Città in agguato

When the cargo ship Dunbar is moored at the Pool of London, the crew is released to have the weekend for entertainment in the city. The customs officer asks if the sailors have anything to declare before they go to London. The wolf Dan MacDonald (Bonar Colleano) and his best friend, the Jamaican Johnny Lambert (Earl Cameron), go together and Dan meets his girlfriend Maisie (Moira Lister) while Johnny befriends the ticket vendor Pat (Susan Shaw). Meanwhile Dan meets a stranger that proposes one hundred pounds for him to smuggle a small box to Rotterdam. They schedule a meeting at a church on the next morning to deliver the package to Dan. The stranger, who is a gangster, heists jewels earlier with his gang but the robbery goes wrong, they kill the guard and the police chase them. Later he delivers the box to Dan during the mass. Dan, who had problem with the costums officer before leaving the ship, asks Johnny to bring the box onboard. But when he learns that there are stolen jewels in the box and is wanted by the Scotland Yard, he lives a dilemma: shall he flee or save Johnny from the Scotland Yard.

"Pool of London" is a surprisingly good unknown British film. The post-war London is impressive, with a few cars on empty streets. The screenplay and the cinematography are top-notch, with several sub-plots and characters well-developed. But the most impressive in the story is the racism with the mullato Johnny, who feels outcast in London. The moralist conclusion fits perfectly to the melodramatic plot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Encontro em Londres" ("Meeting in London")