The Break
The Break
| 07 July 1963 (USA)
The Break Trailers

A group of inmates escape from Dartmoor prison. They hide out in the English country side but are doggedly chased by police.

Reviews
Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
malcolmgsw Let's put it this way you will have seen this film and variants many times.It is however effectively handled by Lance Comfort.Jacko manages to escape from a train,kill the guard and ramshackle himself without too much difficulty.He then manages to get to a hotel near Newton Abbott's where his gang seem to comprise the staff whilst indulging in a lifeline of stealing whiskey.One of the guests is a failed writer,whose wife wants to divorce him.Robert Urquhart plays a seedy private eye trying to get evidence for the wife's divorce.He gets too nosey and is killed by Jacko,who rather losses control and kills a gang member.Eventually Jacko gets his just deserts.
jamesraeburn2003 A convicted armed robber, Jacko Thomas (William Lucus), jumps from a speeding train and kills his police escort. At a lonely Dartmoor hotel, the proprietor Tredegar (Eddie Byrne) is arranging an escape route for Jacko who plans to take the proceeds of a robbery and his sister, Sue (Christina Gregg),to begin a new life in Argentina. But, things are complicated when famed novelist, Greg Parker (Tony Britten), and private eye, Pearson (Robert Urqhart), check in at the hotel. When Jacko learns about Pearson, he kills him in a fit of panic but, in actual fact, he was collecting evidence for divorce proceedings on behalf of Parker's wife who ditched him after his last book flopped. Meanwhile, the novelist has been striking up a friendship with Sue. Another murder occurs and Parker narrowly avoids falling victim to Jacko himself. Parker must find away of alerting the police to the happenings at the hotel and stop Jacko escaping with Sue and the loot. But, can Parker convince Sue of her beloved brother's homicidal tendencies?A minor but highly effective little suspenser from director Lance Comfort who,during the 1950's and early 60's, became a man in demand and made scores of second features after his "A" feature career never really got off the ground. These ranged from the downright poor to the average and a handful of exceptional gems that showed that noteworthy efforts did sometimes come from this oft-maligned corner of British filmmaking. Comfort succeeds in creating much in the way of suspense and tension here and the attractive setting of lonely Dartmoor enhances the feeling of claustrophobia heightened by some nice sets and Basil Emmott's (another b-pic veteran)excellent b/w photography. Good performances too - William Lucas is suitably thuggish and frightening in the role of the killer and Christina Gregg is suitably naive and vulnerable in the role of his sister, Sue, who has no idea throughout about her brother being a cold blooded killer. Gregg was highly effective in another of Lance Comfort's better films - Rag Doll - in which she plays a teenage runaway who falls in love with a pop singing Soho criminal played By Jess Conrad. Highly recommended viewing. There are many familiar faces from British film and television such as Eddie Byrne (The Mummy, Island Of Terror), Robert Urqhart (The Curse Of Frankenstein)and Edwin Richfield who showed up in many episodes of cult British TV shows of the era including The Avengers.
Bernard-Dunne Unlike what the other reviewer said Jacko Thomas doesn't make his escape from Dartmoor prison, he doesn't even get there. It's starts with Jacko Thomas been escorted by two plainclothes police officers (by train) to Dartmoor prison. he starts fighting them and jumps off of the speeding train with one of them. This one he later kills. He is then transported by a boat and a Landrover to the 'Tredgar's Farm Guesthouse' in the middle of nowhere. The next day three other guests arrive, the writer Greg Parker, Joseph Parker (who is played by Robert Urguhart, in almost the same way as he played Monckton in the 'Danger Man' episode 'Man With The Foot'), the last visitor is Jacko's beautiful sister Sue who has brought his stolen money. Fast paced and excellent direction from Lance Comfort. Lots of Twists and turns in the plot including Pearson 'phoning someone to tell them where Jacko is or does he mean Parker? and with Jacko having an affair with Tredgar's wife. Pretty good plot wise. Will he make his escape or not?
GUENOT PHILIPPE What a wonderful little British thriller. A real crime movie, fast paced, a good cast of actors. Powerful performances. An effective score too. It begins with the sequence of an escape from Dartmoor prison, in the British country side, in the middle of nowhere. The escapists are of course helped by a bunch of hoods. And every one get hidden in a sort of cottage. There is a very exciting chase, in the country side, between a running man and a Land Rover, in the mud.We already know the actors. I don't remember their names, but I saw them in lots of films from this era. Lance Comfort has not made so many movies, but they are all efficient.