Never Let Go

Plot

Lionel Meadows (Peter Sellers) a London garage owner who makes extra cash dealing stolen cars, asks young petty thief Tommy Towers (Adam Faith) to steal a 1959 Ford Anglia. The car Tommy steals belongs to struggling cosmetics salesman John Cummings (Richard Todd).

Cummings, who needed the car to keep his job, becomes desperate. Put onto Tommy by a newsdealer who witnessed the crime, Cummings starts investigating the activities of Meadows and his associate Cliff (David Lodge). Meadows, disturbed by his inquiries, brutalizes the already-shaken newsdealer, who then commits suicide.

Despite being warned off by the police, Cummings persists in his attempts to recover the car, even when his wife (Elizabeth Sellars) threatens to leave him and take the children away. He finds the weak link in Meadows' operation, his young girlfriend Jackie (Carol White) whom he continually threatens and abuses.

Taking Jackie under his wing, Cummings sets out to prove that he is correct and that Meadows is a major criminal, stealing dozens of cars. He eventually convinces the police, but even then, they are not too interested in helping him recover his car. Cummings is forced to take the law into his own hands.

Reception

Critical reception to Never Let Go was mixed. A 1963 review of the film in The New York Times was unfavourable, describing Sellers "grinding his way through the rubble of a drearily routine plot" and attributed his performance in the film, different from his usual comedic roles, to "That itch to play Hamlet, I suppose; a desire to change his pace, which Mr. Sellers has often proclaimed he likes to do". Sellers was unhappy with the reception that he received and this reputedly led him to swear that, in future, he would stick to comic roles. (His lead role in Waltz of the Toreadors is certainly comedic although the film itself is best described as a drama.)

Ironically, a number of other players in Never Let Go made their reputations in comedy; this is particularly so of Peter Jones who plays Richard Todd's ruthless boss.

A number of critics have been more impressed with the film. One noted that 'John Guillermin's direction is taut and has a degree of flair' whilst another praised the 'persuasive' performances of Todd and Sellers.

Location

Much of the action takes place in Chichester Place, Paddington, and the Victory Cafe exterior shots were taken outside the corner shop at 2a Kinnaird Street. This and surrounding streets, which were also a location for scenes in The Blue Lamp (1950), were demolished in 1965 to make way for the Warwick Estate major housing redevelopment adjacent to Little Venice.

DVD

Never Let Go was released to DVD by MGM Hone Video on 7 June 2005 as a Region 1 fullscreen DVD.