They Can't Hang Me

~ A thrill-a-minute story behind today's atomic headlines! ~

Overview:

A murderer hopes to escape his death sentence by identifying the leaders of a spy ring.

Director:

Val Guest

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

spy
atomic device

Cast

Terence Morgan

~ as ~

Inspector Ralph Brown

Yolande Donlan

~ as ~

Jill Wilson

Anthony Oliver

~ as ~

Inspector Newcombe

André Morell

~ as ~

Robert Isaac Pitt

Reginald Beckwith

~ as ~

Harold

Ursula Howells

~ as ~

Antonia Pitt

Guido Lorraine

~ as ~

Pietr Revski

Basil Dignam

~ as ~

Wing Commander Riddle

Raymond Rollett

~ as ~

Sir Robert Rosper

Fred Johnson

~ as ~

Professor Robinson-Heston

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

John Chard
Written 10 year(s) ago
6
Soho Killing: Senior Civil Servant Is Charged.

They Can’t Hang Me is directed by Val Guest and adapted to screenplay by Guest and Val Valentine from the novel written by Leonard Mosley. It stars Terence Morgan, Yolande Donlan, Andre Morell, Anthony Oliver and Reginald Beckwith.

When Robert Pitt (Morell) is convicted of murder and sentenced to death by execution, he offers the state a bargain. Grant him a reprieve and he will reveal the name of the master spy known as Leonidas before he leaves the country with some atomic secrets.

Thus it’s a race against time thriller as the coppers follow the various leads while Pitt grows ever more frantic in his cell. Ideally the police want to find Leonidas without Pitt’s help, he is after all a murderer and the state officials are reluctant to grant the requested reprieve. The usual quota of suspects are thrust into the story at regular intervals, giving us a “who is it” thread, while Morgan’s head copper tries to keep his lover happy as the search for Leonidas constantly drags him away from planned romantic evenings with her. This is actually a fun thread that’s not played for marital drama, as is the byplay between Morgan and Oliver, two intrepid Inspectors who exchange banter and quips even as the pressure mounts.

Enjoyable without ever reaching great heights as a spy thriller, They Can’t Hang Me is cautiously recommended to fans of such genre fare. 6/10
CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
André Morell is "Pitt" - in jail awaiting hanging for murdering a prostitute. At the last minute he contacts "Insp. Brown" (Terence Morgan) with information about master spy "Leonidas" who is about to take a top scientific secret behind the iron curtain - in return for his life! Together with his sidekick Anthony Oliver ("Insp. Newcombe") they set off to thwart this plan. It's a decent enough story that moves along a-pace. Yolande Donlan adds a bit of light relief as the fiancée who spends much of her time waiting around for her detective boyfriend and there are just enough red herrings to keep this intriguing, if a bit lightweight thriller, going for 75 minutes.