| Scarlet Thread | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Lewis Gilbert |
| Written by | Moie Charles A.R. Rawlinson |
| Produced by | Ernest G. Roy |
| Starring | Kathleen Byron Laurence Harvey |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
| Music by | Kenneth D. Morrison |
| Distributed by | Butcher's Film Service (UK) Realart Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 mins. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Scarlet Thread is a 1951 British second feature ('B')1 crime drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and produced by Ernest G. Roy.2 It was written by Moie Charles and A.R. Rawlinson.
Plot
Two criminals plan a jewellery robbery. The robbery goes wrong and an innocent man is shot.
Cast
- Kathleen Byron as Josephine
- Laurence Harvey as Freddie
- Sydney Tafler as Marcon
- Arthur Hill as Shaw
- Dora Bryan as Maggie
- Eliot Makeham as Jason
- Harry Fowler as Sam
- Cyril Chamberlain as Mason
- Renee Kelly as Eleanor
- Hylton Allen as the Dean
Production
The film was made at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England, and on location.
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Sydney Tafler and Laurence Harvey do well as the unattractive pair of gangsters, and the characterisation and dialogue are as a whole more effective than the improbable story."3
Kine Weekly wrote: "Well-made, if slightly far-fetched romantic melodrama ... Unusual and intriguing story, exciting climax, feminine angle, and quota."4
In The Radio Times Guide to Films Allen Eyles gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "In one of his early leading roles, Laurence Harvey working with Alfie director Lewis Gilbert gives this downbeat British crime drama some modest interest. Harvey is convincingly unpleasant as the skirt-chasing spiv and petty criminal with a sleazy charm, who panics and kills a bystander during a jewel robbery. But the twist in the tale is more implausible than ironic."5
References
References
- Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
- "Scarlet Thread". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
- "Scarlet Thread". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 18 (204): 281. 1 January 1951. ProQuest 1305814418.
- "Scarlet Thread". Kine Weekly. 439 (2417): 20. 22 October 1953. ProQuest 2738578714.
- Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 808. ISBN 9780992936440.