THREE CROOKED MEN (1957)
A routine thriller, but improved by a sympathetic performance from Gordon Jackson.
"It'll be like opening a tin can," declares boss (Eric Pohlmann), as the crooks drive past a familiar bank seen in several Danziger productions. He's already cased the joint: "with my eyes closed, I could tell you where every nail is." To avoid their security system, the plan is to break in through next door, Westcot's Stores, an old-fashioned shop owned by Don, an ex-boxer (Gordon Jackson) and his wife (Sarah Lawson). Don's got a chip on his shoulder since losing a limb in a road accident.
The three crooks walk into the store after it's closed. But it's not empty as they think.
Prinn (Warren Mitchell) works at the bank, and is due in court tomorrow, facing the serious charge of nicking a fountain pen. "You did what?" Don asks him in shock surprise. Prinn knows he'll lose his job over this. "Just because of a fountain pen?" asks the incredulous Don. They get drunk which is why Don is in his shop later than usual. "Just do as you're told," he's ordered as the crooks begin chiselling through into the bank safe. After a lot of sweat they get their nasty hands on the loot just as Don wriggles free, shouting for help. The pathetic Prinn is pacing dejectedly outside the bank and hears the cry, and so has to be transported away with Don and the three crooks.
The action now slows. Next day the papers are full of the story of the daring bank raid. The police appear to be pinning it on Don and Prinn, to the amusement of the crooks. They dump the two innocents in the bushes. They find civilisation again at Joe's Cafe. The police swoop. The inspector "goes for the facts" and finds it hard to believe the pair's tale and any existence of "three wise crooks."
To prove their innocence they trace the crooks themselves via a photo left behind in the shop. 56 Harcourt Place is where Lola Brent lives- they watch the house and are finally rewarded with a sight of the crooks. Their innocence is proved at last and all ends happily. Even for Prinn who obtains a new job- where? at Wescot's!

To a list of Danziger Brothers films.
To Information from Production Manager Brian Taylor.
To Geoffrey Helman's Description of New Elstree Studios.
To still on the set of Spider's Web.
To Dinosaur Films monthly magazine

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Note- There were at least 55 UK films produced by Edward and Harry Lee Danziger. There were approx 11 more that were made using the studio's personnel, but were not produced by the brothers, who sold their interest in the business in late 1961. Prior to coming to the UK, the Danziger brothers also produced four films in America- Jigsaw (1949), So Young, So Bad (1950), St. Benny the Dip (1951), Babes in Bagdad (1952).
Here is a list of their second features:
1954: Devil Girl From Mars, Star of My Night
1955: Alias John Preston
1956: Satellite in the Sky
1957: Three Crooked Men, The Betrayal, The Depraved, Operation Murder, Son of a Stranger, Three Sundays to Live
1958: High Jump, Innocent Meeting, Links of Justice, Moment of Indiscretion, No Safety Ahead, On the Run, A Woman of Mystery, The Great Van Robbery
1959: The Child and the Killer, Crash Drive, Date at Midnight, Man Accused, Top Floor Girl, Web of Suspicion, Woman Possessed, Date at Midnight, Woman's Temptation,
1960: Compelled, Escort for Hire, Feet of Clay, Highway to Battle, An Honourable Murder, Identity Unknown, Night Train for Inverness, Operation Stogie, Sentenced for Life, The Spider's Web, A Taste of Money, The Tell-Tale Heart, Transatlantic, Two Wives at One Wedding
1961: The Gentle Terror, Strip Tease Murder, The Nudist Story, The Court Martial of Major Keller, Fate Takes a Hand, Middle Course, Part-Time Wife, Return of a Stranger, So Evil, So Young, Tarnished Heroes
Films produced at New Elstree with studio personnel, but not actually produced by the Danzigers
1961: Three Spare Wives, The Pursuers
1962: The Durant Affair, The Spanish Sword, Design for Loving, Gang War, She Always Gets Their Man, The Silent Invasion, What Every Woman Wants, The Lamp in Assassin Mews, and The Battleaxe- the working name for this final film made at New Elstree, was Breach of Promise (Production No 537)
OTHER FILMS WERE MADE AT NEW ELSTREE by independent producers, such as Harold Huth's The Hostage (1956).
MYSTERIES:
Stage and TV Weekly 28 Jan 1960 p 13 mentions: YOUNG SINNERS (technicolor, “just finished”) and YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE – a comedy. These could be alternative titles for films listed above, or maybe the latter was only a projected movie.
There was also Fun at the Movies, dated 1956, but this may be a compilation. Several features of compilations of the tv series Calling Scotland Yard, and The Vise were made for cinema release. The films were: 1954: Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder, A Tale of Three Women. 1955: Three Cornered Fate, Triple Blackmail, The Yellow Robe
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Memories of New Elstree by BRIAN TAYLOR,
the Danzigers' right hand man in the latter years of production, has written an account of this chapter of his career in his book "Grandfathers Tales." It's well worth a read!

