TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Griff Lees 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.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Maddyclassicfilms The Long Memory is directed by Robert Hamer, is based on the novel by Howard Clewes and stars John Mills, Geoffrey Keen, Elizabeth Sellars, John Slater, Eva Bergh and John McCallum.Davidson (John Mills) goes aboard a boat to ask his girlfriends father if he can marry her. Criminal associates of her father are also aboard and when a fight breaks out one of the gang is killed. Davidson is wrongly accused of the crime by his girlfriend and her father so they don't incriminate the man actually responsible.Wrongly convicted and sent to prison Davidson dreams of getting revenge. When he gets out he goes looking for those who accused him. His girlfriend (Elizabeth Sellars) is now married to a Police Inspector (John McCallum). An eager journalist called Craig (Geoffrey Keen)believes Davidson when he says he is innocent and he follows him as he goes after those who were on the boat that night.The film is interesting too for the viewer because part of you want's Davidson to dish out some revenge but at the same time you don't want him to, if he does he will end up back in prison again or worse receive the death penalty. Mills is excellent as an ordinary, decent man who's life is turned upside down and because of that becomes embittered and obsessed. It's a rare dark role for Mills and he is brilliant, it's a shame he was never able to play more characters like this. He really lets us see the rage this man has lurking just beneath the surface and lets you see how driven he is to get revenge.The ever wonderful Keen is a treat as the journalist who knows he's on to a good story and also believes in Davidson's innocence.Eva Bergh is excellent as a young waitress at a café who befriends Davidson and ends up falling in love with him, their scenes together are very tender and Mills does a good job of showing he is coming to care for her but doesn't want to risk trusting her again after the way his girlfriend treated him. You want this pair to get together and you hope all will work out well for them.Sellars is good as the woman who only cares about herself and doesn't realise until much later just what her accusations cost Davidson.This is a very good thriller and I love it's use of grimy and stark real locations. Strong performances and a gripping story make this well worth a watch.

Leofwine_draca A pretty good little British thriller which I happened to catch, unexpectedly, on television late one morning. John Mills (slightly miscast as a rough type) plays a guy fresh from doing a 12-year-stretch who decides to get revenge on those who were responsible for him being locked up for all those years. Yes, it's an overly-familiar story still being utilised even today (in the likes of OLDBOY), but it does well with the set-up.Mills sets up a kind of temporary home or shelter on some rotting hulks out on the mudflats and it's a highly effective place to build atmosphere. Sadly, the thriller aspects of the story are slightly less compelling than I was hoping for, although the characterisation is strong. Mills is the consummate professional and the supporting cast give some choice performances, including an early turn for James Bond's M, Geoffrey Keen. There are some great slices of action and chase scenes towards the climax which help to build excitement and make this a solid effort for the British studios of the era.

robert-temple-1 This is a highly superior British film directed by Robert Hamer. All of the cast give splendid performances, and there are some truly wonderful character roles, the best such performance coming from John Slater, who is amazingly bizarre and original. The film features a man let out of prison after twelve years for a murder he did not commit, and his search for the people who gave false witness and put him there. John Mills delivers one of his first rate performances as a grimly determined, sombre and brooding man who is obsessed with the injustice done to him. With him at the centre of the story, the entire film then becomes wholly convincing. There are some wonderful location shots, and the row of abandoned barges rotting in the mudflats of the Thames Estuary is an eerie main setting for much of the action. Elizabeth Sellars is particularly effective in making this film work. She plays a despicable coward, whose cowardice runs so deep it effects every aspect of her existence. In order to portray something as profound as this, it was essential that she do so with understatement and restraint, occasionally veering near to immobility as the fear freezes her up inside. The fact that Elizabeth Sellars does this successfully and never gives way to the temptation to overact or settle a scene with some easy broad stroke is a tribute to her professionalism. Eva Bergh is a bit too young and pretty for her part as the Eastern European refugee girl, but that is the only slightly false note. Thora Hird is marvellous, as always. John McCallum underplays his police inspector-married-to-a-dodgy witness role very satisfactorily. The story culminates in the main characters having to face moral choices, so that this powerful, gripping and effective thriller is not only well made, but has a worthy purpose.

Neil-117 Crime, punishment, revenge, love and redemption are the big themes of this short movie. The moral bleakness surrounding John Mills, as a man unjustly jailed and now seeking revenge, is reflected in the powerfully stark black and white landscape images which accompany the action. But the issues are far from black and white - the guilty, the innocent and even the investigating policeman are all caught up in the moral dilemmas explored by this clever and thoughtful script. Ultimately all the characters learn that punishment can take many forms, in a conclusion which is both gripping and surprising.It's not light entertainment, but don't be put off by its serious tone and gritty subject matter. Once seen, this movie will live long in your memory.