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{{Short description|1953 film by John Gilling}}
{{Short description|1953 British film by John Gilling}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
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| name = Three Steps to the Gallows
| name = Three Steps to the Gallows
| image = Three Steps to the Gallows poster.jpg
| image = Three Steps to the Gallows poster.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[John Gilling]]
| director = [[John Gilling]]
| producer = [[Robert S. Baker]] <br> [[Monty Berman]]
| writer =
| starring = [[Scott Brady]]<br />[[Mary Castle]]
| writer = [[Paul Erickson (screenwriter)|Paul Erickson]] <Br> John Gilling
| starring = [[Scott Brady]]<br />[[Mary Castle]] <br> [[Gabrielle Brune]]
| music = [[Stanley Black]]
| music = [[Stanley Black]]
| cinematography =
| cinematography = Monty Berman
| editing =
| editing = [[Margery Saunders]]
| studio = [[Tempean Films]]
| studio = [[Tempean Films]]
| distributor = [[Lippert Pictures]] (US)<br />[[Eros Films]] (UK)
| distributor =[[Eros Films]] <br /> [[Lippert Pictures]] (US)
| released = 1 January 1954 (US)
| released = December 1953 <br> 1 January 1954 (US)
| runtime = 81 minutes
| runtime = 81 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
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}}
}}


'''''Three Steps to the Gallows''''', released in the United States as '''''White Fire''''', is a 1953 British [[crime film]] directed by [[John Gilling]] and starring [[Scott Brady]], [[Mary Castle]] and [[Gabrielle Brune]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/54287|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115092213/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/54287|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 January 2009|title=3 Steps to the Gallows (1954)|publisher=|accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref> The film, essentially a British second feature, is enhanced by the attractive American leads.
'''''Three Steps to the Gallows''''' is a 1953 British [[B movie|second feature]]<ref name="Chibnall">{{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=''The British 'B' Film'' |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=[[BFI]]/[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=86}}</ref> [[crime film]] directed by [[John Gilling]] and starring [[Scott Brady]], [[Mary Castle]] and [[Gabrielle Brune]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150055853 |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was released in the USA by [[Lippert Pictures]] as '''''White Fire'''''.


==Premise==
==Premise==
An American merchant ship officer on shore leave in London learns that his brother is about to be hanged in three days and sets out to prove his innocence against an organised smuggling gang based in a nightclub. His plight becomes increasingly tense in the face of double crosses and bad decisions in a race against time.
An American merchant ship officer on shore leave in London learns that his brother is about to be hanged in three days and sets out to prove his innocence against an organised smuggling gang based in a nightclub. His plight becomes increasingly tense in the face of double crosses and bad decisions in a race against time.


==Partial cast==
==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Scott Brady]] - Gregor Stevens
* [[Mary Castle]] - Yvonne Durante
* [[Scott Brady]] as Gregor Stevens
* [[Gabrielle Brune]] - Lorna Dreyhurst
* [[Mary Castle]] as Yvonne Durante
* [[Ferdy Mayne]] - Mario Satargo
* [[Gabrielle Brune]] as Lorna Dryhurst
* [[Colin Tapley]] - Arnold Winslow
* [[Ferdy Mayne]] as Mario Sartago
* [[Colin Tapley]] as Arnold Winslow
* [[John Blythe (actor)|John Blythe]] - Dave Leary
* [[Michael Balfour (actor)|Michael Balfour]] - Carter
* [[John Blythe (actor)|John Blythe]] as Dave Leary
* [[Michael Balfour (actor)|Michael Balfour]] as Carter
* [[Lloyd Lamble]] - James Smith
* [[Julian Somers]] – John Durante
* [[Lloyd Lamble]] as James Smith
* [[Ballard Berkeley]] - Inspector Haley
* [[Julian Somers]] as John Durante
* [[Ronan O'Casey]] - Crawson
* [[Ballard Berkeley]] as Inspector Haley
* [[Johnnie Schofield]] - Charlie
* [[Ronan O'Casey]] as Crawson
* [[Paul Erickson (screenwriter)|Paul Erickson]] - Larry Stevens
* [[Johnnie Schofield]] as Charley
* [[Paul Erickson (screenwriter)|Paul Erickson]] as Larry Stevens
* Bill Lowe as Percy
⚫
* [[Hal Osmond]] - Desk clerk
* [[Ronald Leigh-Hunt]] - Captain Adams
* [[Ronald Leigh-Hunt]] as Captain Adams
* [[Dennis Chinnery]] - Bill
* [[Dennis Chinnery]] as Bill
⚫
* [[Hal Osmond]] as desk clerk
* Alastair Hunter as hotel manager
* [[Arthur Lovegrove]] as Tommy
* Harcourt Curaçao as Matt
* Russell Westwood as Mike
* [[Larry Taylor (actor)|Larry Taylor]] as Sam
* [[Neil Hallett]] as Real Counterman
* [[Conrad Phillips]] as clerk, travel agent
* [[Stanley Meadows]] as 2nd clerk, travel agent
* [[Arthur Mullard]] as prison warder
* [[Leonard Sharp (actor)|Leonard Sharp]] as clerk, Somerset House
* Joe Wadham as police driver
{{div col end}}

==Production==
It was produced by the [[Tempean Films]] and made at the [[Southall Studios]] with sets designed by the [[art director]] [[Wilfred Arnold]]. Location shooting took place in [[London]] including on [[Regent Street]], around [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] and at the [[Olympia Exhibition Centre]].

