| River Patrol | |
| Director: | Ben R. Hart |
| Producer: | Hal Wilson |
| Cinematography: | Bertram Brooks-Carrington |
| Editing: | James Corbett |
| Distributor: | Exclusive Films |
| Runtime: | 46 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
River Patrol is a 1948 British second feature ('B')[2] crime film directed by Ben R. Hart and starring John Blythe, Lorna Dean, and Wally Patch.[3] The screenplay was by James Corbett and concerns a group of undercover British customs officers who investigate a gang of nylons smugglers. It was made by Hammer Film Productions at Marylebone Studios in London. It is notable for being one of the earliest films made by Hammer following its relaunch after the Second World War.
Two British police officers, Robby and Jean, go undercover, pretending to be husband and wife in order to smash a ring of smugglers along the Thames. During the investigation they visit the most shady places of London, including a night club with the worst imaginable reputation in the city. The fake spouses befriend and dupe the night club owner and find evidence leading to the top of the smuggler ring. However, their identities are revealed by the criminals before they can report back to their superiors, and they have to fight alone against the thugs until they finally manage to get them all arrested.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film evidently does not aim very high in either direction or production. Scenes in a continental café, in particular, are unconvincing, though elsewhere a certain feeling of suspense is built up. John Blythe heads the cast capably."[4]
Kine Weekly wrote: "Thumbnail crime melodrama. It tries hard to be tough, but uneven direction, faulty timing, and cramped staging give its roughstuff a somewhat phoney ring. ... The opening is promising, but the film starts to degenerate immediately the hero and villain come to grips. The fights and exchanges are much too one-sided and the continental café sequences are very stagey. So is the big-fire climax. Clumsy pocket-serial, there is little to it, apart from its quota ticket.[5]
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In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Unambitious pocket thriller."[6]