| Tiger Bay | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Tiger_Bay-1959.jpg) Opening title card | |
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Written by | John Hawkesworth Shelley Smith[a] |
| Based on | "Rodolphe et le Revolver" by Noël Calef |
| Produced by | John Hawkesworth |
| Starring | John Mills Horst Buchholz Hayley Mills |
| Cinematography | Eric Cross |
| Edited by | Sidney Hayers |
| Music by | Laurie Johnson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Tiger Bay is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It stars John Mills as a police superintendent investigating a murder; his real-life daughter Hayley Mills, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder; and Horst Buchholz as a young sailor who commits the murder in a moment of passion. The title refers to the Tiger Bay district of Cardiff, where much of the film was shot.
The film features many authentic scenes of the children's street culture and the black street culture of the time, along with many dockside shots and scenes in real pubs and the surrounding countryside. Unusually, the overall ambience of the film is one of sympathy towards the killer, seeing him as a basically good person, and victim of circumstance. As such, the film marks a vital transitional moment in the move towards the British New Wave cinema exemplified a few years later by A Taste of Honey.
Tiger Bay was released by Rank Film Distributors in March 1959. It received widely positive reviews from critics, and was a commercial success, helping to launch a then-11-year-old Hayley Mills acting career. The film was nominated for four BAFTA Awards, including Best Film and Outstanding British Film, with Mills winning Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. At the 9th Berlin International Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Golden Bear and Mills received a Special Mention for her performance.
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