THE SECRET PLACE is a typical and very British-feeling thriller of the 1950s. That is, you know what you're going to get with this one: working class backdrops, a cosy pace, solid performances from a cast of familiar faces, and a good dollop of suspense and character-building. The late, lamented Belinda Lee has a fine femme fatale role playing an innocent woman drawn into a gang of diamond thieves; what follows is unpredictable and keeps the tension going nicely. Cast-wise, there's a slick and scary Ronald Lewis as the chief baddie, ably supported by a callow David McCallum among others. The latter half of the film moves into that 'child in peril' territory that British thrillers of the 1950s did so well.
Review of The Secret Place
