The Long Memory (1953)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Long Memory (1953) – R. Hamer

John Mills is convicted of murder and locked away for 12 years, based on perjurious testimony by his girlfriend of the time, her father, and an ex-boxer hoodlum.  They testified that he killed a man aboard a ship that caught on fire when in fact the dead body found was of another man, wanted by the law and fleeing with the (paid) assistance of the girl and her father.  Upon his release from prison, Mills seeks revenge.  The movie tells the story of his attempt to find and exact his revenge on the three who wronged him.  Mills is grim and not dissuaded by others who counsel him that revenge is not good for the soul (including a Norwegian immigrant girl who falls in love with him and moves into his shack by the sea).  In an interesting turn of events, the police inspector (John McCallum) charged with investigating Mills’ actions is now married to the girl who lied (Elizabeth Sellars) leading to some serious conflicts of interest and bouts of conscience.  There are a few twists and turns that make this a gripping tale and director Robert Hamer even includes cross-cutting at the finale.  He’s best known for his Ealing comedy, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) but this is definitely in a different vein.  Here, the gritty streets of London, the lonely slum by the sea, and the desperate local pub sit side-by-side with the suburban home of the inspector and his wife. Yet, just as with Mills before, their comfortable lives prove to be precariously jeopardized by a lie.  Worth a look for Brit noir fans.