The Safecracker

The Safecracker
Directed by	Ray Milland
Produced by	David E. Rose John R. Sloan
Written by	Rhys Davies Bruce Thomas Paul Monash
Starring	Ray Milland Barry Jones Jeanette Sterke Victor Maddern
Music by	Richard Rodney Bennett
Cinematography	Gerald Gibbs
Edited by	Ernest Walter
Production company	Coronado Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	1958 (1958)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$471,000
Box office	$855,000

The Safecracker is a 1958 British crime film directed by Ray Milland and starring Ray Milland, Barry Jones and Victor Maddern.

Plot

Colley Dawson lives a quiet life at home with his mother, but his real life is lived as an expert safecracker at weekends, breaking into wealthy homes and stealing valuable art. When he's eventually arrested and convicted, Colley is approached in prison by Army Major Adbury. He's offered a deal by the Major in exchange for helping with the war effort. Colley will be given his freedom if he uses his safecracking expertise to perform a mission behind enemy lines. The dangerous mission is to break into a difficult safe in a Nazi chateau and steal a list of German spies operating in England. Colley agrees and soon finds himself being trained up as a commando and parachuted into Belgium for the caper of his life.

Cast

• Ray Milland as Colley Dawson
• Barry Jones as Bennett Carfield
• Jeanette Sterke as Irene
• Victor Maddern as Morris
• Ernest Clark as Major Adbury
• Cyril Raymond as Inspector Frankham
• Melissa Stribling as Angela
• Percy Herbert as Sergeant Harper
• Barbara Everest as Mrs. Dawson
• Anthony Nicholls as General Prior
• David Horne as Herbert Fenwright
• Colin Gordon as Dakers
• Clive Morton as Sir George Turvey
• John Welsh as Inspector Owing
• Colin Tapley as Colonel Charles Mercer
• Ian MacNaughton as Thomson
• Charles Lloyd-Pack as Lambert
• Ferdy Mayne as Greek Ship Owner
• Arnold Bell as Detective
• Basil Dignam as Air Vice Marshal
• Sam Kydd as McCullers
• Hilda Fenemore as Mrs. McCullers
• David Lodge as Parachute Instructor
• Richard Marner as German N.C.O

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $280,000 in the US and Canada and $675,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $59,000.

In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther called it " a good, not great, suspense thriller," adding, "The film is full of those tense situations in which the hero slips into a room and opens a safe in terrifying silence. Mr. Milland is good in it. So is Barry Jones."

External links

• The Safecracker at IMDb