The Man in the Back Seat

The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British B-movie crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. The film was based on an Edgar Wallace story, and was tightly shot, with only four name-credited actors (one of whom remains silent through most of the film) and much of the action taking place in a cramped flat and the claustrophobic confines of a car at night.[1]

The Man in the Back Seat
Directed byVernon Sewell
Produced byLeslie Parkyn
Julian Wintle
Written byMalcolm Hulke
Eric Paice
Edgar Wallace (story)
StarringDerren Nesbitt
Keith Faulkner
Music byStanley Black
CinematographyReginald Wyer
Edited byJohn Trumper
Production
company
Distributed byAnglo-Amalgamated
Release date
June 1961
Running time
57 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Cold and vicious Tony (Nesbitt) and his more pleasant natured but easily influenced partner-in-crime Frank (Faulkner) hatch a plan to rob bookmaker Joe Carter (Harry Locke) of his takings as he leaves the local dog track. They attack him brutally, then realise that the case containing the cash is chained to Joe's wrist. They bundle him unconscious into the back seat of his car and they drive around trying to figure out a way to release the case. They come up with various possible solutions, but nothing works and they end up at Frank's flat, to the horror of Frank's wife Jean (Carol White), who does not want their criminal activities to be brought to her doorstep.

They manage to free the case after administering another severe beating to Joe, and decide to get rid of him by dousing him in alcohol and dumping him near the local hospital, where they assume a passer-by will find him and think he has suffered a drunken fall. As they are about to leave the scene, they realise that they have left behind incriminating fingerprints on the whisky bottle, so have no other option but to retrieve the unconscious Joe again. Not knowing what else to do, they go back to Jean's and contact a former male nurse, who after looking at Joe says he will soon be dead. As a last resort, Tony and Frank decide to dump the body outside the dog track where the robbery took place and where there will be nothing to connect the crime to them, then drive through the night to Birmingham.

With Frank becoming increasingly paranoid that every vehicle behind them on the road is on their trail, they are barely out of London when Frank looks in the driving mirror, and to his terror sees the ghostly wide-open eyes of the no longer dead Joe staring reproachfully at him from the back seat. In total panic, Frank drives the car off the road and down an embankment. The crash kills Tony instantly but Frank, seriously injured but alive, is pulled clear by a passing police patrol. The police confirm Tony's death. The remorse-stricken Frank pleads with them to see if they can help the other passenger in the back seat, but the car explodes before anything more can be done.

Cast

Critical reception

In the Radio Times, David Parkinson wrote, "the phrase "quota quickie" was synonymous with cheaply made, under-plotted films notable only for the ineptitude of the acting. It's a rare treat, therefore, to stumble across a British B with an intriguing idea that's been ingeniously executed. Director Vernon Sewell, who was responsible for some of the very worst quickies, outdoes himself with this haunting story."[2]

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References
  1. John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70 Hemlock Books 2013 p 98-101
  2. "The Man in the Back Seat | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
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