blind date (1959)

aka Chance Meeting.
"I just thought she had gone out for a few seconds."
Jan-Van Rooyer (Hardy Krüger) is found in a woman's apartment by Inspector Morgan (Stanley Baker), who accuses him of murder. Rooyer denies everything, and the detective realizes that there is more to this than he initially thought...
Stagy but well played film noir.

the criminal (1960)

aka Concrete Jungle.
"You're a lier, a thief. Crook scum."
The daddy of B-wing, Johnny Bannion (Stanley Baker), gets remission and immediately pulls off a robbery, that puts him right back inside. Once inside he soon finds that things have changed since he was release six weeks previously, and pressure is put on him to reveal where he hid the cash.
Gritty thriller, filmed with panache by Losey.

the boy with green hair (1948)

"My green hair is there to remind you that war is very bad for children."
War orphan Peter (Dean Stockwell) is shunted from one family to the next, until he lands at the door of Gramps. He finally seems to be fitting in, but then finds one day that his hair has turned green. He at first has trouble coming to terms with his freakish new look, but takes it as a badge of pride and a way of reminding people that war is not to be encouraged, but the townsfolk pressurise Peter to relinquish his fashion statement.
As much a propaganda film as entertainment, this still manages to put across its point, without being too preachy.

steaming (1985)

"It's wonderful coming here."
Violet (Diana Dors) presides over a municipal steam baths, and the variety of people and their problems, that come through the door. From the ever in debt Josie (Patti Love), to the high flying executive Sarah (Sarah Miles), and her friend (Vanessa Redgrave), whose husband has just left her. Then Violet's world crumbles, as she is told they are closing the baths.
Often betraying its background as a play, this is none the less a riveting drama, that features a subdued performance from Diana Dors in her last role.

the sleeping tiger (1954)

"What do you think of him, Glenda? Is he worth saving?"
A prison psychologist takes in a petty criminal, Frank Clemmons (Dirk Bogarde), so he can study his motivations and treat him. Unfortunately he has a beautiful young wife Glenda (Alexis Smith), who soon falls for Franks rough ways, and thus starts the psychological games-playing between dispassionate psychologist, career criminal and the frustrated wife.
A standard potboiler is lifted byLosey, using the film noir staples of, jazz. crime, and passion, all centred around Bogarde as the young man in turmoil.

the servant (1963)

"The simple classics are always the best."
Tony (James Fox), an aristocrat, hires manservant Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde). Barrett wastes no time in getting his sister Vera (Sarah Miles) employed in the household, and she makes herself available to Tony, Then when Tony returns early from a weekend away with his girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig) they find Barrett and Vera, in Tony's bed. Tony promptly sacks them, but later rehires Barrett. When he does the tables then turn, as the master/servant relationship flips, moving into darker realms.
A study into the class system, and who needs who, in the master/servant relationship, and is alive with a homosexual undercurrent. Stylishly underplayed from a claustrophobic and edgy script by Harold Pinter; all to a subtle jazz soundtrack.

modesty blaise (1966)

Modesty Blaise (Monica Vitti) is a former crime boss lured back for one last job by the British government. She and her side kick Willie Garvin (Terence Stamp) have to prevent evil mastermind Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde) from stealing a shipment of diamonds bound for an arabic leader.
A mod/pop art comedy crime caper, which tries to parody the spy genre. Unfortunately the comedy comes over as laboured. It's not aided by some bizarre episodes either, such as the lamentable song, as neither Stamp or Vitti can sing a lick, and some lackluster direction by Losey. But all in all it still manages to entertain, due mainly to a great camp performance by Bogarde, the pop art sets, fashions and some surreal and self parodying moments.

the damned (1963)

aka These Are The Damned.
"My children are the buried seeds of life."
1963 saw the release of this great curio. A mix of Village of the Damned and The Wild One. Oliver Reed knocks around a seaside town causing trouble. When his sister takes up with an American, he makes his dislike plain to see. When they run off they stumble on a scientific establishment that is experimenting on a group of school children, and try to help them.
The film exudes a cold war paranoia where the bomb could be dropped at any moment, and asks a lot of questions, whilst giving no answers.