My Brother’s Keeper **½ (1948, Jack Warner, Jane Hylton, George Cole, David Tomlinson, Bill Owen) – Classic Movie Review 10,457

Director Alfred Roome’s familiar but sturdy 1948 British crime melodrama My Brother’s Keeper is grippingly handled, with a fine performance by George Cole offsetting Jack Warner’s slightly less convincing turn, cast against his usual nice-guy type type, though they are good together.

The chase is on for a couple of handcuffed jailbirds – tough criminal old lag George Martin (Warner) and scared naive young crook Willie Stannard (Cole) – who escape from police custody. As they flee across the country, hotly pursued by a manhunt led by inspector (Valentine Dyall), constable (George Merritt) and chief constable (Jack Raine), a honeymooning journalist (David Tomlinson) is forced by his editor to cover the story.

After a talky start, My Brother’s Keeper picks up pace and ends in a strong finish.

The screenplay by Frank Harvey is based on a story by Maurice Wiltshire.

Also in the cast are Jane Hylton, Raymond Lovell, Bill Owen, Yvonne Owen, Beatrice Varley, Christopher Lee, Amy Veness, Brenda Bruce, Susan Shaw, Garry Marsh, George Merritt, Reginald Beckwith, Wilfrid Hyde White, Frederick Piper, Maurice Denham, Valentine Dyall, Jack Raine, Edie Martin, Norman Pierce, Gerald Pring, Daphne Scorer, Keith Shepherd, Douglas Stewart, Dorothy Vernon, John Warren and Ben Williams.

My Brother’s Keeper is directed by Alfred Roome, runs 96 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures, is released by Eagle-Lion and General Film Distributors, is written by Frank Harvey, based on a story by Maurice Wiltshire, is shot in Black and White by Gordon Lang and Reginald H Wyer (uncredited), is produced by Sydney Box and Anthony Darnborough, is scored by Clifton Parker and John Hollingsworth (music director) and is designed by Richard Yarrow.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,457

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