The Criminal

The Criminal
by Joseph Losey

The Criminal
List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $14.00
You Save: $5.98 (30%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.94 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Gr?goire Aslan, Jill Bennett, Margit Saad, Sam Wanamaker, Stanley Baker
Director: Joseph Losey
Cinematographer: Robert Krasker
Producer: Jack Greenwood
Producer: Jim O'Connolly
Producer: Nat Cohen
Producer: Stuart Levy
Writer: Alun Owen
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-12-03
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

Movie Reviews of The Criminal

Movie Review: Thieving boy
Summary: 5 Stars

The Criminal (aka The Concrete Jungle) is, for my money at least, one of Joseph Losey's two best films (the other being King and Country), but it never really garnered the kind of success or reputation it deserved, possibly because it had the misfortune to open on the same day as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which completely overshadowed it. Billed as `the most violent film ever made in Britain,' even 45 years on it's still vicious stuff. Indeed, in the entire cast of characters that populate Alun Owen's excellent and unsentimental screenplay - irredeemable crooks, vicious prison warders, prison governors who don't really want to know, amoral molls and assorted perverts and thugs - the only two people in the entire film who aren't totally corrupt are Laurence Naismith's arresting officer (who is still not above letting on about his informants) and the piano tuner who appears in one brief scene. The plot is a simple enough variation on Touchez Pas au Grisbi, with Stanley Baker's con pulling off a big job and immediately being ratted out by one of his partners who wants a bigger share, but the stark execution and background is what carries it. Certainly its vision of the British prison system as a Hellish melting pot of refuse of all persuasions - Irish, Australian, Italians, West Indians, the mentally disturbed - where the guards don't only turn a blind eye to vicious beatings but even facilitate them is a kick in the groin to the more sedate cop movies of the day.

It's also full of memorable little moments, from the prison weasel spreading the news of an informant's return inbetween lines of Knick Knack Paddywhack to Kenneth J. Warren's inability to say anything without incorporating the word `loike.' Robert Krasker's black and white cinematography has more bite to it than most of its contemporaries, from the hard stark edges of the prison scenes to the bleak half-snowscape of the haunting final shots, while Johnny Dankworth's score makes great use of Cleo Laine's mournful prison balled ("All my loving, all my joy/Came from loving a thieving boy"]). The supporting cast is impressive, offering a virtual who's who of perfectly cast 60s British character actors, including many faces that would later memorably turn up among the ranks in Baker's Zulu). Unlike the wave of British gangster flicks to litter the straight-to-video shelves post-Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, this feels like the real thing rather than a bunch of nicely brought up middle class kids playing dress-up. For some curious reason Anchor Bay's otherwise excellent transfer omits the end credits, played over a melancholy shot of prisoners walking in circles in a stark and wintery exercise yard.

Art House & International DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in Out of Print ANCHOR BAY: Part 5
Brigitte Bardot Collection (Les Femmes / Come Dance with Me / Naughty Girl / Please Not Now! / Brigitte Bardot...Take One) ImageBrigitte Bardot Collection (Les Femmes / Come Dance with Me / Naughty Girl / Please Not Now! / Brigitte Bardot...Take One)
Release date: 2000-04-25; DVD
Best price: $190.00
I'll Never Forget What's 'Isname ImageI'll Never Forget What's 'Isname
Release date: 2000-02-22; DVD
Best price: $44.99
Without a Trace ImageWithout a Trace
Release date: 2005-03-22; DVD
Best price: $76.79
Gallagher - The Smashing Watermelon Collection ImageGallagher - The Smashing Watermelon Collection
Release date: 2005-10-25; DVD
Best price: $20.99
Price in other shops: $29.98
Possession ImagePossession
Release date: 2000-05-09; DVD
Price in other shops: $9.98
Neon Maniacs ImageNeon Maniacs
Release date: 2003-10-07; DVD
Best price: $14.20
Fade to Black ImageFade to Black
Release date: 1999-08-24; DVD
Best price: $347.66
The Unbelievable Truth ImageThe Unbelievable Truth
Release date: 2001-03-13; DVD
Best price: $117.77
The Young Ones ImageThe Young Ones
RICHARD,CLIFF; Release date: 2002-05-21; DVD
Best price: $14.50
Timerider ImageTimerider
Release date: 2001-10-09; DVD
Best price: $126.69
Similar DVD Movies
Moontide (Fox Film Noir) ImageMoontide (Fox Film Noir)
Release date: 2008-09-02; DVD
Best price: $7.61
Price in other shops: $14.98
Mr. Klein ImageMr. Klein
Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops: $19.95
The Friends of Eddie Coyle ImageThe Friends of Eddie Coyle
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $21.24
Price in other shops: $29.95
King & Country ImageKing & Country
Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $7.19
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Frightened City ImageThe Frightened City
Release date: 2002-12-03; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $19.97
Dirk Bogarde Collection (Accident/The Mind Benders/The Servant) ImageDirk Bogarde Collection (Accident/ The Mind Benders/ The Servant)
Release date: 2001-12-18; DVD
Best price: $49.90
Man Hunt ImageMan Hunt
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $8.92
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Servant ImageThe Servant
Release date: 2001-12-18; DVD
Best price: $39.99
Time Without Pity ImageTime Without Pity
Release date: 2004-03-30; DVD
Best price: $12.07
Price in other shops: $19.95
Hell is a City ImageHell is a City
Release date: 2002-12-03; DVD
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops: $19.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners