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{{Short description|1953 film by Robert Parrish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
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| name = Rough Shoot
| name = Rough Shoot
| image = Shoot First poster.jpg
| image = Shoot First poster.jpg
| image_size = 225
| caption = American theatrical poster
| caption = American theatrical poster
| director = [[Robert Parrish]]
| director = [[Robert Parrish]]
| producer = [[Raymond Stross]]
| producer = [[Raymond Stross]]
| screenplay = [[Eric Ambler]]
| screenplay = [[Eric Ambler]]
| based on = [[Geoffrey Household]]<br>(novel, ''A Rough Shoot'')
| based_on = [[Geoffrey Household]]<br>(novel, ''A Rough Shoot'')
| starring = [[Joel McCrea]]<br>[[Evelyn Keyes]]
| starring = [[Joel McCrea]]<br>[[Evelyn Keyes]]<br>[[Herbert Lom]]
| music = [[Hans May]]
| music = [[Hans May]]
| cinematography = [[Stanley Pavey]]
| cinematography = [[Stanley Pavey]]
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}}
}}


'''''Rough Shoot''''', also known as '''''Shoot First''''', is a 1953 British [[thriller film]] starring [[Joel McCrea]] and [[Evelyn Keyes]], and featuring [[Herbert Lom]], [[Marius Goring]] and [[Roland Culver]]. It was directed by [[Robert Parrish]] and written by [[Eric Ambler]], based on the 1951 novel ''A Rough Shoot'' by [[Geoffrey Household]].<ref>http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/48942</ref>
'''''Rough Shoot''''', released in the USA as '''''Shoot First''''', is a 1953 British [[thriller film]] directed by [[Robert Parrish]] and written by [[Eric Ambler]], based on the 1951 novel by [[Geoffrey Household]].<ref>Milne 2004, p. 1014.</ref> The film stars [[Joel McCrea]], in his only postwar non-Western role, with [[Evelyn Keyes]] as the [[leading lady]], and featuring [[Herbert Lom]], [[Marius Goring]] and [[Roland Culver]]. The scenario is set in [[Cold War]] England when tensions ran high regarding spying.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114190126/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/48942 "History: 'Rough Shoot'."] ''BFI'', 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.</ref>{{TOC limit|limit=2}}


==Synopsis==
==Plot==
A retired American army officer living in the English countryside shoots at a man he takes to be a [[poacher]]. Believing he has killed him, he goes on the run from the British police and security services.
A U.S. Army colonel Robert Taine ([[Joel McCrea]]) living in the English countryside shoots at a man he takes to be a [[Poaching|poacher]] on Taine's rented property in Dorset.

The man named Reimann (Denis Lehre), has been mortally wounded but Robert is unaware that a foreign spy named Hiart ([[Marius Goring]]) simultaneously shot Reimann. Believing he has killed the poacher, Robert hides Reimann's body under a shrub. Robert encounters Hiart and his driver, Diss ([[Karel Stepanek]]) looking for the body.

Later that night, Hiart's colleague, Magda Hassingham ([[Patricia Laffan]]), discusses the incident with him. Magda's drunkard husband ([[Frank Lawton]]), the major landowner in the area, is ignorant of her involvement with enemy agents.

Intending to bury Reimann the next day, Robert finds Peter Sandorski ([[Herbert Lom]]), a Polish operative for British military intelligence. Sandorski enlists his help with a secret operation to foil a gang out to steal atomic secrets. British Colonel Cartwright ([[Cyril Raymond]]) introduces Robert and his wife Cecily ([[Evelyn Keyes]]) to government official Randall ([[Roland Culver]]) who confirms Sandorski's identity and story and instructs Robert to cooperate with Sandorski.

When Randall leaves, Robert confesses to Cecily he has accidentally killed a man. Cecily insists on accompanying her husband and Sandorski to a nearby field where an enemy agent is expected to land an aircraft. While Cecily stays in the car, Robert and Sandorski see Hiart, Magda and their assistants arrange landing beacons.

When he overhears that the agent, identified as Lex ([[David Hurst]]), will only be in town for 48 hours, Sandorski decides to capture him. By moving a beacon, the landing is disrupted, allowing Sandorski who is impersonating Hiart to grab the spy. Sandorski tosses grenades so they cannot be followed.

