STANLEY BAKER AND LAURENCE HARVEY IN 'THE GOOD DIE YOUNG'

Title: THE GOOD DIE YOUNG Year: 1954 Rating: ***1/2

Lewis Gilbert's London-set Noir/Melodrama would lack some of the Melodrama without the two Americans countering the two Englishmen: although Stanley Baker's working-class boxer does get theatrical outside the ring, and, staring with four men in a car, guns drawn, about to commit a robbery, we experience backstories of each... 

John Ireland's a broke, whiny GI married to cheating movie star Gloria Grahame — a mismatched couple to begin with — while Richard Basehart has pregnant Joan Collins and a clingy mother-in-law, attempting suicide when they attempt flying back overseas: So one American needs airfare while the other needs a divorce... making both weak candidates for crime, saving the best for last... 

Laurence Harvey, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland in The Good Die Young

And the only character lacking the title's idealistic GOOD is charmingly deceptive weasel Laurence Harvey, who... married to a rich, glamorous artist while trying to squeeze inheritance out a very living father after wifey kills his allowance... makes a fantastically cunning, unashamedly hedonistic, cruel and cutthroat manipulator, especially towards Baker's crippled boxer (who lost his hand), needing cash the most...

Basically the two polar opposite Brits would have created a tighter, edgier tale while the highly anticipated postal-truck heist leads to the kind of collective action the story had been begging for. Making one forgive all the soap operatic fluff that's still pretty entertaining. As soaps can often be. 

Thomas Gallagher, Leslie Dwyer and Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Leslie Dwyer with Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young

Laurence Harvey in The Good Die Young

Richard Basehart and Joan Collins in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker in The Good Die Young with a miscast Rene Ray

Richard Basehart and Laurence Harvey in The Good Die Young

Stanley Baker and Richard Basehart in The Good Die Young

Gloria Grahame in The Good Die Young

The Good Die Young movie poster