The Gentle Gunman

The Irish 'Troubles' might seem an unlikely subject for an Ealing film of the early fifties but when you consider it's a Basil Dearden/Michael Relph movie then perhaps not, for Dearden and Relph were the team behind "Sapphire" and "Victim" which tackled racism and homosexuality at a time when such subjects were considered taboo. It's set during the Second World War and it's about the IRA doing their bit to heighten the Blitz in London and casts John Mills and Dirk Bogarde as very unlikely Irish brothers, one for the use of violence and the other against it. Bogarde, in particular, is miscast, (he never wanted to make the movie), and his attempt at an Irish accent is pretty awful but Mills, once again, proves the better actor and turns in a fairly credible performance while Dearden ensures the suspense quota remains high. An excellent supporting cast includes Jack MacGowran, Liam Redmond, Robert Beatty and Barbara Mullen. It's unlikely it will ever go down as one of the better films to deal with the Irish question but neither is it negligible and it is worth seeing.