DramaMysteryThriller

Never Take Sweets from a Stranger

- ...and then he made us play that silly game...

Peter Carter, his wife Sally and their young daughter Jean move to a sleepy Canadian village, where Peter has been hired as a school principal. Their idyll is shattered when Jean becomes the victim of an elderly, and extremely powerful, paedophile. The film was neither a box office nor a critical success, it garnered criticism for breaking a significant public taboo.

Release Date : 1960-03-04

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Hammer Film Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles : Never Take Candy from a Stranger

Cast

Character Name : Peter Carter

Original Name : Patrick Allen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sally Carter

Original Name : Gwen Watford

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jean Carter

Original Name : Janina Faye

Gender : Female

Character Name : Clarence Olderberry Sr.

Original Name : Felix Aylmer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Defense Counsel

Original Name : Niall MacGinnis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Prosecutor

Original Name : Michael Gwynn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Martha

Original Name : Alison Leggatt

Gender : Female

Character Name : Clarence Olderberry Jr.

Original Name : Bill Nagy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Judge

Original Name : MacDonald Parke

Gender : Male

Character Name : Eunice Kalliduke

Original Name : Estelle Brody

Gender : Female

Character Name : Tom Demarest

Original Name : Robert Arden

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lucille

Original Name : Frances Green

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hammond

Original Name : Budd Knapp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sylvia Kingsley

Original Name : Helen Horton

Gender : Female

Character Name : Neal Phillips

Original Name : Gaylord Cavallaro

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Demarest

Original Name : Vera Cook

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Stevens

Original Name : James Dyrenforth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Olderberry

Original Name : Hazel Jennings

Gender : Male

Character Name : Charles Kalliduke

Original Name : Cal McCord

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Jackson

Original Name : Sheila Robins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sam Kingsley

Original Name : Larry O'Connor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Nash

Original Name : Shirley Butler

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Montfort

Original Name : Jack Lynn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Foreman of Jury

Original Name : John Bloomfield

Gender : Male

Character Name : Receptionist

Original Name : Sonia Fox

Gender : Female

Character Name : Usher

Original Name : Peter Carlisle

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

I don't know who's more dangerous, you or your father? Never Take Sweets from a Stranger is directed by Cyril Frankel and written by John Hunter who adapts from the play Pony Cart written by Roger Garis. It stars Patrick Allen, Gwen Watford, Janina Faye, Felix Aylmer, Michael Gwynn, Alison Leggatt and Niall MacGinnis. Music is by Elisabeth Lutyns and John Hollingsworth and Megascope cinematography by Freddie Francis. British family the Carter's have emigrated to small town Canada and are rocked when it is revealed that 9 year old Jean (Faye), and her friend Lucille (Frances Green), were asked to dance naked for candy at the home of elderly Clarence Olderberry Senior. Filing an official complaint, parents Peter (Allen) & Sally (Watford) are astounded to find the town's denizens are reluctant to believe the Carter's take on things. It becomes apparent that the Olderberry family were instrumental in the building of the town and the family has much power within it. With the town closing ranks on the British outsiders, there's a real chance that a suspected paedophile will go unpunished and maybe strike again? Thought provoking and intelligent handling of sensitive material, Hammer's Never Take Sweets from a Stranger has finally garnered the credit it deserves. Back on release the taboo subject of the plot ensured the film was mostly shunned, with bad marketing also proving to be a hindrance. However, it is ahead of its time in many ways, Frankel's (School for Scoundrels) picture manages to gnaw away at the senses with its calm and measured approach work. Francis' (The Innocents) black and white photography a clinical ally to the realism wrung out by Frankel. The alienation of the Carter family is steadily built up, the small town mentality to strangers in their little world unspools calmly by way of credible acting and believable passages of dialogue. By the time the last third arrives, the frustration of the Carter's is shared by the viewers, things get legal and gripping, and then it's the uncoiling of the spring to unleash the denouement. Point made, a message movie of some standing, monsters in our midst indeed. Not merely the predators preying on our children, but also the guilty around them, ignorance most definitely isn't bliss. 8.5/10