Man with a Gun (1958)

Man with a Gun is one of the countless crime B-movies churned out by Britain’s Merton Park Studios in the 50s and early 60s. It’s not dazzlingly original but it’s well-made and pretty entertaining.

Mike Davies (Lee Patterson) is an insurance investigator. He’s looking into a suspicious night club fire. The club was owned by Harry Drayson (John Le Mesurier). It soon becomes obvious that there is something more going on here, that in fact the fire was part of a plan by a gang of out-of-town hoodlums to move in on the London night club scene. All this is not really part of Davies’ job but he has a personal interest - he likes Harry Drayson and he likes Harry’s niece Stella (Rona Anderson) even more.

Superintendent Wood (Cyril Chamberlain) of Scotland Yard is taking an interest in the case but there’s no hard evidence against the gang and there’s not a lot he can do. He is however quite happy for Mike to dig up anything he can that might help.

To complicate things no-one knows the identity of the leader of the gang. To complicate things still further Drayson’s brother John used to be a member of the gang and is currently serving a sentence in one of Her Majesty’s prisons as a result. John Drayson does know the gang leader’s identity but he isn’t talking.

The gang is determined to force Drayson to sell his Stardust Club for a paltry sum and their methods become steadily more ruthless. Drayson however is a stubborn man, perhaps too stubborn for his own good.

The screenplay by Michael Winner (long before he found fame as a director) is quite serviceable and if the plot is routine it’s still pretty well executed. Veteran B-movie director Montgomery Tully does his usual competent job. The Merton Park films were always very cheap but within their budgetary limitations they generally looked reasonably good. You don’t need big money to make decent crime films. This one does its best to be hard-boiled and succeeds well enough.

It’s the rather good cast that makes this movie worth watching. Canadian-born Lee Patterson made a lot of these cheap B-films in the 50s and he has just the right kind of understated tough guy charisma. He usually played likeable but tough heroes (as in The Key Man) or sympathetic villains (as in The Flying Scot) and that’s how he plays this role and he does have a certain easy-going charm. Most importantly, Patterson knows how to wear a trench-coat convincingly!

John Le Mesurier was better known for comedy but he could handle serious roles without any problems, playing anything from sinister gangsters to smooth civil servants. His performance here is effortless and effective. Rona Anderson is more than adequate as the love interest for the hero while the supporting players are on the whole very solid by B-movie standards. Bill Nagy plays talent agent Joe Harris, Glen Mason is up-and-coming singer Steve Riley, Harold Lang is Drayson’s brother John and Marne Maitland is a wonderfully menacing hoodlum.

The film’s biggest fault is that it’s a bit too short and the ending seems very rushed. There’s not quite enough time spent building the suspense before the big revelation and the climax.

Network’s DVD release is as usual lacking in extras but offers an excellent anamorphic transfer and very good value for money.

Man with a Gun offers an hour of perfectly acceptable and surprisingly well-crafted entertainment. Despite the routine plot the fine performances, especially from Lee Patterson and John Le Mesurier, make this a slightly above average crime B-feature. Recommended.