''Jungle Street'', released in the U.S. as ''Jungle Street Girls'', is a 1961 black-and-white

second feature A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

crime drama directed by Charles Saunders and starring

David McCallum David Keith McCallum (19 September 1933 – 25 September 2023) was a Scottish actor and musician, based in the United States. He gained wide recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series '' The Man fr ...

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (14 April 1931 – 11 September 2024) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He was best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street,'' Ray Hilton in '' ...

and

Jill Ireland Jill Dorothy Ireland (24 April 1936 – 18 May 1990) was an English actress and singer. Early life Ireland was born in Hounslow, South West London, England. She was the daughter of a wine importer. She was educated at Chatsworth Junior School i ...

. The screenplay was written by

Alexander Doré Alexander Joseph Doré (28 August 1923 – 16 April 2002) was a British actor, director and screenwriter. He was best known for his appearance as the First Spy in the 1968 film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.''Guido Coen. It was the first of three films produced by the Theatrecraft production company in the early 1960s along with ''

Dangerous Afternoon ''Dangerous Afternoon'' is a 1961 British 'B' crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Ruth Dunning and Nora Nicholson. The screenplay was by Brandon Fleming based on the 1951 play of the same title by Gerald Anstruther. Plot On ...

'' (1961) and ''

Strongroom A bank vault is a secure room used by banks to store and protect valuables, cash, and important documents. Modern bank vaults are typically made of reinforced concrete and steel, with complex locking mechanisms and security systems. This article ...

'' (1962).

Plot

A #12

double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...

headed for

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...

drives through London and stops in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

. An elderly man disembarks and is mugged by a young man in an alley. At the Adam and Eve Club, where girls perform erotic dances on stage, club lobby car mechanic and petty criminal Terry Collins speaks with Joe Lucas at the outer bar and asks to see the owner, gangster Jacko Fielding, who is with his main girl, Sue. Julie the hatcheck girl brings the evening's takings and Terry eyes them greedily. In the club, Terry watches Sue strip for an audience mainly composed of old men and lights a cigarette at the bar. Terry is obsessed with Sue but is unable to pursue her openly because the wealthy and powerful Jacko is interested in her. At Terry's working-class home, he bickers with his parents over breakfast, belittling his father and his beer drinking. The morning ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' paper informs Terry that he killed his victim, the old man from the bus. His mother sees the headline and hopes that the authorities will hang the murderer. At the police station, two detectives interview Joe, who says that he spent the night with Dimples, one of the dancers at the club. The police think that the murder is connected to the club and ask about all of the men there. Johnny Calvert appears at Terry's mother's house looking for Terry, who is not home, but she invites him in and they chat. The police spot Johnny and check him since he has been in prison for robbery. Joe confronts Terry in the club and hints that he knows that Terry is the murderer, and Terry punches him. The girls appear and Terry remains in a foul mood. The bouncer knocks unconscious and Sue tends to him backstage. After stealing a kiss, he is ejected from the club. At the Star Garage where Terry worksm the police wait inside and Johnny sits opposite in a cafe. He is interviewed by Sergeant Philip and is asked about an

Austin A40 A number of different motor vehicles were marketed under the Austin A40 name by Austin between 1947 and 1967. Austin's naming scheme at that time derived from the approximate engine output, in horsepower. To distinguish between the different mo ...

and he denies knowing Johnny. The newspaper writes that the police have the wallet and that they intend to fingerprint everyone in the district. Terry finds Johnny in a rented room over a tailor's shop and apologises for spending Johnny's share of the robbery, but he suggests that they rob the Adam and Eve Club. He tells Johnny that Sue (Johnny's old girlfriend) is working there as a stripper; she had been forced to strip for money when Johnny was sent to prison. They go to the club together, and Jacko invites Terry into the back office. Johnny walks backstage and finds Sue in her dressing room and slaps her. She claims to have been true to him since he departed and they kiss. Jacko is interviewing a new girl while Terry relaxes with a drink and eyes the safe. Terry and Johnny reunite at the club bar. Johnny leaves and Joe threatens to blackmail Terry. He is surprised after asking for £10 that Terry offers him £50. Sue visits Johnny in his room and asks him to "take her away" as she lies on the bed. The police start door-to-door fingerprinting and are told to record the names of those who refuse. Terry and Johnny seize upon the caretaker to gain entrance to the club office, where they blow the safe. Terry double-crosses Johnny by knocking him unconscious and absconding with the money, just as the caretaker triggers an alarm, alerting the police. Johnny is caught and tells the police that Terry is his accomplice. Terry rushes to Johnny's flat, where Sue is waiting, and tries to convince her to flee with him. When she resists, demanding to know what happened to Johnny, Terry tries to abduct her at gunpoint. The police arrive and Terry takes Sue and Mr. Rose, the elderly tailor who occupies the flat next door, as hostages in a standoff. Mr. Rose tries to persuade Terry to surrender his gun. The police burst through the door and cause Terry to accidentally fatally shoot Mr. Rose. Terry is dragged away screaming by police as Mr. Rose dies in Sue's arms.

