GB
1948
1hr 12mins
Dir: Alfred Goulding
Starring: Charles Stuart and Joyce Linden
The story of a criminal and his numerous escapes from prison as told to a New York newspaper editor
This forgotten low budget B-movie was in fact based on the career of criminal Stanley Thurston, who appeared in the cast as a character based on himself. Thurston was famous for his numerous escapes from prison, 5 times in 15 years. He was released from prison in October 1946. The film had trouble with the British censors who thought the film glamorised a real life criminal and Thurston had to be billed as “Charles Stuart”. It features quite rare glimpses of Manchester Victoria station, and though no locomotives are seen, a mixed freight is visible beyond the ticket barriers in one shot. A number of sequences were also filmed in Blackpool, yet the only tram we see is a single-deck Brush Railcoach.
