What a wonderful actor Oskar Homolka was who plays the central role of an antiques dealer in a London shop who has a shady past and acts as a "fence" for stolen jewellery.(I first saw Oskar in "Sabotage" (1936) with Sylvia Sidney).However he dotes on his prodigiously musically gifted daughter, played by Muriel Pavlow, (see her later film playing Thelma Edwards who marries Douglas Bader in "Reach for the Sky" (1956) and her earlier film appearance in "Quiet Wedding" (1940).I had bought at the same time the DVD "Bond Street"(1948) and quite a few actors also appeared in this film such as Derek Farr, Kathleen Harrison, and Kenneth Griffith.The latter named actor I had only associated playing heroes like Jack Phillips, senior Marconi operator of the "Titanic", in "A Night to Remember"(1958).What a revelation to see Kenneth also playing cowardly, conniving, blackmailing parts in both "Bond Street" and "The Shop at Sly Corner".As I have stated in previous reviews such as "Love Story (1944), I love films with a classical music flavour/theme and here we have Muriel acting playing her solo violin recital of the beautiful, Felix Bartoly Mendelssohn's violin concerto.

In early post war films the British Board of Film Censors decreed that bad characters had to receive their comeuppance in the end but Oskar effectively plays an anti-hero who gradually wins our sympathy.So I will not provide a spoiler disclosing the denouement to this well acted film which I rated 7/10.

Don't know what I was expecting - with a name like that, maybe an eerie, quirky thriller set in Dicken's London. Instead it concerned an eccentric antique dealer with a shady past who lives for his daughter's triumph as a concert violinist. The real star is Kenneth Griffith - I don't think I've ever seen him in a likable role and this part would have been a high water mark in his career of ne'er do wells and bad 'uns!! He played Archie Fellows, an insolent assistant to Desius Heiss (Oskar Homolka, I remembered him from "Sabotage"(1936)) at his antique shop at Sly Corner. I can't really understand why Heiss puts up with him because, at first, Archie has no knowledge about his past. He soon finds out when he stays behind one night at the shop and overhears a conversation between Heiss and a cat burglar, Corder Morris, who have a connection over a stolen goods racket. He also overhears Heiss confession about his past and why he can't return to Paris.

From then on - it is on!! Archie is suddenly "in the money" with a palatial flat, a young nymphet complete with a fur coat hanging on his arm and walking around the antique shop as if he owns it!! Yes, he is bleeding poor Heiss for everything he has but what he really coverts is Margaret (Muriel Pavlow) the old shop keeper's daughter. Archie is so repulsive in character but at least you feel some emotion, no matter how negative. With Heiss it is hard to feel a lot of sympathy. He has already shown that he has a lucrative sideline as a fence (even though he dissolves the partnership) but when his accomplice (who seems a nice enough guy) is killed in a car chase, Heiss doesn't give himself away with much emotion - he is a very inscrutable person. He can be very penetrating and unscrupulous but still manages to have compassion for an elderly lady who brings her beloved music box in to be pawned. Archie tries to short change her but Heiss ends up giving her more than she asked for.

Muriel Pavlow made an unassuming leading lady, she and leading man, Derek Farr, met on the set and it was love at first sight apparently. Gorgeous teenager Diana Dors didn't have much to do as Archie's newly acquired girl friend but gee I wish she had been featured more!!

I finally caught this film on an ebay DVD copy which was OK quality but not top notch. I'd read Muriel Pavlow's interview by Brian McFarlane which mentioned this film and her role in it and so i was interested to see it. This is the film on which she met her future husband actor Derek Farr and admits she was upstaged by Oscar Homolka every which way. Homolka is the heart and guts of this film and he is superb. Kenneth Griffith( he played the same role in the stage production) also shines and once he disappears from the action the film is not so gripping. There is an effective twist in the tale/tail and it is a surprisingly downbeat story overall with its insights into the less savoury side of human character.