Nowhere to Go

George Nader has "Nowhere to Go" in this 1958 British film that also serves as the debut for a virtually unrecognizable Maggie Smith. Nader plays Paul Gregory, a Canadian con man in London who befriends an old woman (silent screen star Bessie Love) and winds up stealing her valuable coin collection. He's blatant about it, knowing that he will serve a term in prison, but he'll get the money on release. He escapes early and finds that getting his hands on the money isn't going to be easy. His partner becomes greedy, there's an accidental death, and Gregory is forced to go on the run.

Kenneth Tynan and director Seth Holt co-wrote this tight script, and Holt keeps the action going and the tension and frustration building as Gregory runs out of options to get a hold of his money. The production is very good-looking as well.

Handsome George Nader was a Hollywood male starlet who wound up playing Ellery Queen on television, as well as starring in two other series and doing guest appearances before concentrating on a career in German film as kind of a James Coburn type. The rumor has persisted for years that Confidential magazine was ready to publish a story on Rock Hudson's homosexuality and traded that story with Universal Studios for one about Nader instead. This rumor emerged again when Hudson died, and left money to Nader in his will. If true, Universal obviously felt Hudson was going to be more important to them. That became a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it was perhaps correct. The sad thing is that a story like that mattered.

"Nowhere to Go" is well worth seeing.

Well I have to say I very much enjoyed this Ealing made British thriller, although I guess it was all a bit predictable as it has been described in the title.

The story revolves around a Canadian conman played by George Nader who reminds me for football fans as a Luis Figo lookalike. Good performances by Maggie Smith, making her film debut I think and Bernard Lee although I never thought of him as a violent type. A small part from the usual wooden Harry H Corbett too.

It kept my attention all the way through which is a fair achievement although as I mentioned previously it is a little predictable and has a few far fetched moments. Nevertheless a great watch.

One observation I made was how much our road system has improved since this film was made. When our main characters leave for Wales at the end Maggie tells George it will be an 8 hour journey, I can do in just over 2 if I put my foot down.

A tense and exciting thriller from Ealing Studios - it is hard to believe that they once made very funny, classic comedies, which are still enjoyed all over the World today.

Nowhere To Go is an unusual British film where the star of the show is actually a smooth but uncompromising villain. He is a convicted housebreaker and embezzler who has escaped from prison and is played by George Nader. The reason why the studio chose an American actor was possibly to appeal to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

It was nice to see Britain's very own Maggie Smith looking delightful in one of her earlier films. She plays a woman that tries to help George Nader escape from both the villains and the police.

Steptoe and Son fans, after some "wondering-where-have-I heard-that-voice-before", will also recognise Harry H. Corbett playing the part of a shrewd and unfriendly London mob boss, who does not like other criminals operating on his "patch".

Bessie Love, a fine actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood, also had a small part at the beginning of the film, playing a rich, aristocratic American widow living in Britain, who succumbs to the nefarious and disguised charms of the hero - sorry - villain, played by George Nader.

The ending seemed to leave audience to their own imagination. I suppose "Crime Does Not Pay" always has to be the message.

I almost skipped this film -- it was a late night offering on TCM -- but I'm so glad I taped it. Like most film noir, the story never seems to go in the direction you expect; its charm lies in this unpredictability. Unlike most film noir, however, Nowhere To Go seems both authentic and believable. In the end, Paul Gregory's self-assured cockiness is undone by surprise, deceit and suspicion.

My initial interest was to watch Maggie Smith's first credited screen role but was completely drawn in by all of the principal characters. Those more accustomed to seeing Smith in her more sophisticated roles from the 1970s onwards, will be pleasantly surprised by her ability to comfortably inhabit the role of a working class girl.

I had never seen George Nader in anything before. Too bad he never achieved the degree of greatness his talent and good looks seemed to promise. Although American born, I think he would have played a convincing James Bond.

Both Bessie Love and Bernard Lee provide strong supporting roles.

George Nader had a penchant for difficult roles, and here he is in a difficult spot indeed, as everything goes wrong for him. He makes a great theft of £55.000 by tricking an old lady, he puts the money in a bank vault and loses the key, he is sentenced to prison for his crime expecting five years and gets ten, he escapes, and all his former accomplices betray him, one after the other. Bernard Lee is interested in helping him only because of the money, and by accident he is killed and George charged with murder, so he is a hunted man with nowhere to go, and only Maggie Smith is decent enough to help him. It is lovely to see her so young and fresh in one of her earliest films - she would later in the 60s make Desdemona against Laurence Olivier. Of course, this bleak and sordid fugitive story could only end in one way, and it does. Maggie Smith gets out of it unharmed, while the film is replenished with losers. It's a dark noir in black and white with no sunshine in it, and George Nader is working hard to get through it. The legendary Ealing studios could come out with more cheerful pictures.