Appointment With Crime (1946)

Appointment With Crime (1946) is a British gangland revenge thriller Limey film noir with a sweet and vile sharp noir edge indicating that the forties filmers of the United Kingdom has been paying attention to the American noir reels, enough to encapsulate and imitate and transplant some of the best noir tropes from one side of the Atlantic to the other, and so with wrist torture, sore wrists, and all manner of wrist attack upon William Hartnell's villainous and hard done by wristless crook.

William Hartnell plays as cool calm and smokin twisted career criminal who like any true anti-hero villain has a peculiar facet or obsession, and in this case it is his wrists.

The wrists are in fact why you are watching Appointment With Crime (1946) which even has as its final lines the immortal cry: "Arrrgh! My wrists!"

That should count as trigger warning enough for anyone interested in Appointment With Crime (1946), especially those who have had their wrists broken, who should not watch this film.

William Hartnell is here revealed at his criminal best. He is better known for his villainous portrayals in Brighton Rock and Hell Drivers, two super hard hitting Limey noir classics. But Appointment With Crime (1946) is noir of another water, something close to the Yankee bone, close enough in spirit to the classic moves of mid 40s high film noir excellence, as delivered on the West Coast of the movie world.

The incredible thing is that in this case, the noir travels well, and the film works. Like a good noir, the audience sympathy is with the loner villain, at one turn treated badly by his fellow gang members, and then alone in the city; while at another turn he is masculine and attractive, in love only with the cigarettes and trusting only his pistol, turning up in his coat and hat with a threat and a bitch slap.

Better still, William Hartnell also provides a fine gangsters in pyjamas moment. It's a favourite of this website. Because gangsters wear pyjamas.

For those who have now come to realise that William Hartnell was in fact the number one Brit movie villain of the 1`940s and 1950s, this will be crowning proof.

And for those who might wonder how odd it was that this Limey noir villain went on to play the first ever Doctor Who, I'd refer to the Kingdom's foremost Whovians, who point out that Hartnell was not the sweet old man Doctor Who we may feel we remember; he was in fact terse, mean and impatient, quite in keeping in some respects with this villainous past.

An obituary would state how delighted Hartnell was to get the role of the Doctor at age fifty-five after a career of "playing what he called bastards." His first episode of Doctor Who aired on 23 November 1963.

Noir, much like Jazz, is a distinctive and influential form of art. It is characterized by a main character who endures extreme hardships, often manipulated by unseen forces. This genre had a long period of experimentation in the 1930s, culminating in a brief but intense phase of pure noir, notably framed by Orson Welles’ projects.

One notable experiment in this genre is a British film that, while not entirely successful, contributes significantly to our understanding of noir. The protagonist is an average man, initially revealed to be a petty crook. As events spiral out of control, he seeks revenge, highlighting several experimental aspects of the film.

Firstly, the protagonist is not entirely innocent and is willing to harm others. Secondly, the control of events does not lie with him or the audience, creating a sense of unpredictability until the final ironic twist. Lastly, the antagonists are portrayed as stereotypically gay, a controversial choice that reflects the era’s social attitudes.

This British noir centers on a petty crook who, after being released from prison, finds himself entangled between the police and the criminals who betrayed him. The film is grittier than its American counterparts, lacking the glamor often associated with American noir.

William Hartnell delivers a convincing performance as the ex-convict, while Joyce Howard plays a naive dance hall girl who believes in him. The film’s portrayal of the underworld includes a strong homosexual component, with Herbert Lom as an effete crime boss and his flamboyantly homosexual henchman.

The film’s low-budget appearance adds to its grim atmosphere, though the direction and acting do not fully realize the script’s potential. Hartnell’s character, part of a smash-and-grab crew, seeks revenge after being abandoned by his accomplices during a heist. He frames his former boss, Lovell, for murder, using Lovell’s gun. However, the gun belongs to Lom, complicating Hartnell’s plans as he must now evade both the police and Lom.

Hartnell’s portrayal is intense, eliciting sympathy despite his deceitful actions. Lom excels as a suave crook, standing out in an otherwise unremarkable cast. Howard’s character, unfortunately, is inconsistently written, detracting from her streetwise persona.

William Hartnell and Herbert Lom in Appointment With Crime (1946)

The film begins with a strong setup and visually striking scenes, including extreme Dutch angles and shadow-rich shots. However, the plot loses momentum, becoming muddled and slow. Despite its flaws, the film’s gritty atmosphere and Hartnell’s performance make it a noteworthy, if imperfect, example of British noir. Directed and written by John Harlow, the film does not sustain the promise of its opening but remains a valuable experiment in the noir genre.

William Hartnell is undoubtedly the face of Limey noir, and here also the wrists of it too.

Appointment With Crime (1946)