Strongroom (1962): BFI

Co-director of South West Silents and Film Noir UK James Harrison continues to review the new crime releases thanks to BFI. Plus, a chance to win a new copy of 1962's Strongroom!

The 1962 thriller Strongroom isn’t a title that really stands out when it comes to British crime films, but it really should. In fact, thanks to this new release from the BFI (with a newly remastered 2K scan) lets hope that this film, and many more British crime films from the 1950s and 1960s, get a new lease of life.

To be honest, this release should also give a new lease of life to the film’s director. Vernon Sewell (1903-2001) had a significant career in British cinema and is very much overlooked by many. Sewell started his film career in the sound department at Cecil Hepworth’s Nettlefold Studios located in Walton-on-Thames. Sewell then found himself under the wing of film director Michael Powell, working on Powell’s break out masterpiece, The Edge of the World (1937) in which Sewell worked as Powell’s personal assistant as well as (bit of a random one this) captain of the yacht used in the film; it’s worth noting that Sewell had a passion for sailing.

Later in life, Powell would write that “He (Vernon) is the most competent man I have ever known”; and it showed, Sewell’s relationship with Powell continued (he worked on 1939’s The Spy in Black) and by the time of the Second World War he was directing a film that both Powell and Pressburger produced, The Silver Fleet (1943).

But it is the post-war films that really stand out when it comes to Sewell’s directing. Forgotten British noirish gems such as The Black Widow (1951), The Dark Light (1951) and Soho Incident (1956) are all worth a watch, particularly Soho Incident, thanks to a fantastic performance by Faith Domergue.

Strongroom is situated in the later part of Sewell’s career and is, in fact, probably his last great film; most certainly his last crime film anyway.

Strongroom is a sharp, lean thriller that tells the story of a trio of small-time crooks who plan a heist on the Saturday of the Easter bank holiday weekend. The heist, while successful initially, turns into a race against time when the gang lock the bank’s manager (Colin Gordon) and secretary (Ann Lynn) into the airtight vault with only a small amount of air (and time) left. The problem is. No one knows about the heist has happened, let alone about the pair locked in the vault.

The film is all about fate; the entire aspect of the story is set around how being in the wrong place at the wrong time (especially on a bank holiday) could be fatal. And just like any film noir, fate takes over and makes this very simple British crime film into something rather unique.

Strongroom is also a film about class, with working class, middle and upper class all crashing into one space. The bank is a place of interaction from the Bank Manager (armed with bow tie and hoping to get onto the golf course), the Secretary (off on holiday for the weekend), the Clerk of the bank, the cleaners and, of course, the robbers themselves.

There is also humour within the film thanks to the Bank’s cleaners, both played brilliantly by Diana Chesney and Hilda Fenemore as well as Duncan Lewis as Charlie, the mortuary attendant, who almost steals the scene from under Derren Nesbitt’s nose. And as for Derren Nesbitt, he is truly perfect in the role as bank robber Griff.

And this release by the BFI is most certainly one to celebrate the work of Nesbitt as Strongroom is accompanied by another fantastic British noir. In fact, the inclusion of The Man in the Back Seat (1961) as an extra is a perfect as the film stars both Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner (this time where the roles found in Strongroom have been swapped) and directed by Sewell himself. And just like Strongroom, The Man in the Back Seat is another film that showcases how fate can be all so cruel. In all honesty, I do find The Man in the Back Seat (which lasts 57mins) the more superior film; so much so that I had been planned to screen it during last year’s Film Noir Fest. Fingers crossed for this November’s edition, I guess.

Other extras on the release include two fascinating commentaries with both the BFI’s Dr Josephine Botting and Vic Pratt that cover both Strongroom and The Man in the Back Seat. There is also a chance to see a number of related shorts including the earliest British crime film (1896’s Footpads), Sewell’s 1937 short, A Test for Love (all about venereal diseases), the equivalent of a 1950s City Symphony film in the shape of Donovan Winter’s 1957 film The Awakening Hour which has a crime edge to it; all of which is set in London.

The extras continue with a 1979 COI London film After Dark which was edited by Strongroom’s editor John Trumper (who also edited Get Carter and The Italian Job) as well as the chance to listen to a 1992 interview with Trumper for the British Entertainment History Project. On top of all of this, an essay filled booklet with essential reading by James Bell and Barry Forshaw is worth the price of the release alone.

But the real gem for this set is the chance to see both Strongroom and The Man in the Back Seat on one set and both look and sound gorgeous. Highly recommend this release to the hilt!