Cinema Essentials

Morale in Fox Company is bad. The commanding officer, Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert), is widely considered to be incompetent. 14 men were killed in a recent engagement with the enemy, and Cooney is blamed, especially by Lieutenant Costa (Jack Palance). Morale is so poor that one of the officers, Lieutenant Woodruff (William Smithers), goes to see his superior Colonel Bartlett (Lee Marvin), asking him to pack Cooney off with a staff job to get him away from the front line. Bartlett understands the situation, but his hopes for a post-war political career rest on Cooney's, and especially his father's, patronage. Besides, he doesn't have any staff jobs, and he has it on good authority that they will see no more action anyway. For them, the war is almost over.

Vic Dakin (Richard Burton) is a doting son. He loves his dear old mother, brings her tea and tucks her up in bed every night. They live together in their cosy suburban house, and he takes her to Brighton every week for a day trip to the seaside. But Vic Dakin has another side. He is also one of London's most notorious criminals, a vicious sadist who will bribe, blackmail and maim those who cross or threaten him. The police are on Dakin's trail, led by Inspector Matthews (Nigel Davenport), who is looking for a way to bring him in. But Dakin seems untouchable, and in his world almost anyone can be bought. He even has a Member of Parliament, Gerald Draycott (Donald Sinden), in his pocket, who can support him and provide an unquestioned alibi if necessary. And he has his errant lover, Wolfe (Ian McShane), a small time hustler who supplies women, and occasionally men, for country house orgies to provide material for Dakin's blackmail efforts.