bombsites as he climbs up the broken walls to break into a jeweller's office through the roof,a feat that needs all his acrobatic skills as it involves a prodigious leap from one building to another.Opening the door he admits his cohorts who blow the safe.Unfortunately they disturb the watchman and they murder him before making good their escape,thus making their crime a "Topping Job". Anybody involved in the offence is liable to be hanged,perhaps even fairly innocent Merchant Seaman Bonar Colleano whose readiness to earn a quick couple of quid pushes him into something much deeper when the proverbial "man in a pub" offers him £50 to smuggle a package on board his ship and drop it off in Amsterdam. Normally dealing in packs of cigarettes and Nylon stockings,Colleano is happy to step up into the big boys' world until it all goes wrong..... "Pool of London" brilliantly records the vibrant working - class culture of south east London as it recovers from the depredations of the second world war.The noisy,crowded,smoke - filled pubs,the rumbling trams,the seedy Music halls and all - night dives where punters are fleeced,the coffee stalls and fruit markets,badly - lit alleyways between the tall,dark buildings where only the sound of a tin can kicked by a lonely man spoils the silence. Similar in style to its stablemate "The Blue Lamp",it escapes being a "police procedural" by dint of powerful performances by Mr Colleano and Mr Earl Cameron as his Jamaican shipmate whose friendship is at the core of the movie. Miss Renee Asherson as a clerk at the Shipping Agency and Miss Susan Shaw as the cashier at the Variety Theatre also make a strong impact. Miss Moira Lister is a little de trop as a shrill goodtime girl whose accent swings wildly between Kennington and Kensington. But for me,the performance that characterises "Pool of London" 's case to be considered as one of the finest early post - war British movies is that of Mr Max Adrian as the sinister sunken - eyed broken down Music Hall acrobat who bizarrely performs his act in full evening dress including top hat.His smile as he acknowledges the smattering of applause from the sparse audience is one of desperation indeed.

gordonl56 Pool of London – 1951 Bonar Colleano headlines this first rate noir from the U.K. Colleano is a crewman on a ship doing the London to Holland run. He supplements his wages with a bit of smuggling, cigarettes, nylons, a couple of bottles of brandy and the like. After he drops off his new batch of smokes with his contact, he is asked if he would be interested in some "real cash". All he has to do is drop off a cigarette case sized package to an address in Holland next trip. Colleano agrees to the deal and then hits the bars for a few with his girl, Moria Lister. What he does not know is that he is moving the proceeds of a diamond robbery where a night watchman had been killed. Lister, who made a career out of playing shrew like wives and the like, soon talks Colleano into looking in the package. Once Colleano sees the diamonds he realizes he is in over his head. What is he to do? He talks one of his crew-mates, Earl Cameron, into taking the package on board. Of course the whole thing starts to unravel when Lister's eavesdropping sister blabs to the police. Then Colleano's ship is held in port by police and custom's officers. The Police are waiting for Bonar to show so they can arrest him. The mob behind the robbery then grab him up for a small talk as to why his ship is crawling with John Law. Shoved into a car at the end of a gun he is "asked" to return the diamonds. He can't since he has already given them to Cameron. This leads to a less than friendly exchange where Colleano collects a bullet in the shoulder before making an escape. He heads for his ship to stop his friend Cameron from boarding the ship. Colleano knows the police will search Cameron and assume he was in on the deal. Colleano gets there just in time, collects the package from Cameron and turns himself over to the police. All he had wanted to do was make a few bucks. A much better film than I make it sound. Rest of the cast includes J.R. Justice, Susan Shaw, Leslie Phillips, Michael Golden, Johnny Longren, Victor Maddren, Ian Bannen and Alfie Bass. The film was directed by Basil Deardon. Deardon helmed several very good UK noir, CAGE OF GOLD, SAPPHIRE, NOWHERE TO GO, THE GENTLE GUNMAN. The D of P was Gordon Dines who worked on THE BLUE LAMP, THE LONG ARM, TRAIN OF EVENTS and the great ww2 film THE CRUEL SEA. Colleano was an American born actor who appeared in noir such as INTERPOL, ESCAPE BY NIGHT, GOOD TIME GIRL, WANTED FOR MURDER and JOE MACBETH. (b/w)

Terry Weldon I remember some scenes in this film being shot at the end of the street I lived in in East London. As a 12 year old boy I was fascinated by the way they moved the bus stop so Earl Cameron and Susan Shaw could pop into the nearby café for a drink. Other scenes were filmed in the local music hall, the Queens Theatre and in the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Every time I drive through there I remember this movie. And what a great film, the cast, plot, location all perfect. Along with other contributors I also cannot understand why there has been no DVD release. There are far less deserving films which have been released. If the powers that be ever read these comments please consider releasing this on DVD.