J. Lee Thompson landed his first critically acclaimed hit with the suspenseful Tiger Bay, the Silver Bear winner at the Berlin Film Festival. Drawing on the grittiness of Britain’s new wave of ‘kitchen sink’ films like Look Back in Anger (1958), Thompson trails a Polish sailor (Horst Bucholz, The Magnificent Seven) returning to his Cardiff flat to find his girlfriend (Yvonne Mitchell) gone. A very young Hayley Mills (in her film debut) later witnesses the couple fight, resulting in the woman’s death. Wanting to keep the gun Bucholz has left behind, she lies to the investigating police inspector (Hayley’s real-life dad, John Mills). When Bucholz catches up with her to retrieve the weapon, he’s relieved to hear he’s in the clear, and the two become friends, with promises made to take her away to sea. But the inspector discovers Hayley’s story is made up, and he tracks her down to get the truth. Thompson repeatedly introduces unexpected, character-driven twists, and the ending comes as a startling surprise.
“Young Mills gives a lift to a pic which stacks up as a lively piece of drama.” – Variety
“The most conspicuous and fascinating aspect of the British film Tiger Bay is the fluent and winning performance that 12-year-old Hayley Mills gives in the role of a slum child of Cardiff who takes up with a hard-luck murderer.” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
Marc Edward Heuck discusses Tiger Bay on the New Beverly blog.
Chris D explores director J. Lee Thompson’s extensive career on the New Beverly blog.