While Robert and Cecily impersonate the Hassinghams, Sandorski drugs Lex so he will sleep. The next morning police discover Reimann's body. Diss, meanwhile, attempts to locate Lex and learns about Robert and Cecily's unusual houseguests from their housekeeper's son, Tommy Powell (Robert Dickens). After police inspectors Matthews ([[Jack McNaughton]]) of Dorchester and Sullivan ([[Clement McCallin]]) of Scotland Yard question Robert and take one of his boots to compare to the prints found near Reimann's body. Robert insists they all leave for London, where Lex has a meeting.

On Robert's instruction, Mrs. Powell ([[Megs Jenkins]]) contacts Randall with a request to call off Scotland Yard. Hiart pursues Robert, Cecily, Sandorski and Lex who arrive at a train station where Randall makes contact with Cecily, who admits that her husband killed Reimann.

While on the train to London, Cecily takes Lex's briefcase while he is asleep. At the London train station Hiart manages to alert Lex, who escapes. However, the next day at London's [[Madame Tussauds|Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum]], Randall and Sandorski arrest Lex after he passes an envelope to an unidentified spy. Lex and the spy are arrested, but Hiart and Diss flee.

Sandorski shoots Diss during a pursuit in a stairwell, and Hiart is killed when he opens Lex's briefcase, triggering an explosion. Randall later reveals to Robert and Cecily that Lex, a scientist, was brought to England to interpret stolen reports about British atomic weapons trials in Australia. He and Sullivan then inform a relieved Robert that it was Hiart who killed Reimann. Before departing, Sandorski cautions Cecily that any future strange behaviour by her husband may be related to espionage.


==Cast==
==Cast==
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Joel McCrea]] as Lt. Col. Robert Taine
{{col-break}}
* [[Joel McCrea]] as Lt. Col. Robert Tanie
* [[Evelyn Keyes]] as Cecily Taine
* [[Evelyn Keyes]] as Cecily Paine
* [[Herbert Lom]] as Peter Sandorski
* [[Herbert Lom]] as Sandorski
* [[Roland Culver]] as Randall
* [[Roland Culver]] as Randall
* [[Marius Goring]] as Hiart
* [[Marius Goring]] as Hiart
* [[Frank Lawton]] as Hassingham
* [[Frank Lawton]] as Hassingham
* [[Patricia Laffan]] as Magda
* [[Patricia Laffan]] as Magda Hassingham
* [[Cyril Raymond]] as Cartwright
* [[Cyril Raymond]] as Cartwright
* [[Karel Stepanek]] as Diss
* [[Karel Stepanek]] as Diss
* [[Jack McNaughton]] as Inspector Matthews
* [[Jack McNaughton]] as Inspector Matthews
{{col-break|gap=4em}}
* [[Clement McCallin]] as Inspector Sullivan
* [[Clement McCallin]] as Inspector Sullivan
* [[David Hurst]] as Lex
* [[David Hurst]] as Lex
Line 50: Line 66:
* [[Ellis Irving]] as Wharton
* [[Ellis Irving]] as Wharton
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Station announcer
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Station announcer
{{col-end}}
{{div col end}}

==Production==
Inspired by [[Geoffrey Household]]'s novel ''Rough Shoot'' (1953), ''Shoot First!'' was filmed on location in England. Studio work took place at [[Riverside Studios]], London.<ref>[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89978/Shoot-First/original-print-info.html "Original print information: 'Shoot First'."] ''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.</ref> Some scenes were shot in [[Madame Tussauds|Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum]] in London.<ref>[https://catalog.afi.com/Film/51025-SHOOT-FIRST?sid=38afae03-dd45-459f-b3e4-e6b0e4277558&sr=13.521389&cp=1&pos=0 "Geographical locations: 'Shoot First'."] ''AFI.com.'', 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.</ref>{{#tag:ref|[[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] stars Joel McCrea and Evelyn Keyes took on lead roles in a British thriller. For McCrea, ''Rough Shoot'' would be his only film after 1946 that was not a [[western film|western]].<ref>Erickson, Hal. [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/shoot-first-v109958#dowi1dovYEq1L2Q7.99 "Review: 'Shoot First'."] ''allmovie.com'', 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.</ref>|group=N}}

