Dublin Nightmare (1958) Irish Noir

"Holy St. Patrick it's the guard!"


The director was John Pomeroy, it was his only film.

It was written by John Tully and based on Robin Estridge's novel. Cinematography by Eric Cross. Music by Edwin Astley. The film stars William Sylvester (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)), Marla Landi (The Invisible Man(1959)), Richard Leech (A Night to Remember (1958)).


The Story

Early Morning. Dublin. Northumberland Arms hotel - Steve Lawlor wearing a shoulder holster watches a car approach. It looks like a 1958 Morris Minor, but I'm no British car expert. Two men get out. A tinny sounding church-bell peels.  IRA meeting. A Webley Top-Break revlover is loaded and handed off.

Richard Leech

A woman comes into Steve's room. It's his girlfriend Anna Monti. They argue. She's afraid. He tells her he came back for the cause. He tells her that life has to be worth living its worth anything at all. She tells him that if he loves her he'd listen. He tells her that if he doesn't come back to do exactly what he told her to do. He hands her a small automatic.

Marla Landi

It's a armored car job, only in Ireland they call it a bank messenger. The heist is in Armagh, Northern Ireland.  They the stash the Morris and pick up a Vanguard.

the bank messenger truck 

The heist goes off as planed. They force the truck to stop. Knock out the guards, and split. A police car gives chase. The robbers are faster.

They are out of sight of the coppers only in Ireland they call them "the guard." They get near the ditch point and two of the four, Steve and another man O'Callahan hop out of the getaway car with the money to pick up the Morris they parked. The police car speeds by a few seconds after the departing Vanguard.

4:00 PM. Back at the Arms, Anna is anxious. Steve told her he would be back at 3. She goes and asks the hotelier what's going on. The two men who drove the Vanguard arrive. They tell Anna and the hotel man that it all went well. They wonder what could have happened. They suggest that they may have got stuck at the border. While they are deliberating the guard drives up.

"Holy St. Patrick it's the guard!"

The guard officer is looking for a Mr. Kevin. John Kevin an American  arrives at just that moment. He's a photographer. The guardsman O'Connor explains that a man was killed in a motor accident and John Kevin's name was on a letter in the dead man's pocket.

William Sylvester 

Anne sitting in the lobby herd the bad news. John goes to identify the body. The belongings, a tie a signet ring point to Steve. It's badly burned. It could be Steve.

John gets drunk in a pub. He takes some pictures between rounds, afterwards he stumbles around trying to get back to the hotel. We see a man in a trench coat shadowing him. The next morning John gets pumped by the hotel porter for any info he may have gotten from the guard when he went to identify Steve. The IRA group figured that O'Callahan killed Steve and faked the crash so he could take off with the loot.

Anna visits John she tells him that she doesn't have anyone to talk to. John was Steve's friend. She tells him it was murder, but she doesn't tell him how she knows. Of course this gets John to thinking. Meanwhile the IRA is alerting all it's branches to look for O'Callahan.

John sets up a makeshift darkroom in his hotel room and heads out into the city to finish off last nights roll. While he's poking about the cities sights a man follows him wearing a white trench coat. The man pushes John off the top of a small mill dam.

He gets back to the hotel and reports the incident to O'Connor. He also confides in Anna that someone has tried to kill him also. Anna spills about the IRA and the robbery, and how Steve and O'Callahan had the money. They decide to team up and make their own inquiries. They go inspect the wreck site and then they go and retrace Johns pub crawl from the nigh before. John figures that he may have met someone then that caused that someone to push him off the dam. John and Anna start to hit if off a bit (so much for mourning for Steve).

The next day Anna reports all she discovered with John to the hotelier. She wants O'Callahan's address so she can talk to his wife. John and Anna go to O'Callahan's wife. The wife thinks he's dead.  Anna begins to think so also. Of course things go Noirsville.

Noirsville

The Dublin Nightmare moves along at a quick pace and shows a bit of style to keep it interesting. The cast is made up of all unknowns (at least to me). Called a "quota quickie," a cheapo movie that fit the government mandate requiring a certain percentage of  British made film show in theaters. Filmed at Twickenham Studio

The DVD is part of Great British Film Noir set Vol 2. 6/10