SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

tony-70-667920 I won't bother you with the plot, as other reviewers have given plenty of detail.As so often in films like this, an fading American star was imported. Pat O'Brien was 58 at the time, with what one reviewer's described as a turnip face (given his Irishness, potato face seems nearer the mark.) He looks tired, though given the character is a drunken, depressed widower, that's quite appropriate.Despite his age and lack of dynamism, O'Brien flattens three villains in a fist fight. Since one of them is played by Freddie Mills, who'd only lost the world light-heavyweight championship seven years before, that scene wasn't totally convincing (English understatement working overtime.)The heroine is played by the lovely Lois Maxwell, 30 at the time. The character is rather silly (she interferes without knowing the facts, thereby putting O'Brien's son in danger.) The film's main problem is that the leads make a very ill-matched couple, and have zero chemistry.This is the last of a string of low budget B movies Terence Fisher made in the '50s, all competently made without being inspired. Who would have thought that his next film, "The Curse of Frankenstein," would lead to a whole series of Hammer horrors, mainly directed by Fisher. The budgets for these were probably pretty low too, but he showed a real flair for Gothic horror, though the law of diminishing returns inevitably set in.A couple of footnotes. The villains operate from the office of a coffee bar in which Tommy Steele performs, too much for my taste. Steele got his start in such a place. And I think this was one of the last films made in Southall studios: the area has changed an awful lot since those days.

Leofwine_draca KILL ME TOMORROW is a low rent British thriller from a decade chock-full of such pictures. Many of them were, like this one, rather undistinguished, but still interesting to film fans thanks to their casting of famous and not-so famous faces alongside familiar production figures from the industry. Despite the nondescript storyline, KILL ME TOMORROW is worth a watch thanks to Hammer director Terence Fisher's assured handiwork.The story is about a washed-up reporter, on the verge of losing his job, whose life falls apart still further when his kid falls seriously ill. Before long he falls in with a criminal gang and must strive to set things right in an increasingly complex and mean-spirited world. The writing isn't exactly stellar here, but it's fun to see American star Pat O'Brien (ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES) in a low rent British film and the supporting cast includes the familiar faces of Freddie Mills, Ronald Adam, and George Coulouris. Lois Maxwell's here too, looking lovely in the decade before she became famous as Miss Moneypenny. Tommy Steele contributes a musical number.

JohnHowardReid Somewhat over-weighted with talk and ending rather abruptly, this amounts to no more than a fair British quota quickie. True, heroine Lois Maxwell, is definitely attractive, but our hero, Pat O'Brien, is certainly showing his years. Although the movie has an "A" running time of 80 minutes, production values hover around the British "B" average. Terence Fisher's direction is competent, but disappointingly dull. However, the film does mark the first movie appearance of Tommy Steele. He has two songs: "Rebel Rock" and "Rock with the Caveman". In addition to Pat O'Brien, who at this stage of his career was not in great demand by Hollywood, the blacklisted U.S.A. exile, George Coulouris, was also on hand. But frankly neither O'Brien nor Coulouris are likely to induce many of the movie's DVD purchasers. Rather, it's keen Tommy Steele fans who will rush to buy the Video Beat DVD. (My cousin actually worked with Tommy in one of his stage appearances, and she told me that he was "a nice kid", absolutely over-awed by his almost instant success).

jamesraeburn2003 A washed up reporter called Bart Crosbie (Pat O' Brien) blackmails gang boss Heinz Webber (George Colouris) for the money to pay for his son to have a life saving operation. In return he agrees to turn himself in for the murder of his editor, whom the gang killed in order to prevent an incriminating story being printed about them.Typical poverty-row b-pic of the time directed for far more than it's worth by Terence Fisher, who within months of making this would become one of the leading British horror film directors at the Hammer studio. The script is far-fetched and teen idol Tommy Steele (guitar in hand) was drafted in to sing a poor rock and roll number called "The Rebel" at a coffee bar that acts as a legitimate front for the gang's activities.