==Reception==
In a contemporary review of ''Shoot First'' (the title of the U.S. release), ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine declared: "McCrea is excellent as the colonel forced by circumstances into the counterplot, and Keyes is appealing and believable as his wife. Lom scores as the swash-buckling counterspy, making a completely engaging character out of what's intended as a caricature. Goring scores as the fanatic foreign agent, and Karl Stepanek is excellent as his brutal sidekick. Robert Parrish's inventive direction keeps the story moving at a rapid pace."<ref>[https://variety.com/1952/film/reviews/shoot-first-1200417419/ "Review: 'Shoot First'."] ''Variety'', 31 December 1952. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.</ref>

Film reviewer Leslie Halliwell in ''Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide'' (1989), noted that ''Rough Shoot'' was a "minor [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]]-style thriller with a climax in [[Madame Tussauds]]; generally efficient and entertaining."<ref>Halliwell 1989, p. 869.</ref>


==References==
==References==
;Notes
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|group=N}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Halliwell, Leslie. ''Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide''. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-06016-322-8}}.
* Milne, Tom. "Review: 'Rough Shoot'(aka 'Shoot First')" in Pym, John, ed. ''Time Out Film Guide''. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-14101-354-1}}.
{{Refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0046307}}
*{{IMDb title|0046307}}
*{{tcmdb title|89978}}
*{{TCMDb title|89978}}
*{{allmovie title|109958}}
*{{allMovie title|109958}}
*Sterritt, David. [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89978/Shoot-First/articles.html ''Shoot First'' (1953)], article on TCM.com
*Sterritt, David. [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89978/Shoot-First/articles.html ''Shoot First'' (1953)], article on TCM.com
{{Robert Parrish}}
{{Robert Parrish}}

[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:1953 films]]
⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:1950s thriller films]]
[[Category:1950s thriller films]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Parrish]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Parrish]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British thriller films]]
[[Category:British thriller films]]
[[Category:British spy films]]
[[Category:British spy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]

[[Category:Cold War spy films]]

⚫
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
{{1950s-UK-film-stub}}
⚫
[[Category:1950s British films]]
{{thriller-film-stub}}
[[Category:Films scored by Hans May]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]

Latest revision as of 04:46, 8 October 2024

Rough Shoot
American theatrical poster
Directed byRobert Parrish
Screenplay byEric Ambler
Based onGeoffrey Household
(novel, A Rough Shoot)
Produced byRaymond Stross
StarringJoel McCrea
Evelyn Keyes
Herbert Lom
CinematographyStanley Pavey
Edited byRussell Lloyd
Music byHans May
Production
company
Raymond Stross Productions
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • 15 May 1953 (1953-05-15) ((US))
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Rough Shoot, released in the USA as Shoot First, is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert Parrish and written by Eric Ambler, based on the 1951 novel by Geoffrey Household.[1] The film stars Joel McCrea, in his only postwar non-Western role, with Evelyn Keyes as the leading lady, and featuring Herbert Lom, Marius Goring and Roland Culver. The scenario is set in Cold War England when tensions ran high regarding spying.[2]

Plot

[edit]

A U.S. Army colonel Robert Taine (Joel McCrea) living in the English countryside shoots at a man he takes to be a poacher on Taine's rented property in Dorset.

The man named Reimann (Denis Lehre), has been mortally wounded but Robert is unaware that a foreign spy named Hiart (Marius Goring) simultaneously shot Reimann. Believing he has killed the poacher, Robert hides Reimann's body under a shrub. Robert encounters Hiart and his driver, Diss (Karel Stepanek) looking for the body.

Later that night, Hiart's colleague, Magda Hassingham (Patricia Laffan), discusses the incident with him. Magda's drunkard husband (Frank Lawton), the major landowner in the area, is ignorant of her involvement with enemy agents.

Intending to bury Reimann the next day, Robert finds Peter Sandorski (Herbert Lom), a Polish operative for British military intelligence. Sandorski enlists his help with a secret operation to foil a gang out to steal atomic secrets. British Colonel Cartwright (Cyril Raymond) introduces Robert and his wife Cecily (Evelyn Keyes) to government official Randall (Roland Culver) who confirms Sandorski's identity and story and instructs Robert to cooperate with Sandorski.

