Jack Carter (Michael Caine) is a cold-blooded London gangster, and not the sort of man you want to cross. When Carter's brother winds up dead, he travels to Newcastle to arrange the funeral. Convinced that his brother was murdered, Carter questions local thug Eric (Ian Hendry), who eventually leads him to kingpin Kinnear. From there, Carter carves a bloody trail of revenge through the seedy underbelly of Newcastle in search of his brother's killer.
Newcastle-born gangster Jack Carter (Michael Caine) has
lived in London for years in the employ of organised crime bosses Gerald and
Sid Fletcher (Terence Rigby and John Bindon). Jack is sleeping with Gerald's
girlfriend Anna (Britt Ekland) and plans to escape with her to South America,
but he must first return to Newcastle and Gateshead to attend the funeral of
his brother, Frank, who died in a purported drunk-driving accident. Unsatisfied
with the official explanation, Jack investigates for himself. At the funeral
Jack meets his teenage niece Doreen (Petra Markham) and Frank's evasive
mistress Margaret (Dorothy White); it is later implied that Doreen is Jack's
daughter.
Jack goes to Newcastle Racecourse seeking old acquaintance Albert Swift (Glynn Edwards) for information about his brother's death, but Swift spots Jack and evades him. Jack encounters another old associate, Eric Paice (Ian Hendry), who refuses to tell Jack who is employing him as a chauffeur. Tailing Eric leads him to the country house of crime boss Cyril Kinnear (John Osborne). Jack bursts in on Kinnear, who is playing poker, but learns little from him; he also meets a glamorous drunken woman, Glenda (Geraldine Moffat). As Jack leaves, Eric warns him against damaging relations between Kinnear and the Fletchers. Back in town, Jack is threatened by henchmen who want him to leave town, but he fights them off, capturing and interrogating one to find out who wants him gone. He is given the name "Brumby".
Jack knows Cliff Brumby (Bryan Mosley) as a businessman with controlling interests in local seaside amusement arcades. Visiting Brumby's house Jack discovers the man knows nothing about him and, believing he has been set up, he leaves. The next morning two of Jack's London colleagues – Con McCarthy and Peter the Dutchman (George Sewell and Tony Beckley) – arrive, sent by the Fletchers to take him back, but he escapes. Jack meets Margaret to talk about Frank, but the Fletchers' men are waiting and pursue him. He is rescued by Glenda who takes him in her sports car to meet Brumby at his new restaurant development at the top of a multi-storey car park. Brumby identifies Kinnear as being behind Frank's death, also explaining that Kinnear is trying to take over his business. He offers Jack £5,000 to kill the crime boss, which he flatly refuses.
Jack has sex with Glenda at her flat, where he finds and watches a pornographic film where Doreen is forced to have sex with Albert Swift. The other participants in the film are Glenda and Margaret. Overcome with emotion, Jack becomes enraged and pushes Glenda's head under water as she is taking a bath. She tells him the film was Kinnear's, and that she thinks Doreen was pulled into the production by Eric. Forcing Glenda into the boot of her car, Jack drives off to find Albert.
Jack tracks Albert down at a betting shop. Albert confesses he told Brumby that Doreen was, indeed, Frank's daughter. Brumby showed Frank the film to incite him to call the police on Kinnear. Eric and two of his men arranged Frank's death. Information extracted; Jack fatally stabs Albert. Jack is attacked by the London gangsters and Eric, who has informed Fletcher of Jack and Anna's affair. In the ensuing shootout, Jack shoots Peter dead. As Eric and Con escape, they push the sports car into the river unaware that Glenda is in the boot. Returning to the car park Jack finds Brumby, beats him senseless and throws him over the side to his death. He then posts the pornographic film to the vice squad at Scotland Yard in London.
Jack abducts Margaret at gunpoint. He telephones Kinnear in the middle of a wild party, telling him he has the film and makes a deal for Kinnear to give him Eric in exchange for his silence. Kinnear agrees, sending Eric to an agreed location; however, he subsequently phones a hitman to dispose of Jack. Jack drives Margaret to the grounds of Kinnear's estate, kills her with a fatal injection and leaves her body there. He then calls the police to raid Kinnear's party.
Jack chases Eric along a beach. He forces Eric to drink a full bottle of whisky as Eric had done to Frank, then beats him to death with his shotgun. Having avenged his dead brother and the sexually abused Doreen, Jack walks along the shoreline. As he goes to throw his shotgun into the sea, he is shot in the head from a distance. The sniper rifle is wielded by Kinnear's hitman (only identified as "J" but who we have already seen as a fellow passenger when Carter takes the train up to Newcastle) who then carefully wraps his equipment before calmly walking away with it in his bag. Jack lies dead on the shore with the waves beginning to lap up against him.
Cast
Ian Hendry as Eric Paice
John Osborne as Cyril Kinnear
Britt Ekland as Anna
Bryan Mosley as Cliff Brumby
George Sewell as Con McCarty
Tony Beckley as Peter the Dutchman
Glynn Edwards as Albert Swift
Alun Armstrong as Keith
Bernard Hepton as Thorpe
Petra Markham as Doreen Carter
Geraldine Moffat as Glenda
Dorothy White as Margaret
Rosemarie Dunham as Edna
John Bindon as Sid Fletcher
Terence Rigby as Gerald Fletcher
Character: Jack Carter, a London gangster, ruthless and a
cold-blooded killer. If Snake had to avenge the death of a loved one, he would call
upon Jack to dispose of the bad guys.
Movie: The movie fans at IMDB have given a score of 7.4, but Snake feels a higher score is deserved. An underworld of organized crime, tough villains and a shootout that takes no prisoners.
Snakes Score: 7.6
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