The End of the Line

Name: The End of the Line
Director: Charles Saunders
Released: 1959
Duration: 1 h 5 min
Cast: Alan Baxter, Barbara Shelley, Arthur Gomez

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1959
Charles Saunders
65 mins

Review

A star rating of 2 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Given their exposure to postwar American pulp, it's surprising how many writers of British crime flicks had a tin ear for hard-boiled dialogue. Paul Erickson is the culprit in this flimsy noir, which sees Barbara Shelley lure her old flame, American playwright Alan Baxter, into helping her steal some jewellery from her hotelier-cum-fence husband, Arthur Gomez. No matter how hard Baxter tries, he comes across as a hapless sap who doesn't deserve the love of Jennifer Jayne, the producer's daughter who tries to save him from himself, as well as the scheming Shelley. A fascinating but frustratingly inconsistent director, Charles Saunders struggles to rein in the usually refined Shelley, who rather pouts and over-emotes in only her second assignment after returning to Blighty from a four-year sojourn in Rome. However, Ferdy Mayne and Geoffrey Hibbert are more effective as the manager of Gomez's Soho nightclub and the shamus he has hired to keep an eye on his restless spouse.