The film focuses on brothers Terry (John Mills) and Matt (Dirk Bogarde), two IRA foot soldiers looking to further the IRA cause during the height of The Blitz. It means that is hard to recommend The Gentle Gunman on its dramatic chops alone, with the film ultimately feeling, despite Dearden’s best efforts, like a bit of a damp squib as the credits roll.

John Mills’ earnest goodness, repentance and determination shine through here, giving the film its heart. If you have any information regarding this production, the locations or, even better, some comparison shots please contact us. The all-important chemistry between Thompson and McCormack is most definitely there and, even if his character isn’t quite as satisfying, the film cradles us with an irresistible balance of truth and wryly observed compassion. For what still remains an incredibly divisive topic, the film remains remarkably sympathetic to its characters (and their arguments) on both sides of the political discourse. My brother and I, when we were old enough, would spend many summer Saturdays helping out - getting there and back on the back of a lorry.He desperately wants to prove himself by succeeding in the missions assigned to him by more senior members of the IRA. The junction of the R755 and R760 roads in the Rocky Valley found by PW using information supplied by Christopher Matheson and confirmed by regular contributors Tony Hanna, Paschal Newell and Alan Bourke.

A real joint effort has pinned this location down after Christopher Matheson found a couple of newspaper articles from May 1952 which indicated where filming took place. This would have been a few years after the film was shot, probably after 1954, but there was an old log cabin style hut which was used for shelter in the wild and windy spot and we often heard my father and the other men talking about the film. Dearden’s film very much uses Irish and English politics as a backdrop to his thriller, rather than letting them become a defining part. Although censorship (and good taste) limited the villainy that could be shown and saw Ealing release two films that insisted on the profound distinction between right and wrong – It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) and The Blue Lamp (1950) – a third, more ambiguous film took the studio closer to those boundaries of taste than usual under Balcon’s cautious eye.He knows what is in the case, runs down the platform, picks it up, and throws it into the tunnel, where it explodes safely. Nancy approaches her mission with all the briskness of her profession, her default setting when crippling nerves threaten to take over, but there’s no disguising this is a woman who’s grown used to a lack of physical affection and, much as she longs for it, it petrifies her.

A botched gunfight in a down pour feels particularly grim and noirish, while a late stage shootout feels just as thrilling and tense as any action set piece from today.Barbara Mullen fares better, bringing a quiet dignity and pathos to her role of an embattled Mother trying to steer her family away from conflict and harm.

Perhaps because both history and cinema tend to focus predominantly on these two key eras in Irish and Northern Irish history, it is easy to forget that Anglo Irish conflict and tension actually permeated throughout most of the 20th Century. Pat did an extra trip to get this shot minus any traffic and, standing here in the silence except for the wind, it was a nostalgic moment knowing that two greats of cinema, John Mills and Dirk Bogarde once walked here on this lonely road all those years ago. Dirk Bogarde and John Mills deliver fairly engaging performances (although both are let down by some rather ropey Irish accents, with Mill’s attempt especially bad, seemingly taking in a tour around the British Isles by way of Belfast).

Images submitted must be in Landscape orientation, as would be seen on the cinema screen, not Portrait. Taking a look on Talking Pictures free online catch-up service to see what Ealing titles were currently on the site, I was pleased to spot a movie from the studio which I had not heard of before, leading to me meeting a gentle gunman. Fortunately, Matt’s older brother, Terry (played by Mills), has followed him, for reasons that soon become obvious.