The Good Die Young

"The Good Die Young" is a slog of a movie with an excess of plot development and a lack of action. Much of it is told in flashback dealing with how the disparate group of robbers was assembled. They are Harvey, Basehart, Ireland and Baker. Never have more time and words been spent in establishing motive and circumstance than in this talk-a-thon of a picture. On the distaff side of the cast are Gloria Grahame (trampy wife), Joan Collins (stalwart wife), and Margaret Leighton(worldly older wife). All acquit themselves very well and acting on both sides may be the only reason to stick this one out. The story itself is not bad, it just takes too long to get underway and by that time one's patience has been severely tried. I had a slight problem with the artificial denouement. I found the coincidental meeting of principals too far-fetched and defying the element of time, but at that point I just wanted it to end.

One of the earliest films of Lawrence Harvey and Joan Collins makes a big impact on the screen. Add good performance by Richard Basehart, Gloria Grahame, Stanley Baker, and John Ireland, and you have a star-studded cast in a rather ordinary crime caper. But it is not the crime that is the highlight of the film, it is the delirious over the top performance by Harvey that marks him as an actor to be watched in the future after 1954. The story of three men down on their luck taking direction from a rich, spoiled aristocrat (are there any other kind?) is a relatively unlikely scenario, but one that the audience might find very convenient for a good story. And this one is a good story.

What a cast! Basehart, Harvey, Baker, and Ireland turn out stunning performances in this British film noir entry. The story is of three decent men, on hard times that are enticed to robbery by the one bad seed amongst them (Harvey). Also interesting to view Joan Collins in an early role, man she was REALLY hot when she was young. The tale is told in flashback, and younger viewers, more inclined to slash and bang, might find it a bit slow, but the ending is both subtle and surprising. A good one.

An attempt by the British to make a noirish thriller in the American style and it almost pays off. It's strong on atmosphere, with some superb nighttime photography, and it has an outstanding cast even if some of them are not at their best. It's both an heist movie and a character study that delves into the lives and backgrounds of the criminals on the job, by way of flashbacks. They are Laurence Harvey, Stanley Baker, (both very good), Richard Basehart and John Ireland, (less so), and their women include a young and highly inadequate Joan Collins, Gloria Grahame, (winging it), and a marvelous Margaret Leighton who plays the woman who is married to Harvey and who keeps him and who was also married to him in real life. The serviceable Lewis Gilbert directs with real flair. Gilbert never made the front ranks yet many of his films were surprisingly entertaining and well-made. This is one of them.