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Cat & Mouse
Cat & Mouse
	DVD cover
Directed by	Paul Rotha
Screenplay by	Paul Rotha
Based on	Novel by John Creasey
Produced by	Paul Rotha
Starring	Lee Patterson; Ann Sears; Victor Maddern
Cinematography	Wolfgang Suschitzky
Production; company	Anvil Films
Distributed by	Eros Films (UK)
Release date	August 1958 (UK);
Running time	79 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Cat & Mouse (also known as Cat and Mouse; U.S. title: The Desperate Men) is a 1958 British crime drama film directed by Paul Rotha, starring Lee Patterson, Ann Sears and Victor Maddern.^[1]^[2] The screenplay was by Rotha, based on the 1955 novel Cat and Mouse by John Creasey, writing as Michael Halliday.

Plot

A deserter from the American army holds a young British woman hostage, believing she knows the location of a fortune in diamonds.

Cast

Lee Patterson as Rod Fenner
Ann Sears as Ann Coltby
Victor Maddern as Superintendent Harding
Hilton Edwards as Mr. Scruby
Diana Fawcett as Mrs. Pomeroy
Roddy McMillan as Mr. Pomeroy
Stuart Saunders as plainclothes Sergeant
George Rose as second-hand clothes dealer
Llewellyn Rees as bank manager
Robert Mackenzie as American army officer

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An interesting experiment in low-budget feature production by a distinguished documentary director, this film has a strong sense of place and period. The genteel decaying London streets, the cold suburbs, the mood of bitterness and resentment expressed by the fugitive American are all very much of our time, and are presented with vigour and feeling. ... One of the great virtues of this film is that it achieves excitement and tension without exploiting violence."^[3]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This claustrophobic thriller denies documentary director Paul Rotha the chance to demonstrate his facility with realism. Yet he still generates a fair amount of suspense ... This is superior to the majority of British B-movies made at the time "^[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Offbeat thriller with good atmosphere and performances."^[5]

References

^ "Cat & Mouse". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
^ Easen, Sarah. "Rotha, Paul (1907-1984)". Screenonline. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
^ "Cat & Mouse". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 25 (288): 123. 1 January 1958 – via ProQuest.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 161. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 291. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.