This is a big screen version of a BBC TV play. Anthony Newley, whose string of Top 20 pop hits had just come to an end, puts in a surprisingly good performance as Sammy Lee, a strip club compère whose gambling debts land him in trouble with gangsters. Newley was a quirky actor and takes some getting used to. Always nice to see Julia Foster who plays a doting innocent, and there are memorable cameos from Warren Mitchell and Miriam Karlin as his brother and his sister-in-law. Set before strip clubs and gambling were entirely lawful, the film is in black-and-white which enhances the period atmosphere. Jazz fans may care to note that the original music is composed by tenor saxist Kenny Graham.
Review of The Small World of Sammy Lee
