The Third Key

This film epitomises the way the British police were shown in the cinema of the 1950s.Working long hours with long suffering wife and child.Often working more like Sherlock Holmes than a modern detective.Doing things that would horrify modern Socco police.Taking a compact out with a cigarette box.Scratching blood stains off the front of a car by way of a pen knife.Relying on lucky breaks,such as the way that the getaway car is found.Also it has to be said that the ending has been made exciting by what would be considered slipshod police work.For some unexplained reason the burgular is not cuffed so he is able to get free.This initiates the chase,where rather improbably,Hawkins,clings on to the bonnet of a car travelling at speed.However i have to say that Jack Hawkins always rises above even mediocre material.Here as in many of his films he is constantly smoking,which contributed to his sad and untimely passing.

A very good police procedural tale that is perfectly plotted from beginning to end. It concentrates mainly on the hunt for a clever burglar with a few glimpses into the personal life of Inspector Halliday, played in his best professional manner by Jack Hawkins. Every other member of the cast are just right for their roles, no matter how small. Each character adds a piece to the jigsaw. There is some fine location shooting, primarily in London. It's an engrossing detective story well worth a watch.

A electrifying cast enlivens THE LONG ARM, an enjoyable police procedural which sees Scotland Yard's finest tackling a series of mysterious burglaries in which the robbers have been getting away scot free. An opening twist is easy to guess but this draws you in thanks to the quality writing and interesting performances from a wide and varied cast of familiar faces, spearheaded by a typically excellent Jack Hawkins in one of his trademark no-nonsense performances. If you're a fan of British film you'll love this one...

British films of the 1950's stand a very good chance of being well-made and entertaining, and this is one of the best. We have this excellent film on DVD somewhere but I had forgotten just how good it is until it popped up on Talking Pictures TV channel. It had just started when I tuned in and within minutes I was hooked again. There is some superb, natural acting from Jack Hawkins (something he's very good at) and the dialogue between the principals is very well done. The story itself seems pretty standard stuff for a while, but once our man gets a break the leads come thick and fast. Then there's a lull before they work out who the villain must be and how to nab him, and it all follows perfectly believable lines all the way to the final showdown. A truly entertaining film.

An alarm goes off in an office. 90 seconds later, the police are there. The puzzled night watchman lets them in and walks them around. Eventually, the safe's alarm is reset. The next morning nine thousand pounds are missing. It seems the watchman has been in hospital for two days. Chief Inspector Jack Hawkins and his new sergeant, John Stratton are confronted with a puzzling case that will lead them all over England and Wales before they begin to get onto their unseen quarry. It's a police procedural, which is a type of mystery I don't favor, but this movie, directed by Charles Frend, is carried by a fine mystery plot, good acting and a script that shows a bit of the coppers' lives outside their work. Because it is a procedural, it shows the routine of intelligence and footwork that leads to an arrest. It's a thoroughly solid movie out of Ealing Studios.

Very solid brit crime drama. Fine performance from Jack Hawkins. Thankfully, not so much stiff upper lip as we were used, the humour between Hawkins and his sidekick the John Stratton bubbles along and the mechanics of the plot is nicely constructed and presented. A veritable glut of fine British actors both future stars like Ian Bannon and Stratford Johns and small part favourites like Sam Kydd and Harold Goodwin. Also keep an eye out for a young Nicholas Parsons playing a copper. If you're a resident of London it will be fascinating looking at the sites of our capital and seeing how much it has changed. An undiscovered gem worth digging out

I echo Mike Wilson's views on this film, it is the classic British crime drama. Jack Hawkins is superb (and I feel that John Gregson's TV portrayal of Gideon was based on this). It even has little touches of humour which succeed in making the movie real. I would also agree with Mike that the later Gideon of Scotland Yard is poor in comparison, if Jack Hawkins had played the character in the same manner as he played Supt. Halliday, it could have been perfect. The movie has just been re-issued in the UK (Feb. 2003) on VHS.