Offbeat (film)
Offbeat (AKA The Devil Inside in the U.S.) is a 1961 black-and-white British crime film directed by Cliff Owen and starring William Sylvester, Mai Zetterling, John Meillon and Anthony Dawson.[1] In the film, an MI5 officer goes undercover to catch a criminal gang.
Offbeat | |
---|---|
Directed by | Cliff Owen |
Produced by | E.M. Smedley-Aston |
Written by | Peter Barnes |
Starring | William Sylvester Mai Zetterling John Meillon Anthony Dawson |
Music by | Ken Jones |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
Production company | Northiam Productions |
Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date | 1961 |
Running time | 71 mins |
Language | English |
Cast
- William Sylvester - Layton / Steve Ross
- Mai Zetterling - Ruth Lombard
- John Meillon - Johnny Hemick
- Anthony Dawson - James Dawson
- Neil McCarthy - Leo Farrell
- Harry Baird - Gill Hall
- John Phillips - Supt. Gault
- Victor Brooks - Inspector Adams
- Diana King - Maggie Dawson
- Gerard Heinz - Jake
- Ronald Adam - J. B. Wykenham
- Neil Wilson - Pat Ryan
- Joseph Furst - Paul Varna
- Nan Munro - Sarah Bennett
- Anthony Baird - Constable
Critical reception
TV Guide gave the film 2.5 out of four stars, calling it a "good programmer" ;[2] and Mystery File wrote, "after a slow beginning, I’d have to say that halfway into the film if not earlier, I was hooked to the screen, waiting for the answer. A minor film, to be sure, but recommended, definitely so."[3] The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane describe it as "a work of genuine ideological dissonance which questioned the conventional wisdom about crime and punishment", and they note that Kinematograph Weekly said at the time that Offbeat "carries a kick of one twice its size".[4]
References
- "BFI Database entry". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
- "Offbeat". TV Guide.
- "» Movie Review: OFFBEAT (1963)".
- Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, p. 59.