Rendez-vous avec le crime (1946) watch online HD

This decent British noir is about a petty crook who gets out of prison and is caught between the police looking for a murderer and the crooks who got him put in prison in a smash and grab job. It is a lot grittier than American noir. William Hartnell is very believable as the ex-con and Joyce Howard is fine as the not-too-bright dance hall girl who believes him. American noirs seem to have a sheen of glamor in comparison to this underclass melodrama.

There is a strong homosexual component to the underworld in this movie, with Herbert Lom as an effete foreign crime boss; his chief henchman plays his role as flamboyantly homosexual, just shy of a British comedy. The whole thing looks shot cheaply, which adds to the grime, and the direction and actors don't seem to do full justice to the script, but the net effect is decent. Worth a look.

William Hartnell is part of a smash & grab crew led by Raymond Lovell. When Hartnell smashes a jeweler's window, a protective gate drops on his wrists, breaking them, and the crew takes off without him before the police arrives. After serving time in prison, Hartnell wants to get even with Lovell and his crew, by framing him for the murder of his chauffeur, using Lovell's gun. He establishes an alibi for himself through dancer-for-hire Joyce Howard, but police inspector Robert Beatty thinks Howard is a bit too eager to support Hartnell's alibi and digs deeper. Lovell's gun however belongs to Herbert Lom, art dealer by day, Lovell's criminal boss by night. So rather than getting even with Lovell, Hartnell now has to deal with the police, as well as Lom.

Hartnell ('Brighton Rock', the first Doctor Who) plays his character as tightly wound as possible (or incredibly stiff, depending on your point of view), which works well for me. Every time you sorta start to feel sympathy for him, he does something mean again (despite caring for Howard, he still deceives and lies to her to save his own skin). Lom ('Night And The City', 'Hell Drivers') is great as a suave crook. They are the standouts in an otherwise decent but unremarkable cast. I wish Joyce Howard's character wasn't written as naively as it is, it doesn't work too well with the 'street wise' side of her character.

The movie starts out great with a quick set-up and some really nicely done shots, including extreme Dutch angles and shadow-rich scenes. I was hoping for a precursor to the awesome 'Brighton Rock' already, but after a while things start to lose steam. There are still plenty of shadows and decent shots, but the plot becomes unnecessarily muddy and even slow in places. It is however gritty, both in Hartnell's character as in the overall feel. Not a bad effort from director & writer John Harlow (who also directed/wrote a couple of Sexton Blake movies) but it doesn't live up to the great first 10-15 minutes. 6.5/10

Okay British crime drama with William Hartnell as a crook who gets caught in a smash and grab when a gate falls on his wrists. When he gets out of prison he tells his boss he wants money for not saying anything- the boss says no so Hartnell plots revenge.

This is the first lead role I've seen with Hartnell outside of Doctor Who and it's clear why he was always a character. He's incredibly stiff, which made him perfect for the soldiers and policemen he often played in other films.

The film just missed for me being more stylized than anything-tilted cameras people standing in tableaux. There is something there that makes it better than just a typical crime film, but at the same time there is a formality that under cuts it.

Decent film noir with a U.K. twist. William Hartnell plays a gang member who gets left behind when a robbery goes wrong. He is grabbed up by the police but refuses to give up the other gang members. He is sent up the river for several years to think about his choice of employment. When he gets out he lets the crime boss, Herbert Lom, know that he expects a nice payoff for time spent in jail. Lom does not see it the same way and decides to dispose of Hartnell. This causes the bodies to pile up since Hartnell is not willing to go without a fight. Hartnell is quite good in this better than expected low budget crime film. Well worth catching it if you can find it. (b/w)

For me, noir is a very specific form. It is as pervasive and important an invention as Jazz.

The thing that distinguishes it is a main character who is put through the wringer in circumstances that would never occur if there were not us ghosts watching and manipulating reality.

It had a long incubation period in the 30s with much experimentation, then a brief period of pure noir bracketed by Welles' projects. Along the way are other experiments; this is one that failed. Here we have our average joe caught up in events. But we learn he is a petty crook to begin with, and when things go wrong he plots to get even.

The experiments here are:

— he is not completely an innocent and not afraid to harm others.

— the control of events in the film is neither with him or us (until a final irony on the last few seconds). Nor does it alternate.

— the bad guys here are stereotypically gay.

So mark this one up to a British experiment with this new US-generated noir idea. Experiments like this that fail are important in defining the vocabulary we use, perhaps more than what works.

It was a effort to watch this tale of a petty thug's quest for revenge against fellow thugs who left him behind in a botched smash and grab robbery. Leo Martin goes to prison for years and thinks only of getting even with his erstwhile colleagues. So he sets up an elaborate plot and alibi which of course goes awry. William Hartnell is either very miscast in this part or just a normally stiff and unconvincing actor. His character is unlikable, uninteresting and bland. The only reason I kept watching this was because of the appearance of Herbert Lom but not even he could save this dog. The one highlight of the film for me was Wilfred Hyde White's bit but a one minute appearance does not make up for over an hour of dreary boredom.

