''The Informers'' (US title - ''Underworld Informers'') is a 1963 British

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

produced and distributed in the UK 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 ...

and distributed in the USA by Continental Film Distributors. It was directed by

Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...

and produced by

William MacQuitty William MacQuitty (15 May 1905 – 4 February 2004) was a British film producer and also a writer and photographer. He is most noted for his production of the 1958 Rank Organisation / Pinewood Studios film, '' A Night to Remember'', which recre ...

, with the screenplay by Paul Durst and Alun Falconer from the novel ''Death of a Snout'' by Douglas Warner. It stars Nigel Patrick,

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

Harry Andrews Harry Stewart Fleetwood Andrews, CBE (10 November 1911 – 6 March 1989) was an English actor known for his film portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson in ''The Hill'' (1965) alongside Sean ...

, Derren Nesbitt and

Colin Blakely Colin George Blakely (23 September 1930 – 7 May 1987) was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), '' The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), '' Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and '' ...

. Cinematography was by

Reginald H. Wyer Reginald H. Wyer BSC (1901–1970) was a British cinematographer. Among his notable early credits were ''The Seventh Veil'' (1945) and ''Quartet'' (1948), ''So Long at the Fair'' (1950) and ''Four Sided Triangle'' (1953), the last two of whi ...

. It was filmed 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 ...

and on location in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Plot

The story concerns the uneasy relationship between a Scotland Yard Detective, Johnnoe, and the Squad Chief, Bestwick, over the formerly traditional use of " snouts" (paid informants). Despite being told that these should no longer be used and to adopt more scientific principles of detection, Johnnoe continues to do so until one of his informants is murdered. He again disobeys orders and pursues his own lines of inquiry but as he closes in on the villains, they frame him for corruption and he is arrested and held in prison. With few friends left on his side of the law, his wife enlists the help of the murdered man's brother.

Cast

Production

''The Informers'' was filmed at various locations around London, including the

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment. History There had been a long history of ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

and

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

References

External links

* * 1963 films British crime films 1963 crime films Films directed by Ken Annakin Films scored by Clifton Parker Films shot at Pinewood Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-film-stub