Man from Tangier (1957) starring Robert Hutton, Lisa Gastoni, Martin Benson, Derek Sydney, Leonard Sachs, Emerton Court, Richard Shaw, Robert Raglan directed by Lance Comfort Movie Review

Man from Tangier (1957)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Robert Hutton in Man from Tangier (1957)

Chuck in a Muck

In Tangiers a criminal called Armstrong (Emerton Court) kills a man in order to get his hands on a box containing valuable forging plates. Armstrong is not the only one after the plates as a man called Voss (Martin Benson) wants them and sends his assistant Michelle (Lisa Gastoni) to London, where Armstrong has headed, to get the plates. A confusion in a barbers shops sees an actor by the names of Chuck Collins (Robert Hutton) end up with Armstrong's coat which contains his receipt for the baggage depository leaving Armstrong in a fluster. When Collins realises he has the wrong coat he tries to return it to Armstrong at his hotel but finds himself drawn into this dangerous mess as he meets Michelle.

As compliments go the most gracious I can get when it comes to "Man from Tangier" is that at 66 minutes it doesn't last long. That isn't me telling you that it is a bad movie just one which is a rather inspired b-movie from the 1950s. It works through the storyline in an effective manner but never once brings that story to life or brings any great style to proceedings.

Lisa Gastoni in Man from Tangier (1957)

I suppose part of the trouble with "Man from Tangier" is that the basic storyline is all too familiar in the way it is constructed. We have Collins who is the innocent man drawn into the mess surrounding forgery plates, we have a woman who is attractive, police investigating a murder and of course some double crosses as well. It basically ticks a few boxes but never thinks outside of the box to do something new or interesting with the ideas.

It is the same with the characters as they all tick boxes from Collins being a handsome good guy to various shady looking men lurking in the shadows. But none of these characters have any character and so the performances end up ultimately forgettable, solid but distinctly forgettable.

What this all boils down to is that "Man from Tangier" might be of interest to those studying old movies of the 50s but beyond that it offers little other than by the book b-movie entertainment.


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