David Farrar

Honor Blackman

Diana Dors

Bill Owen

Mervyn Johns

Phyllis Monkman

Hal Osmond

Niall MacGinnis

Andrew Crawford

Philo Hauser

John Blythe

Dennis Vance

Norris Smith

John Salew

Tony Quinn

Reginald Tate

Ronald Adam

Slim Harris

Julian Somers

Harry Quashie

Arthur Lane

John Warren

Ernest Butcher

David MacDonald

Roger Bray

Roland Pertwee

Bernard Lewis

A. Frank Bundy

Alex Bryce

Clifton Parker

Reginald H. Wyer

Esmond Seal

Western

Adventure

Drama

Diamond City

Gainsborough Pictures

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

David Farrar is "Parker", a man trying to bring some sense of law and order to a diamond mining community in pre-colonial South Africa. Most of his fellow citizens welcome his proposals save for "Muller" (Niall MacGinnis). The former wins a concession from the local chief to mine and export the diamonds after a bit of fisticuffs with his nemesis, but that just serves to sow the seeds for the constant undermining of his ideals until a final denouement with both men fighting for their lives, and for control of "Hopetown". Filmed on location, it looks quite good but the adventure elements are all too often dragged into melodrama by the romantic ones. Diana Dors ("Dora" - who does a decent on-stage number here) and Honor Blackman ("Mary") find themselves the object of not just the desires of "Parker" but of his friend "David" (Andrew Crawford) and there is a touch of bible-based do-gooding from Mervyn Johns to further clutter up the narrative. The script is very wordy at times, and I could have done with a better lit production too. Farrar tries his best here, but sadly this is just another routine, and pretty forgettable, effort from all concerned.

English