Customer Reviews

Never Let Go

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a gritty and grim British film noir that shows a very different side of the great Peter Sellers.

In a rare dramatic role, he is a ruthless and sadistic leader of a gang of car thieves. Filmed in atmospheric black and white with a jazz score (by John Barry), this is definitely a must see for fans of the genre and Sellers.

By all accounts, Sellers was a genius, but also a strange man who inhabited his characters and stayed in persona even when the director called "Cut!"

He also brought his work home with him. I read in a biography that his wife was very happy when this movie wrapped production! When you see his performance, you'll understand why.

Despite the seedy London locales and the jazzy score by John Barry this tale of a down-on-his-luck cosmetics salesman who gets his car pinched by a gang of car thieves is overbaked melodrama. As the film progresses it just gets sillier and sillier. Peter Sellers, to let us know that he is "acting", chews whatever scenery is handy. He glowers, he emotes, he launches spittle. Recommended only for camp value or Sellers completists.

"Never Let Go" from 1960, is a moody black and white piece starring Peter Sellers as head of a car theiving operation and Richard Todd, as the unlucky salesman who wants his car back. Peter Sellers isn't bad as a villain in this movie and I quickly got accustomed to him outside his usual comic role. Richard Todd plays a beleivable and sypathetic victim who we're rooting for all the way, despite his caring but unsupportive wife. Getting his car back becomes a mission of self-respect for salesman John Cummings (Richard Todd) who loses his job in the course of events making getting his car back all the more important.

The early 60s is kind of a distinct period for films from the few I've seen. Hitchcocks "Psycho" came out that year and so did the Twilight Zone.. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" in '61.. Maybe it's the just the black and white, or the cinematograpy. Or is it the styles and edgier themes? Another very good movie which I saw recently from this period (1962) was "Walk on the Wild Side" with a beautiful Jane Fonda and Laurence Harvey. I'm getting off track.. sorry. I liked this movie. Richard Todd's persistence was inspiring. And it felt somewhat historical seeing Peter Sellers in a role like this.

Set in the early 60s and barely remembered (if at all) as Peter Sellers' singular venture into "serious" acting, NEVER LET GO has a lot of deliciously lurid elements to recommend it -- the movie got an X-rating when it was released! Twisted and demented, the story is determinedly melodrama as it tracks the inexorable collision course as two desperate, obsessive men meet head-on in a bizarre feud. Meek Richard Todd is a sales rep for Peter Jones's cosmetics firm. His life is turned upside down when Adam Faith steals his car. Sellers is a smiley-faced small-time crook who manages a legit garage that's a front for the car thieves. He's also a sugar daddy to teen tart Carol White. The story follows Todd's relentless efforts to get his car back - efforts that unhinge the ruthless, cold-hearted Sellers. Too bad he didn't do more films in which he could play villains.

The late,great Peter Sellers rules in this finally released film on DVD.It's a must see!!!