Quite splendid and surprisingly good British film with marvellous and evocative location shooting, mainly in and around the Tower Bridge and the docks. Fast moving, with decent story, well acted and directed, I am amazed I have never come across this before. Living in Greenwich, I was particularly thrilled to see a sequence shot in the Maritime Museum plus a shot which included a glimpse of what looked like a derelict observatory, certainly not surrounded by tourists as it is today. Also great to see the power station billowing smoke and absolutely no docklands development beyond. Earl Cameron plays the West Indian sailor who is shown getting pretty close to the action, even if he is considered, 'Just like all the rest.' Good to see he has continued to work right up to the present. Unlike the co-lead, very popular in his day apparently, Bonar Colleano, who died in a motor accident eight years after making this. Not a 'noir' as some have suggested, but a rattling good yarn and if you are interested in a glimpse of early post-war London, trams and all, this is a must.

Pool of London – 1951

Bonar Colleano headlines this first rate noir from the U.K. Colleano is a crewman on a ship doing the London to Holland run. He supplements his wages with a bit of smuggling, cigarettes, nylons, a couple of bottles of brandy and the like. After he drops off his new batch of smokes with his contact, he is asked if he would be interested in some "real cash". All he has to do is drop off a cigarette case sized package to an address in Holland next trip. Colleano agrees to the deal and then hits the bars for a few with his girl, Moria Lister. What he does not know is that he is moving the proceeds of a diamond robbery where a night watchman had been killed. Lister, who made a career out of playing shrew like wives and the like, soon talks Colleano into looking in the package. Once Colleano sees the diamonds he realizes he is in over his head. What is he to do? He talks one of his crew-mates, Earl Cameron, into taking the package on board. Of course the whole thing starts to unravel when Lister's eavesdropping sister blabs to the police. Then Colleano's ship is held in port by police and custom's officers. The Police are waiting for Bonar to show so they can arrest him. The mob behind the robbery then grab him up for a small talk as to why his ship is crawling with John Law. Shoved into a car at the end of a gun he is "asked" to return the diamonds. He can't since he has already given them to Cameron. This leads to a less than friendly exchange where Colleano collects a bullet in the shoulder before making an escape. He heads for his ship to stop his friend Cameron from boarding the ship. Colleano knows the police will search Cameron and assume he was in on the deal. Colleano gets there just in time, collects the package from Cameron and turns himself over to the police. All he had wanted to do was make a few bucks. A much better film than I make it sound.

Rest of the cast includes J.R. Justice, Susan Shaw, Leslie Phillips, Michael Golden, Johnny Longren, Victor Maddren, Ian Bannen and Alfie Bass. The film was directed by Basil Deardon. Deardon helmed several very good UK noir, CAGE OF GOLD, SAPPHIRE, NOWHERE TO GO, THE GENTLE GUNMAN. The D of P was Gordon Dines who worked on THE BLUE LAMP, THE LONG ARM, TRAIN OF EVENTS and the great ww2 film THE CRUEL SEA. Colleano was an American born actor who appeared in noir such as INTERPOL, ESCAPE BY NIGHT, GOOD TIME GIRL, WANTED FOR MURDER and JOE MACBETH. (b/w)

Basil Dearden, a director with a social conscience, directed this, the first British film to star a black actor (Earl Cameron) and also depict an interracial romance.

The crew of a cargo ship, Dunmar, arrives at the Pool of London. The crew has weekend furlough. However, before they leave, they have to tell customs if they are declaring anything.

Dan MacDonald (Bonar Colleano) and his pal Johnny Lambert (Earl Cameron) head for London, where Dan meets his current girlfriend, Maisie (Moira Lister). Johnny meets Pat (Susan Shaw),a ticket vendor.

Dan, the type who is always looking for a main chance, is offered a cool 100 pounds by a gangster to bring a small box with him to Rotterdam. What Dan doesn't know is that during the jewel robbery, a guard is killed - not in the plan. Now the police are after them.

Dan's girlfriend is more ruthless than he is. She realizes the box must contain jewels that were stolen during the robbery talked about on the radio. Opening the box, they find diamonds.

Dan is often in trouble with the customs officer, so he asks Johnny to carry the box for him. As Scotland Yard closes in, he knows the police will find the box on Johnny and accuse him. So should he warn him?

Extremely atmospheric British film, with a subplot of Johnny, a black seamen, having a romance with a white woman (Susan Shaw),which was considered scandalous. There is an undertone of racism throughout. It is obvious that Johnny sees himself as different, an outcast.

The bombing from the blitz is still evident, and some of the action takes place near the Tower Bridge.

Max Adrian plays an acrobat whose skills are used during the robbery.

Very good movie, compared often to "The Blue Lamp" as it is about police procedure. It's also about friendship, greed, and desire.

Some trivia: Earl Cameron recently died at 102, while the other lead, Bonar Colleano, died in a car accident at age 34. He actually was married to an actress in the film, Susan Shaw.