==Critical reception==
''[[Kine Weekly]]'' said "Romantic crime melodrama, unfolded in the metropolis. Its tale of mayhem and murder wants a bit of following, yet, for all its complexity it manages to hold the interest and hand out quite a number of thrills. The cast, headed by popular American players, is sound. Grim and good humoured in turn, it provides the variety that is the spice of mystery fare."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=3 December 1953 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2826272946/1E0DC831E7BC4404PQ/1 |journal=[[Kine Weekly]] |volume=441 |issue=2423 |pages=19 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' said "A conventional thriller. The only novel idea – using the British Industries Fair as the setting for a manhunt – has not been at all well exploited. Scott Brady adequately fills the role of the American-in-Britain inevitable in this type of crime story."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1954 |title=Three Steps to the Gallows |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305819127/1E0DC831E7BC4404PQ/4 |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=21 |issue=240 |pages=12 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' [[David Quinlan (film critic)|David Quinlan]] rated the film as "average", writing: "Very formula thriller, given a litle gloss by its two Hollywood stars."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=[[Batsford Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd.]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=387}}</ref>

Chibnall and McFarlane in ''The British 'B' Film'' wrote that the film: "took [a] walk on London's wild side&nbsp;...in the company of a visiting American seaman huskily played by Scott Brady. His leading lady was another minor Hollywood star, the [[Rita Hayworth]] look-alike Mary Castle. Although formulaic, the action was brisk and often violent, and the settings, as usual, were authentic – including a sequence at the British Industries Fair."<ref name="Chibnall" />


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
<references/>


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0047674}}
*{{IMDb title|0047674}}
*[https://www.reelstreets.com/films/three-steps-to-the-gallows/ ''Three Steps to the Gallows''] at [https://www.reelstreets.com/ ReelStreets]


{{John Gilling}}
{{John Gilling}}
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[[Category:British crime films]]
[[Category:British crime films]]
[[Category:1953 crime films]]
[[Category:1953 crime films]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Gilling]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Gilling]]
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot at Southall Studios]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
⚫
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]

[[Category:1950s British films]]

[[Category:Eros Films films]]
{{1950s-UK-film-stub}}
[[Category:Lippert Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Stanley Black]]

Revision as of 15:00, 2 July 2024

Three Steps to the Gallows
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Gilling
Written byPaul Erickson
John Gilling
Produced byRobert S. Baker
Monty Berman
StarringScott Brady
Mary Castle
Gabrielle Brune
CinematographyMonty Berman
Edited byMargery Saunders
Music byStanley Black
Production
company
Distributed byEros Films
Lippert Pictures (US)
Release dates
December 1953
1 January 1954 (US)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature[1] crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune.[2] It was released in the USA by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.

Premise

An American merchant ship officer on shore leave in London learns that his brother is about to be hanged in three days and sets out to prove his innocence against an organised smuggling gang based in a nightclub. His plight becomes increasingly tense in the face of double crosses and bad decisions in a race against time.

Cast

Production

It was produced by the Tempean Films and made at the Southall Studios with sets designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold. Location shooting took place in London including on Regent Street, around Chelsea and at the Olympia Exhibition Centre.

Critical reception

Kine Weekly said "Romantic crime melodrama, unfolded in the metropolis. Its tale of mayhem and murder wants a bit of following, yet, for all its complexity it manages to hold the interest and hand out quite a number of thrills. The cast, headed by popular American players, is sound. Grim and good humoured in turn, it provides the variety that is the spice of mystery fare."[3]

Monthly Film Bulletin said "A conventional thriller. The only novel idea – using the British Industries Fair as the setting for a manhunt – has not been at all well exploited. Scott Brady adequately fills the role of the American-in-Britain inevitable in this type of crime story."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Very formula thriller, given a litle gloss by its two Hollywood stars."[5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote that the film: "took [a] walk on London's wild side ...in the company of a visiting American seaman huskily played by Scott Brady. His leading lady was another minor Hollywood star, the Rita Hayworth look-alike Mary Castle. Although formulaic, the action was brisk and often violent, and the settings, as usual, were authentic – including a sequence at the British Industries Fair."[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "Three Steps to the Gallows". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Three Steps to the Gallows". Kine Weekly. 441 (2423): 19. 3 December 1953 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ "Three Steps to the Gallows". Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 12. 1954 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 387. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
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