The exciting but slow paced final film inHammer Film's Dick Barton spy trilogy. DD-Video R2 DVD from the Dick Barton
boxset.
The Film
Dick
Barton and Agent Creston are tracking a mysterious man named Alfonso
Delmonte Fourcada who is arriving into the UK from Prague.
Creston arranges to meet Barton at a nightclub, but when Barton
explores he discovers the agent dead and is captured by Fourcada - only
just escaping with his life. Their investigation is put on hold when
word comes in of an entire town in the North of England, killed without
a trace. Barton is sent to investigate, and discovers that a group of
Hungarian gypsies lead by Fourcada have developed a
super-weapon and are setting out to kill the population of England.
Barton has to track down the gypsies and save Britain...
Although the third film produced in the Dick Barton trilogy, Dick Barton Strikes Back was in fact released second. Again distancing itself from the comedy tones of Dick Barton: Special Agent (1948), Strikes Back goes
for a dark and often grim tone (hundreds of people are killed in the
towns). The pacing and flow of the film are similar to Dick Barton at Bay
(1950), the villains are identified early on, although their motives
remain vague at first, and the storyline builds up to a strong climax,
with numerous attempts made on Barton's life. As in the original radio
series, there are frequent cliff-hangers and impossible situations that
Barton has to escape from plus some unexpected twists. Only the ending
is a slight let-down with a drawn-out fight sequence and a rather
anti-climactic finish.
Director Godfrey Grayson returns from Dick Barton at Bay
(1950) and brings similarly solid direction with a few odd
camera-angles to liven up the mix. The direction of the final sequences
on location are very impressive and there is a huge cast of extras on
hand. An orchestral soundtrack provides good backing to the action
scenes.
There
are no big name actors on the cast list, Don Stannard returns as Dick
Barton
for the last time and fits the suave but action-packed role very well.
The actor playing Snowey is changed, although his character remains the
same. You might recognise occasional Hammer supporting actorJohn Harvey
as an army major and Disney voice actor Sebastian Cabot as the
villianous Fourcada.
Dick Barton Strikes Back is
the most impressive picture of the trilogy and has a plot that is
interesting and exciting for the most part, as well as strong direction
and editing and a decent soundtrack.
In Brief
Anyone famous in it?
Don Stannard - the star of all three of Hammer's Dick Barton films, in his final film appearance here.
Directed by anyone interesting?
Godfrey Grayson - directed 9 early Hammer movies, including Jack the Ripper picture Room to Let (1950)
Any violence/gore?
Some fist fights and a little blood.
Any sex?
None.
Who is it for?
Fans of the spy/adventure serials should enjoy this early Hammer production.
Good soundtrack?
An orchestral soundtrack fits the film well.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33:1 fullscreen. Black and White. The
print quality is good for the most part lot of details, but almost
continual speckling. Occasional scenes are much darker or lighter than
normal and there are some dropped frames, but the film is never
unwatchable.
Audio
English language original mono sound. Clear for the most part, but some hiss and crackling and drop-outs.
