The Long Arm aka The Third Key (Dir: Charles Frend, 1956).
Originally posted on Instagram 18/05/19:
The final movie shot at Ealing Studios before production shifted to the MGM British Studios. The Long Arm, retitled The Third Key in the US, stars Jack Hawkins as phlegmatic detective superintendent Tom Halliday, busy pursuing a safecracker while neglecting his family.
Charles Frend directs in a somewhat low-key documentary style which recalls earlier Ealing police drama The Blue Lamp (Basil Dearden, 1950). The attempted realistic portrayal of unglamorous, often mundane police work results in a movie which is less a thriller and more a police procedural drama.
Hawkins is as dependable as ever in the lead and the film benefits from its use of real life locations, in particular an exciting climax at the Royal Festival Hall.
While not quite as satisfying a movie as the classic The Blue Lamp, The Long Arm is still a neat little drama; notable for both its place in British film history and its considerable entertainment value.
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