Hell Is a City

6/30/2014

I don't play cards. I don't even touch coins. Out of Hammer Films, Hell is a City is directed by Val Guest, who also adapts the screenplay from Maurice Proctor's novel of the same name. It stars Stanley Baker, John Crawford, Billie Whitelaw, Maxine Audley, Donald Pleasence, Vanda Godsell, Joseph Tomelty and George A. Cooper. Music is by Stanley Black and cinematography in HammerScope is by Arthur Grant. When violent criminal Don Starling (Crawford) escapes from prison, Manchester cop Inspector Harry Martineau (Baker) correctly assumes he is on his way back to the area to collect some hidden loot from a previous job. Sure enough a serious crime rocks the city and all roads lead to Starling, but what price will Martineau pay to nail a man whose mere name strikes fear into the locals?

7/17/2025

For a second I thought that Joan Crawford was in this, then I realised that it was her long-lost cousin John who takes on the role of visiting American box-office draw for this gritty and quite well thought-out crime drama. You see, “Starling” has broken out of a prison in Manchester and local police inspector “Martineau” (Stanley Baker) is convinced that he will return to his old stomping grounds to settle old scores and to collect his share of the loot from the job that sent him down in the first place. Just to add to the complexities of his case, “Martineau” is having martial difficulties with his wife “Julia” (Maxine Audley) who is bored witless at home all the time whilst he is out playing cops and robbers, and there is also the murder of a young woman to look into too. Might they be