Cast

as Terry Collins *

as Johnny Calvert *

as Sue *

Brian Weske Brian Weske (23 December 1932 – 15 October 2001) was a British film and television actor, singer, and songwriter. He was born in Stockwell, London, England and died in London, England aged 68. He married Italian actress and Italian translator sp ...

as Joe Lucas * Vanda Hudson as Lucy Bell *

Edna Doré Edna Lillian Doré (''née'' Gorring; 31 May 1921 – 11 April 2014) was a British actress. She was known for her bit-part roles in sitcoms and for playing the character of Mo Butcher in ''EastEnders'' from 1988 to 1990. Career Doré began h ...

as Mrs. Collins * Thomas Gallagher as Mr. Collins *

Howard Pays Howard Pays (11 June 1927 – 12 April 2002) was an English actor who, in partnership with Freddy Vale, started the London-based talent agency CCA. Early life Howard Pays was born in West Ham, Essex on 11 June 1927. Career His first television ...

as Sergeant Pelling * Joy Webster as Rene * Martin Sterndale as Inspector Bowen *

John Chandos Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin Peninsula, Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Count of Poitiers, Poitou, (c. 1320 – 31 December 1369) was a medieval English knight who haile ...

as Jacko Fielding *

Meier Tzelniker Meier Tzelniker (1 January 1894 – 8 October 1980) was a Yiddish-speaking actor born in Hotin County, Romania. He appeared mainly in Yiddish theatre, but was sometimes a character actor in English-language plays and films, such as '' It Always R ...

as Mr. Rose the tailor * Larry Burns as barman * Fred Griffiths as Dealer (Dealo) the bouncer * Julie Shearing as Julie the cashier * Faye Craig as native dancer * Anne Scott as Margo * Gillian Watt as dancing girl * Alfred Farrell as Mr. Burns * Jacqueline Jones as Dolly * William Wilde as Sid Porter * Howard Douglas as Old Bill * Richard McNeff as policeman * Marian Collins as announcer *

Shirley Anne Field Shirley Anne Field (born Shirley Broomfield; 27 June 1936 – 10 December 2023) was an English actress who performed on stage, film and television from 1955 until her death. She was prominent during the British New Wave. Early life Shirley Bro ...

as Jaqui

Production

''Jungle Street'' was one of the last films directed by Charles Saunders. According to producer Guido Coen, David McCallum had "substantial input" into the direction of the film. Critic Michael J. Weldon has called it the last of McCallum's "juvenile delinquent" film roles. McCallum and Ireland were married at the time when the film was made. Despite its setting in a strip club, the film received an "A" rating from the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited ...

after removing some material, including shortening two striptease scenes and deleting a back view of Jill Ireland baring her breasts to the club audience. The film, retitled ''Jungle Street Girls'', was later released and promoted as an adults-only film in the United States by Ajay Films.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Dreary second feature, with a number of amateurish striptease acts dispiritingly presented to eke out a feeble, formulary plot. As an exercise in crime and punishment, it has neither point nor moral force." Chibnall and McFarlane in ''The British 'B' Film'' wrote that the film "remains a piece that is wonderfully evocative of the era." In the book ''Sixties British Cinema'', Robert Murphy wrote: "Without wishing to deny the film's flaws, its exploration of a grimy world of shortened horizons and stunted development which affluence has touched in only the most superficial way is fascinating. And its young protagonists, David McCallum, Kenneth Cope, Jill Ireland – fragile, brutal, vulnerable, rebellious – are disturbingly true to life."

Home video

''Jungle Street'' was released on DVD by Odeon Entertainment in 2008 in a set with the British crime drama '' A Matter of Choice'' (1963).

References

External links

* {{Portalbar, 1960s, Film, London 1961 crime drama films 1961 films British crime drama films Films set in London Films shot in London Films directed by Charles Saunders Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language crime drama films