When Randall leaves, Robert confesses to Cecily he has accidentally killed a man. Cecily insists on accompanying her husband and Sandorski to a nearby field where an enemy agent is expected to land an aircraft. While Cecily stays in the car, Robert and Sandorski see Hiart, Magda and their assistants arrange landing beacons.

When he overhears that the agent, identified as Lex (David Hurst), will only be in town for 48 hours, Sandorski decides to capture him. By moving a beacon, the landing is disrupted, allowing Sandorski who is impersonating Hiart to grab the spy. Sandorski tosses grenades so they cannot be followed.

While Robert and Cecily impersonate the Hassinghams, Sandorski drugs Lex so he will sleep. The next morning police discover Reimann's body. Diss, meanwhile, attempts to locate Lex and learns about Robert and Cecily's unusual houseguests from their housekeeper's son, Tommy Powell (Robert Dickens). After police inspectors Matthews (Jack McNaughton) of Dorchester and Sullivan (Clement McCallin) of Scotland Yard question Robert and take one of his boots to compare to the prints found near Reimann's body. Robert insists they all leave for London, where Lex has a meeting.

On Robert's instruction, Mrs. Powell (Megs Jenkins) contacts Randall with a request to call off Scotland Yard. Hiart pursues Robert, Cecily, Sandorski and Lex who arrive at a train station where Randall makes contact with Cecily, who admits that her husband killed Reimann.

While on the train to London, Cecily takes Lex's briefcase while he is asleep. At the London train station Hiart manages to alert Lex, who escapes. However, the next day at London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Randall and Sandorski arrest Lex after he passes an envelope to an unidentified spy. Lex and the spy are arrested, but Hiart and Diss flee.

Sandorski shoots Diss during a pursuit in a stairwell, and Hiart is killed when he opens Lex's briefcase, triggering an explosion. Randall later reveals to Robert and Cecily that Lex, a scientist, was brought to England to interpret stolen reports about British atomic weapons trials in Australia. He and Sullivan then inform a relieved Robert that it was Hiart who killed Reimann. Before departing, Sandorski cautions Cecily that any future strange behaviour by her husband may be related to espionage.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Inspired by Geoffrey Household's novel Rough Shoot (1953), Shoot First! was filmed on location in England. Studio work took place at Riverside Studios, London.[3] Some scenes were shot in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London.[4][N 1]

Reception

[edit]

In a contemporary review of Shoot First (the title of the U.S. release), Variety magazine declared: "McCrea is excellent as the colonel forced by circumstances into the counterplot, and Keyes is appealing and believable as his wife. Lom scores as the swash-buckling counterspy, making a completely engaging character out of what's intended as a caricature. Goring scores as the fanatic foreign agent, and Karl Stepanek is excellent as his brutal sidekick. Robert Parrish's inventive direction keeps the story moving at a rapid pace."[6]

Film reviewer Leslie Halliwell in Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide (1989), noted that Rough Shoot was a "minor Hitchcock-style thriller with a climax in Madame Tussauds; generally efficient and entertaining."[7]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Hollywood stars Joel McCrea and Evelyn Keyes took on lead roles in a British thriller. For McCrea, Rough Shoot would be his only film after 1946 that was not a western.[5]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ Milne 2004, p. 1014.
  2. ^ "History: 'Rough Shoot'." BFI, 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Original print information: 'Shoot First'." TCM, 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Geographical locations: 'Shoot First'." AFI.com., 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.
  5. ^ Erickson, Hal. "Review: 'Shoot First'." allmovie.com, 2019. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Review: 'Shoot First'." Variety, 31 December 1952. Retrieved: 10 August 2019.
  7. ^ Halliwell 1989, p. 869.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Halliwell, Leslie. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. ISBN 978-0-06016-322-8.
  • Milne, Tom. "Review: 'Rough Shoot'(aka 'Shoot First')" in Pym, John, ed. Time Out Film Guide. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004. ISBN 978-0-14101-354-1.
[edit]
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