Man with a Gun (1958 film)

Not to be confused with the 1955 Robert Mitchum film Man with the Gun.

Man with a Gun is a low-budget 1958 British second feature ('B')^[1] crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Lee Patterson, Rona Anderson and John Le Mesurier.^[2][3] The screenplay was by Michael Winner.^[4]

Man with a Gun
Original British quad poster
Directed by	Montgomery Tully
Screenplay by	Michael Winner
Produced by	Jack Greenwood
Starring	Lee Patterson Rona Anderson John Le Mesurier Glen Mason
Cinematography	John Wiles
Edited by	Geoffrey Muller
Music by	Ron Goodwin
Production company	Merton Park Studios
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK)
Release date	August 1958 (1958-08) (UK)
Running time	60 minutes
Language	English

Plot

Insurance investigator Mike Davies looks into a suspicious fire that burned down a nightclub. He initially suspects the club's manager, Harry Drayson, but after Davies meets Drayson's niece Stella, she helps him uncover a mob protection scheme responsible for the arson.

Cast

• Lee Patterson as Mike Davies
• Rona Anderson as Stella
• John Le Mesurier as Harry Drayson
• Bill Nagy as Joe Harris
• Marne Maitland as Max
• Glen Mason as Steve Riley
• Carlo Borelli as Carlo
• Harold Lang as John Drayson
• Cyril Chamberlain as Superindendent Wood
• Dorinda Stevens as club receptionist

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This crime melodrama is a routine British second feature competently made and efficiently acted. Although it has few distinctive features it fulfils its purpose in a workmanlike way."^[5]

Picturegoer wrote: "This British thriller pegs its plot on a real oldie idea – gangsters muscling in on a nightclub. But it still packs some punch. [Lee] Patterson, who has become number-one raincoat hero of "B" thrillers, deserves better vehicles for his rough-cut sex appeal than this weakly scripted story. However, as a whodunit the film is a neat, briskly paced job. For the disc fans, Glen Mason weighs in with two pop numbers."^[6]

Picture Show wrote: "Well portrayed, it has a slight romantic interest and some suspenseful action."^[7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Embryo director's first script not a winner, but direction keeps brisk pace."^[8]

TV Guide called it a "so-so crime story. Despite some fast pacing in the direction, the script is too simplistic for the fare."^[9]