The Share Out (1962) User Reviews

A good, fast moving B feature

[robin-moss2 · 7/10 · 2 March 2014]

I have to disagree quite strongly with the other review. The narrative of this film is most certainly not one we have seen a million times or more. It is highly original and well worth describing.

A gang of high class corporate thieves use blackmail to induce their victims to sell property at knock-down prices. The victims refuse to talk to the police. A police inspector is aware of the racket and persuades a shifty private investigator to work for the gang while reporting back to him. The P. I. joins the crooks, none of whom trusts the others, and each of them tries to enlist his services for their own exclusive advantage. There are two murders and it is not clear until the last surprise twist scene who committed the second murder.

The Share-Out has an excellent cast including Alexander Knox and Bernard Lee. As with all these Edgar Wallace films, the story unfolds quickly and the audience is never bored.

"A single word, 'help', will do"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 5 October 2019]

An entertaining film in the Merton Park studios run of Edgar Wallace films. It tells of a sophisticated group of blackmailers who come undone, partly by undercover man Mike Stafford and partly by Det. Supt. Meredith of Scotland Yard. There is a good surprise ending. It is enhanced by a fine cast; Bernard Lee as the grumpy Meredith, William Russell as the smooth Stafford, Moira Redmond as the troubled Diana, Richard Vernon as the greedy Crewe and best of all the great Alexander Knox as the efficient gang leader Colonel Calderwood. Mr Knox never gave a bad performance, mostly as a good character but when given the occasional villainous role was just as plausible. It is efficiently shot, edited and directed. One to enjoy.

Short and snappy

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 5 July 2022]

One of the hour-long Edgar Wallace adaptations that filled British cinemas in the early 1960s. This one is a short and snappy affair - unsurprisingly - with an original plot involving a gang of thieves. No jewel or bank robberies for these guys, just blackmail plots and murder. A good cast is headed by Bernard Lee and the whole thing packs in the twists and surprises throughout.

Far too much pulp and not enough juice.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 22 July 2023]

Even when the plot gets going, this overly talkie crime drama about blackmail going on in a real estate grift just remains boring and not very engaging with characters that for the most part I wasn't interested in finding out their secrets. Alexander Knox, best known for playing "Wilson", never had much of a career outside of generic villain roles, so even if his name strikes a few memories of earlier film roles, once the film is underway, he's just part of the ensemble and nothing more than the head of the blackmail racket.

Surrounded by Bernard Lee, Moira Redmond, William Russell and Richard Vernon, Knox is just part of a bland ensemble of one dimensional characters, his harsh sounding villain just as clichéd and uninteresting as everyone else. Even when someone was murdered, I still found myself waiting for something more exciting to occur. These rushed out Edgar Wallace programmers are hit or miss, in the theaters apparently one day and soon on local TV right after. Even when the denouncement of who dun it occurred, I was completely underwhelmed and felt like I had been hypnotized into boredom after only an hour. Maybe people interested in less dramatic crimes will find this interesting, but real estate combined with the blackmail angle just made me put my attention to look for the roof of a plot in another neighborhood.

OK routine mystery yarn

[searchanddestroy-1 · 26 February 2012]

Nothing special about this Edgard Wallace series episode. A murder, a police investigator, lots of talks, and enough suspense to keep you awake. Unless of course if you have not slept well last night.

It's certainly not the episode - or should I say film - of the series that I would remember the most. No folks.

I think it's useless to sum the plot up. You have seen this a million times before. Purely British style, well done, in automatic flying mode by a professional director who knows his job. Although this guy has not made anything great in his career. No surprise at all.

An acceptable time waster. No more.