I confess that I know nothing about Director Gordon Parry. As far as I can tell, the rather good FRONT PAGE STORY, starring Jack Hawkins, is the only other film he has directed that I have watched.
Both films have strong, structured stories, but TREAD SOFTLY, STRANGER has the advantage of Diana Dors in the greatest form ever, even managing to deliver a credible performance. That said, plaudits must go to George Baker and Terence Morgan for playing two brothers understandably smitten with Dors - a temptress who wants money and gets them to steal for her, even if one (Baker) only does it to help his brother out of a tough situation and can clearly see Dors for the gold digger she is. Morgan is more impressionable and becomes a puppet in her horny hands, despite knowing that she does not love him but loves his brother instead.
Baker leaves London because of a bad debt and seeks refuge in his backwater birthplace, Rawborough, a small railway stop town with a factory that keeps spewing fumes, like a smouldering hell consuming its residents, some of whom question Baker's return from "lovely London" to dingy Rawborough. The brighter of the two brothers, Baker sensibly destroys the money that his brother stole from the factory where he works... too little too late. From the moment the brothers broke the law, and in particular when an old factory security guard is accidentally shot dead, the gods of Greek tragedy (and the British production code which wanted no bad examples to encourage the already rising crime rate) predetermine punishment for them.
Baker has the smarts to know that police need proof in order to charge them, but panicking Morgan cannot resist blind justice.
Dors' final declaration that she will wait for Baker floats off with the breeze swirling around the rooftops of the bedroom she rents.
Solid chiaroscuro cinematography from the excellent Douglas Slocombe, arresting script from Minter and O'Dell.
Definitely worth watching. 8/10.
Both films have strong, structured stories, but TREAD SOFTLY, STRANGER has the advantage of Diana Dors in the greatest form ever, even managing to deliver a credible performance. That said, plaudits must go to George Baker and Terence Morgan for playing two brothers understandably smitten with Dors - a temptress who wants money and gets them to steal for her, even if one (Baker) only does it to help his brother out of a tough situation and can clearly see Dors for the gold digger she is. Morgan is more impressionable and becomes a puppet in her horny hands, despite knowing that she does not love him but loves his brother instead.
Baker leaves London because of a bad debt and seeks refuge in his backwater birthplace, Rawborough, a small railway stop town with a factory that keeps spewing fumes, like a smouldering hell consuming its residents, some of whom question Baker's return from "lovely London" to dingy Rawborough. The brighter of the two brothers, Baker sensibly destroys the money that his brother stole from the factory where he works... too little too late. From the moment the brothers broke the law, and in particular when an old factory security guard is accidentally shot dead, the gods of Greek tragedy (and the British production code which wanted no bad examples to encourage the already rising crime rate) predetermine punishment for them.
Baker has the smarts to know that police need proof in order to charge them, but panicking Morgan cannot resist blind justice.
Dors' final declaration that she will wait for Baker floats off with the breeze swirling around the rooftops of the bedroom she rents.
Solid chiaroscuro cinematography from the excellent Douglas Slocombe, arresting script from Minter and O'Dell.
Definitely worth watching. 8/10.