British Crime Cinema Trivia Quiz

Answer: The spiv cycle

A 'spiv' was the name given to a certain kind of brash character who thrived on the black market culture that grew up in the Second World War due to the scarcity of goods produced by the onset of rationing. They usually dressed very well, had plenty of money and were either directly or indirectly linked to criminal activity. The origins of the term are disputed.

The spiv character was later played more for laughs, particularly in the "St Trinian's" series of films featuring George Cole as 'Flash Harry'.

Comedies produced by Ealing studios were popular in the late 1940s/early 1950s, with melodramas, often set in the Regency period, being produced by Gainsborough studios throughout the 1940s. The so-called Kitchen Sink films were films set in the North of England in the early 1960s.

Answer: Half way through the film

The fatal shooting takes place after 40 minutes, in a film that is only 1 hour and 20 minutes long. Dixon is the central figure in the film, and his death casts a shadow over the rest of the film. There is an urban myth that the shooting takes place after only 20 minutes of the film, which any viewing of the film quickly dispels.

The character of George Dixon was famously brought back to life, still played by Jack Warner, in the BBC TV series 'Dixon of Dock Green' which started in 1955 and ran for over 20 years.

Answer: Yield to the Night

Ruth Ellis was convicted of killing her ex-lover and was hanged on the 13th July 1955. 'Yield to the Night' was something of a challenge for Dors, who was known at that time as 'Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe'; she gives an excellent performance in a film which was part of a campaign to abolish capital punishment.

Diana Dors also featured in 'Tread Softly Stranger', another crime film, playing Calico, later turned into a song by Saint Etienne.

'Dance With a Stranger' was made in 1985 and was the first film to directly examine the Ruth Ellis case; Miranda Richardson played Ellis.

'Passport to Shame' is another Diana Dors film, this time about prostitution; unfortunately I've not seen this film, so if anyone has a copy...

Answer: Newcastle

A much-underrated film, 'Payroll' was one of the best of the 'robbery procedural' films that looked at a robbery from the criminals' point of view. It was clearly influenced by the French film 'Rififi' made a few years before, but its setting in the North-East of England was very much part of the vogue at the time.

'Billy Liar' (1963) was the most noted film to be set in Bradford.

'Hell is a City' (1960) used Manchester as its backdrop, whilst 'The Frightened City', about protection rackets and starring a young Sean Connery, referred to London in its title.

Answer: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

Clement and La Frenais are best known for their scripts for 'Porridge', 'Whatever happened to the Likely Lads' and 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet', but they have also written a number of hard-hitting film screenplays. most recently 'The Bank Job' in 2008.

Galton and Simpson wrote 'Hancock's Half Hour' and 'Steptoe and Son' for radio and TV, whilst Perry and Croft are responsible for a number of long-running TV series, with perhaps the best known being 'Dad's Army'.

Powell and Driver worked together most notably, or infamously, on 'Love Thy Neighbour' in the 1970s.

Answer: The Irish Republican Army (IRA)

The plot, involving the IRA, was considered rather too risky and the film, originally planned to be shown on TV, was instead given a cinema release, to great success. The police are shown to be corrupt and in Shand's pocket, whilst the Russian mafia at that time had little or no involvement in money laundering in the UK (to the best of my knowledge anyway!).

The Mafia, in the form of two businessmen being entertained by Shand to encourage their involvement in his business plans, pull out, leaving Shand to pour scorn on them and compare them, unfavourably, with the Germans.

However he over reaches himself when trying to deal with the IRA, and gets his comeuppance.

Answer: Two brothers played the parts of the Krays

Martin and Gary Kemp, who were well known for being in the band Spandau Ballet, turned actors to play, respectively, Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Martin went on to play a lead role in the TV soap 'EastEnders'.

Billie Whitelaw played their mother, Violet, and Alfred Lynch played Charlie Kray.

Answer: Essex Boys

Winstone was born in Hackney hospital and is a West Ham United fan; the film 'Essex Boys' would seem to be designed for him but it's one of the crime films at this time (late 1990s/early 2000s) that he did not appear in.

Answer: Guy Ritchie

Ritchie followed up his success with two almost identical films, 'Snatch' and 'Layer Cake'. Antonia Bird directed 'Face' in 1997, another very underrated crime film starring Robert Carlyle. James Ivory is better known for the so-called 'heritage' style of film (such as 'The Remains of the Day') whilst Greenaway, more usually noted for his visual arthouse style, ventured into the genre with 'The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover'.

Answer: Princess Margaret

In the film, the photos are bought from the criminals by Lord Mountbatten. Conspiracy theories abound over the involvement of the security services in the robbery.