He told me that Ralph Rodgers, the librarian at New Elstree, "kept tabs on" Danziger material for many years. He also added details of how Bravo obtained their prints of Man from Interpol which they showed in the early nineties. The producer in question reckoned he had produced them (though he hadn't) and "had cut off all the British credits from the prints and then placed his company into bankruptcy, after he had taken the cash, to avoid any litigation from the Danzigers."

In a very helpful letter in January 2005, Brian Taylor confirmed some initial planning was done for a tv series 'The World is My Beat' but the project was aborted as there was "no sponsor prepared to back." He also confirms Daniel Massey had been approached about 'Ali Baba,' though "nothing apart from very preliminary discussions took place." He also explains why the series never got off the ground:
Associated Rediffusion "had expressed interest and wanted the Danzigers to go ahead." However "although 39 half hour scripts had been prepared, A-R had a flop with a one night music spectacular called 'The Tales of Ali Baba.'" This was a live musical show in June 1960 in black and white. "The critics were only lukewarm and Rediffusion got cold feet about going ahead with a film series, also scheduled to be in black and white.
The Danzigers tried to rescue it by pre-selling the series in America and making it in colour, but even there in 1961, colour TV was in its infancy and noone was prepared to risk such an expensive experiment."

On a happier note, Brian adds: "I spoke to Harry Danziger only a couple of weeks ago. He now lives in Palm Springs and has reached the grand old age of 92, and can carry on a lively conversation."
Thank you Brian for your helpful comments. Since writing this, Harry Lee died in April 2005.

Note- In The Veteran No.78 (Autumn 1996) Brian wrote about the sale of all the studio effects, which occurred in Spring 1964.
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GEOFFREY HELMAN- who worked as assistant director on later Danziger films from 1960:

About the New Elstree Studios-
It was an excellent purpose built block of four sound stages, each with well designed and fitted make-up/ hairdressing rooms, plus actors' dressing rooms and crowd artist dressing rooms. I think the architect was Eric Blakemore.
Across the site was an admin block housing the Production Manager (John Draper), an executive (Brian Taylor) and the Studio Manager (Steve Fallon), plus secretaries. Within the main stages block there was also an accounts department, alongside a full time Casting Director's office (Barry Gray).
Another purpose built block housed a good sized canteen adjacent to a well equipped Camera Department and a Sound Department. On the upper floor were several well equipped cutting rooms with a preview theatre for rushes, as well as an Art Department headed by Peter Mullins.
Within the main studio building were Props, Carpentry, Paint, Drapes and Rigger shops with a sizeable car park close by. A back-lot existed where exterior sets were built and these were revamped from medieval England to China, Berlin etc! The only department housed in a temporary block of timber was Wardrobe; Yvonne Blake was the chief, subsequently she went on to win an Oscar for her costumes in Nicholas and Alexandra.

On Production-
Shooting operated efficiently on a schedule of two and a half days for one Tv episode, and maybe a couple of weeks for a feature film. However very occasionally, if we were behind schedule, the front office would issue an instruction to the director to rip out a page or two from the script! There were also directives from Edward and Harry Danziger. One was that photography was not to be low key as the US networks would not buy anything that looked 'arty.' Another was Never Wear Bow Ties on screen, as US audiences would assume the characters were 'goddam faggots.' Locations were set up from time to time on a two or three day basis with a casual daily crew, sometimes with a young novice director like Michael Winner.
Thank you to Geoffrey for this fascinating insight into the studios.

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Thank you to Geoffrey Helman for his picture taken at the studio
of himself, with star of The Spider's Web
Glynis Johns, chatting to director
Geoffrey Grayson.

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