T!GER |3/-\Y 10

Hayley Mills makes her screen debut alongside father John in this sensitive, suspenseful drama. In 1950s Cardiff, a young girl witnesses a Polish sailor murder his girlfriend, then befriends the killer
Though Hayley Mills came to Tiger Bay with no formal acting experience whatsoever, the film immediately established her as one of the most accomplished child actors of her generation.

A poignant drama and an effective thriller, it shares its central theme - the relationship between a lonely, precocious child and a mysterious adult - with her fondly remembered British release, Whistle Down The Wind. However, while Tiger Bay is a film about childhood, and one that frequently adopts a child's view of the world, it isn't, in any conventional sense, a kids' film, and part of what makes it so successful is its engagement with adult themes and issues.

The story follows 12-year-old misfit Gillie (Hayley Mills), a Londoner living with her aunt in Cardiff's Tiger Bay. Dashing around her tenement block, Gillie inadvertently witnesses Polish sailor Bronik Korchinsky (Buchholz) shoot his girlfriend dead and, without really knowing why, she takes the gun, hides it and lies to the police about what she saw.

Desperate to retrieve the weapon, Bronik goes after Gillie and the pair hide out in the hills. As Inspector Graham (John Mills) closes in, Bronik and Gillie establish a tentative but genuine friendship, and she does her best to help him make his escape. It's the naturalness and easy intelligence of Hayley Mills' performance that makes her such an effective focus, and her father's quiet portrayal of the firm but fair Inspector suggests he knew this was his daughter's gig. Director J Lee Thompson (who, like Mills Sr came to the film fresh from Ice Cold In Alex), shoots key scenes from Gillie's perspective - an approach that makes odd little incidents highly evocative, and also highlights some intriguing moral ambiguities. Why, after all, is it wrong to lie to the police, if telling the truth will merely generate more pain?

Category:

Film & Animation

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• FILM

[dancefreak123c]

I LOVE Horst Bucholz, he's just sooo....WOW!

[ann2shoes]

What a great little actress she was, I've always loved her.

[Maxshard]

I know it's only a film but I hate the ending. It may be emotionally provocative, but in those days, Bronny would have been hanged for murder and the poor girl left utterly distraught, when Bronny had been provoked beyond remaining reasonable by a horrible woman.

I have always loathed films where the cop 'always get's their man', even when the bad guy actually turns out to be an alright guy in the end. 'Face/Off' being another good example.

[Kathilisi]

Great movie! Thanks for uploading!

[mcsadapted]

Walt Disney chartered a jet to overnight a print of this movie to Hollywood. He cast Hayley Mills for Pollyanna on the spot based on her performance in it...

[reallovespassion]

Thank you so much! I had been wanting to see this movie for a long time! Horst is gorgeous!

[Kinoakim]

Thanks for posting this movie I've wanted to see it for a long time. Loved the ending!

[CoryChiarelli]

Horst Bucholz is such a wonderful actor -- a gem

[RER1949]

I can see why Walt Disney grabed up Hayley for some movies after he went to see this movie she was brilliant hard to beleive she had no experience