Offbeat (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Offbeat | |
|---|---|
![](#/media/File:"Offbeat"_(1961).jpg) | |
| Directed by | Cliff Owen |
| Written by | Peter Barnes |
| Produced by | E.M. Smedley-Aston |
| Starring | William Sylvester Mai Zetterling John Meillon Anthony Dawson |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
| Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
| Music by | Ken Jones |
Production company | Northiam Productions |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 71 mins |
| Language | English |
Offbeat (U.S. title: The Devil Inside) is a 1961 black-and-white British second feature ('B')[1] crime film directed by Cliff Owen and starring William Sylvester, Mai Zetterling, John Meillon and Anthony Dawson.[2] The screenplay was by Peter Barnes.
An MI5 officer goes undercover to catch a criminal gang, but the mission changes him.
After a police sergeant investigating a crime gang is murdered, Scotland Yard are frustrated in tracking down the outfit responsible for large scale bank and jewellery robberies. They bring in Layton, a loner from MI5, to infiltrate the gang.
Layton poses as Steve Ross, a criminal who, unknown to the gang, has died and gone missing at sea. He finds the gang is organised like a business, with salaries, pensions, and a camaraderie he has not known before. He also becomes romantically involved with a gang member, Ruth Lombard. As the plot progresses, she starts to become suspicious of his identity but has feelings for him and doesn't voice her suspicions.
The gang drill and tunnel their way into an underground vault filled with jewels. They make their getaway and meet with the potential buyer of the jewels, who strikes a hard bargain. The buyer, who had known the real Steve Ross, spots that Layton is different man. Layton admits his impersonation. Scotland Yard arrive and arrest the whole gang. Layton feels he has betrayed his new friends, with whom he had found comradeship and love but who now reject him.
Cast
- William Sylvester as Layton / Steve Ross
- Mai Zetterling as Ruth Lombard
- John Meillon as Johnny Hemick
- Anthony Dawson as James Dawson
- Neil McCarthy as Leo Farrell
- Harry Baird as Gill Hall
- John Phillips as Superindentent Gault
- Victor Brooks as Inspector Adams
- Diana King as Maggie Dawson
- Gerard Heinz as Jake
- Ronald Adam as J. B. Wykenham
- Neil Wilson as Pat Ryan
- Joseph Fürst as Paul Varna
- Nan Munro as Sarah Bennett
- Anthony Baird as constable