William Hartnell plays an arrogant, tough-as-nails, hoodlum in "Echo Murders" writer & director John Harlow's "Appointment with Crime," a grim, British, black & white thriller about treachery in the London underworld. Robert Beatty and Herbert Lom co-star in this atmospheric yarn. The incident that sets this grisly chain of events into motion is a botched jewelry heist in Bond Street with Leo Martin (William Hartnell of "Dr. Who") getting the surprise of his life. Leo smashes the display window of a jewelry shop with a brick. As he seizes a fistful of jewelry in each hand, a metal grate pins him by the wrists in the commission of his crime. Although he was caught and imprisoned, Leo refuses to inform on his accomplices, Gus Loman (Raymond Lovell of "The 49th Parallel") and Hatchet (Victor Weske), but he broods over their treachery while in prison. Leo murders Hatchet with a pistol that he took away from Loman, and then he blackmails Loman with the gun because it has Loman's fingerprints on it. The devious Leo designs an alibi that involves a dancer, Carol Dane (Joyce Howard of "Shadow of the Past"), who works at the club where Loman has a upstairs office. Meantime, Loman is considerably agitated because he lifted the pistol from a wealthy crime boss, Gregory Lang (Herbert Lom of "Hell Drivers"), without the latter's knowledge. Now, he seeks Lang's help. The sagacious Lang summons a man named Noel Penn (Alan Wheatley of "Spaceways"), who is conspicuously homosexual, to deal with both Loman and Leo. Noel takes his business to another compatriot who liquidates Loman and runs down Leo, but Leo manages to escape getting his feet in cement for a plunge in the Thames. This nifty little crime melodrama about 'crime does not pay' ends predictably bad for the unscrupulous rat that Hartnell plays.

William Hartnell (Leo Martin) feels he has been set up in a jewellery robbery that goes wrong. He is caught and sent to prison and then emerges keen on confronting his pals that let him down, ie Raymond Lovell (Gus Loman) who now owns a successful nightclub and chauffeur Victor Weske (Hatchett). He commits a murder and frames Lovell with blackmail by using Lovell's gun. However, Lovell's gun actually belongs to gang mastermind Herbert Lom (Gregory Land) and Lovell, in turn, blackmails Lom. Robert Beatty (Rogers) is the detective responsible for solving this murder and he pursues Hartnell and the dancehall hostess Joyce Howard (Carol) who Hartnell has been spending all his time with.

While the story is quite entertaining and has some clever moments, eg, the orangeade scene and it's later significance, the cast let things down. The worst offenders are the VERY unconvincing baddie Alan Wheatley (Noel), Joyce Howard, Raymond Lovell and William Hartnell. There are also minor characters that irritate. In fact, the film is only saved by Herbert Lom and Robert Beatty - a completely different league to the others. Not because they are doing anything outstanding but because they are capable of a competent, believable performance.

Alan Wheatley - convincing as a flowery homosexual but utterly wrong as a gangster. Awfully camp dialogue delivery. Joyce Howard - laughably bad at acting. Terrible diction. Raymond Lovell - another unconvincing gangster. Miscast as heavy with a lisp. William Hartnell - trying too hard to be tough. Pitches his voice in a semi-shout which can be hilarious (eg, when Howard asks his name, he shouts at her "Leo the Lion") but is mostly annoying.

Overall, the film is OK while you are watching but it needs a cast transplant. It has the potential to be a good film but this lot ruin it somewhat.

I was not familiar with the director or lead actor but I wanted to see this film for the great Herbert Lom who has a small but significant role. I don't like it when film buffs call a movie a "film noir" simply because it is a dark photoplay. To me a classic film noir has a femme fatal that leads a man down the road to ruin. In this film the female lead is an innocent dance hall girl that does not go bad nor does she lead any man to ruin! But the story was well told with an engaging plot, fascinating characters and an original look and feel that I recommend to anyone who thinks they've seen it all.

SPOILERS: The story is basically a revenge tale told of a petty thief forced to commit a crime who is caught and seeks revenge on those who set him up. After being released from jail his hunt for satisfaction leads him to murder and a carefully planned alibi with a lovely tough- girl.

The cast and directors are written about here on the IMDb and elsewhere on the web so I will not go into those details here. Bottom line, I found this little film engaging and entertaining and I want to thank Steve Haynes and the gang at Cinevent (annual silent & early sound film festival held every Memorial Day weekend in Columbus, Ohio) for projecting forgotten gems like this up on the BIG SCREEN where they should be seen/discovered, with an audience and enjoyed for the past 43 years!

Convoluted plot.Instead,like many a villain,he keeps schtum and plans revenge on his co - freres whilst doing his bird. I read the word "noir" freely bandied about in reference to "Appointment with crime" but as I watched it I saw only a semi - quota picture with second division actors doing their best to look and sound tough - mainly by glaring and speaking loudly it should be said. I think "eccentric" would be a better word to describe it,and I use the term generously. At a time when homosexuality was frowned upon(it wasn't illegal to be gay - just illegal to commit homosexual acts - a fine distinction to be sure),it was quite brave to present two characters with overtly camp mannerisms that weren't remotely funny. Revenge,they say,is a dish best served cold,or alternately,if you go out for revenge first dig two graves. Mr Hartnell's spiv may or not have been aware of these aphorisms and if he was he probably wouldn't have cared. In his world he would have been less of a man if he let people take liberties. "Appointment with crime" is one of many good British films forgotten or neglected rather unfairly. Everyone does what was expected of them,the direction has many nice touches and with everybody gone to that big studio in the sky I may be seeing things through rose - coloured glasses but for all its many repellent characters it does have a certain charm.

I'm giving this 7 stars mostly for the first half of the picture. If you're bored by bloated, CGI filled epics such as Hollywood has been grinding out for the last few years than this evidently early swing at film noir from Britain can be a refreshing change.

In the first half you've got a lot of out of the ordinary camera work that will keep your interested, and a host of unusual characters. The star portrays a cold blooded, almost robotic killer who's mixed up with a boss who looks and sounds like a British Orson Welles and then there's Herbert Lom as the over boss who seems a bit swishy. Not to mention some other English actors who are unfamiliar and a bit unusual.

Unfortunately the film seems to sag about half way through and never quite recovers though it can still be worth hanging on to the end,