''Flame in the Streets'' is a 1961 film directed by Roy Ward Baker and based on the 1958 play '' Hot Summer Night'' by

Ted Willis Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914 – 22 December 1992) was an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. In 1941 he became the General Secretary of the Young Co ...

. It opened at the

Odeon Leicester Square The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...

in London's West End on 22 June 1961. The film depicts an interracial romance in post-war Britain, and a street brawl taking place during

Guy Fawkes Night Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration list of minor secular observances#November, observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and firewor ...

(5 November). The film was made in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

Synopsis

Racial tension An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

s manifest themselves at home, work and on the streets during Bonfire Night, with prejudice and violence directed against the burgeoning West Indian community of post-war Britain. Trade union leader Jacko Palmer fights for the rights of a black worker but struggles with the news that his own daughter, Kathie, is planning to marry a West Indian, much against his own logic and the hysterical prejudice of his wife Nell.

Cast

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as Jacko Palmer *

Sylvia Syms Sylvia May Laura Syms (born 6 January 1934) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the films ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1957), ''Ice Cold in Alex'' (1958), ''No Trees in the Street'' (1959), ''Victim'' (1961), and ''The Tamari ...

as Kathie Palmer * Brenda De Banzie as Nell Palmer * Earl Cameron as Gabriel Gomez * Johnny Sekka as Peter Lincoln *

Ann Lynn Elizabeth Ann Lynn (7 November 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a British actress, especially prominent during the British New Wave of the 1960s, appearing in many films that represented what is known as kitchen sink realism. Lynn's career spanne ...

as Judy Gomez *

Wilfrid Brambell Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom '' ...

as Mr. Palmer senior * Meredith Edwards as Harry Mitchell * Newton Blick as Visser * Glyn Houston as Hugh Davies * Michael Wynne as Les * Dan Jackson as Jubilee *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early ''Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and died ...

as Dowell * Gretchen Franklin as Mrs. Bingham * Harry Baird as Billy

Production

''Flame in the Streets'' was produced at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

, with Willis moving the action from the "hot summer night" of his original play to

. Filming began, appropriately, on 5 November 1960. The new title recalled Willis's earlier play '' No Trees in the Street'', which had itself been filmed two years before. Willis also added two characters, Gabriel Gomez and Harry Mitchell, who are only referred to in the play, and opened out the action to include a nocturnal street brawl in the final reel. Producer-director Roy Ward Baker made the film in

, with a cast headed by

, Brenda De Banzie, Earl Cameron and Johnny Sekka. The addition of the 'brawl' to climax the film, occurring between white Teddy Boys looking for trouble and black West Africans attempting to prevent it, was undoubtedly a direct reflection of the

1958 Notting Hill race riots The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958. Background Following the end of the Second World War, as a result of the losses during the w ...

that had happened just weeks before the play's premiere.

Release and Reception

''Flame in the Streets'' opened in London on 22 June 1961, with general release following on 9 July. '' Daily Herald'' critic

Paul Dehn Paul Edward Dehn (pronounced "Dain"; 5 November 1912 – 30 September 1976) was a British screenwriter, best known for '' Goldfinger'', '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', '' Planet of the Apes'' sequels and ''Murder on the Orient Express''. ...

called it a "terrifying and ferocious film", but in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' Isabel Quigley observed that "its impact is mild" while conceding that "the obvious visual comparison between the outward and inward flames and fireworks" was effectively handled. Willis's script was nominated for a 'Best British Screenplay' BAFTA award, as well as being novelised by John Burke for Four Square Books. In his autobiography, ''The Director's Cut'' (2000), Roy Ward Baker noted that the film had recently been shown at a Brixton cinema "to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival in Britain of the steamer ''Windrush'', bringing Caribbeans to work here. ... Some of the older ones n the audiencetestified that it was a true picture of the conditions the incomers faced and in some areas still do face."Roy Ward Baker, ''The Director's Cut'', Reynolds & Hearn 2000

References

{{Roy Ward Baker 1961 films 1961 drama films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Roy Ward Baker British films based on plays Films about immigration Black British films Films about interracial romance Films shot at Pinewood Studios British drama films Films with screenplays by Ted Willis, Baron Willis CinemaScope films 1960s British films