THE LONG HAUL no stars

The problem with "The Long Haul" was that it came out only a month after Cy Endfield's much better "Hell Drivers" to which it bore quite a resemblance, They were both British made thrillers about corruption in the trucking business though this had at least one eye on the American market with Victor Mature cast as the honest trucker who goes astray and Diana Dors as the femme fatale who leads him away from dull wife and family. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the film is that Dors actually manages to give a half-way decent performance, though really she's much too glamorous for the character she's playing. Mature's his usual thick lug with a granite jaw and a granite brain though Patrick Allen isn't bad as the main villain and there's a certain seedy authenticity about the locations. It's largely been forgotten, (whereas "Hell Drivers" has built up quite a reputation), but it will pass a rainy afternoon amicably enough.