William Lucas

Patrick Jordan

Laurie Leigh

David Gregory

Arthur Lovegrove

Marianne Stone

Kim Tracy

Zena Walker

Jim Connock

Francis Searle

Tom Blakeley

Geoffrey Kidd

Terry Maher

Frank White

Stuart Freeman

Frank Bellingham

Jimmy Evans

Alice Holmes

Bernie Fenton

John Barry

Paul Erickson

Crime

The Marked One

Planet Film Productions

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

William Lucas - never the most versatile of actors - is "Mason", a man who works on the docks and lives in a B&B. It turns out that he has a bit of a criminal past, and when his erstwhile colleagues get the idea that he knows the whereabouts of some valuable bank note plates, they kidnap his daughter who lives with his estranged wife "Kay" (Zena Walker). The thing is, the man has no idea where they are - and with the police "Mayne" (Patrick Jordan) on one side, his wife and the gangsters all also on his back his options are limiting and his desperation growing. Largely devoid of any jeopardy - I always found that thrillers from this period that involved children always lacked any real sense of menace - it's a bit of a ramshackle affair with one too many half-baked scenarios thrown in to try and sustain what is essentially a bit of a non-story. Clearly made on a shoestring budget by the experienced if not exactly innovative Francis Searle, it meanders to a conclusion that is hardly a surprise to anyone. It's adequate afternoon cinema fayre this, but production line stuff.

English