Never Back Losers

Never Back Losers (1961)

Tagline: "Another Edgar Wallace Mystery Thriller"

Starring: Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis, Patrick Magee

Featured Racecourses: Lingfield, Hurst Park

Director: Robert Tronson
Producer: Jack Greenwood
Writer: Lukas Heller

Release Date: December 1961
Runtime: 61 mins

IMDB Two rival gangs are trying to fix horse races and a jockey is attacked and left for dead in a stage-managed car crash. An insurance investigator makes routine inquires into the "accident" and one of the gang leaders feels threatened by this and takes counter measures.

Where to Buy: Amazon
Film Links: IMDB, BFI, Wikipedia

Personal Review


Jockey Wally Sanders (George Tovey) is called before the stewards at Lingfield Park following his poor ride on odds-on favourite Blue Rocket in the Mayfield Stakes and is warned that any repeat offences will lead to him being warned off. Later that evening Wally is coshed over the head outside a pub and the next day is found badly injured in his car at the bottom of a hill.

Several days earlier Wally had taken out a £20000 injury insurance policy with Universal and General but their board suspect foul play so newly promoted investigator Jim Matthews (Jack Hedley) is assigned to the case. Jim initially visits Wally Sanders in hospital who states that he just ran out of road and crashed by accident. Jim then visits turf accountant R. Harris (Derek Francis) who points him in the direction of fellow bookmaker Mr Burnside of Trigger Transactions (Harry Locke), a man who cleaned up on the Mayfield Stakes. Burnside denies any involvement and suggests that Jim pays a visit to local crook Ben Black (Patrick Magee) at the Silver Moon club as he lost heavily when Blue Rocket failed to win at Lingfield.

At the Silver Moon club Jim is told that Ben Black is not around so he leaves and outside the club he is badly beaten by several heavies who warn him to mind his own business. He staggers back into the club where waitress Marion Parker (Jacqueline Ellis) looks after him and he is eventually granted an audience with Ben Black who is playing poker in a back room. Black lends Matthews some stake money for a one-on-one poker game and whilst playing admits he is a crook in many ways but not when it comes to horse racing and he denies any involvement in Sanders’ accident. Black also tells Matthews that jockey Clive Parker (Larry Martyn) is taking over from Sanders and he hopes that he won’t take a bung like Sanders did.

Matthews pays a visit to Clive Parker but he is not at home so returns to his hotel room where Marion warns him at gunpoint to stay away from Clive. Persistent Jim returns to Clive Parker’s house anyway where he learns that Marion is Clive’s sister, Clive has recently got involved with a dodgy group of people and that the Silver Moon club is actually owned by Burnside.

Jim returns to the hospital where he learns that Sanders has died of his injuries and then he is stopped by Ben Black in the street who tells him that he has a lot of money tied up on Sander’s mount in the Langham Stakes the following day and doesn’t want to lose it. Matthews catches up with Parker in a local bar getting drunk with one of Burnside’s gang and tells him that Sanders is dead causing Parker to get upset and blurt out that the gang said he would be alright.

Back at Parker’s house Jim learns that Sanders did throw his last race and that Burnside was behind it and was now trying to get at Sanders to throw the Langham Stakes on the favourite Red King. On the day of the race Jim and Marion take Clive to the racetrack but soon realise that they are being followed so cause a diversion and let Parker get to the course via taxi. Ben Black and his men catch up with Marion and Jim who explain that Clive is now on his way to the course via taxi so Black sends a couple of his men to intercept him and warns that if Parker throws the race they will both die.

Clive makes the racecourse where he is met by Burnside and his men who warn him not to win the race on Red King. Black’s men get stuck in traffic and are unable to get their own message to Parker so Black, with Marion and Jim being held as hostage, watch the race with anticipation in Black’s apartment. Clive Parker wins the race cosily on Red King, Marion and Jim are released and Burnside’s men are arrested outside the weighing room – Black supposedly gets his own revenge on Burnside by throwing him down the stairs at his office and tells Marion and Jim that Clive deserves a little protection and that you should “never back losers”.


Never Back Losers was based on Edgar Wallace’s (1875-1932) crime novel The Green Ribbon (1929) – one of many Wallace novels that were set against the backdrop of racing including Flying Fifty-Five (1922) which was also turned into a film of the same name (1939). Wallace was a very modest man and on the inside cover of the original edition he explained: "You have asked me to write my best racing thriller, and in The Green Ribbon I feel I have written what you desire. I think it is the best I have written." Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the big screen translation and I certainly think Flying Fifty-Five was a much better film with a more intriguing plot.

Due to Never Back Losers only being sixty minutes long there is no real time for character development and the use of primarily B list actors was certainly an interesting choice. Jack Hedley played the tenacious Jim Matthews quite well, never quite knowing when to give up and his love interest Marion Parker played by Jacqueline Ellis was certainly pleasing on the eye but the overall dialogue is quite weak. Ben Black, played by Patrick Magee, was quite an intriguing character and the chain-smoking smooth criminal certainly had some classic lines, if you can forgive the accent (see quote below).

The film opens up with a view of the Lingfield Park stands and indeed all of the external racecourse scenes were filmed at this track. The racing action where Blue Rocket flips around at the start and then trails the field by many lengths was very authentic as too were the scenes in the Stewards office following the race. The race commentary is provided by the silky smooth Sir Peter O’Sullevan in his first film role (albeit uncredited) and he too provides the commentary of the race at the end of the film which used archived footage from Hurst Park – some tall chimneys can be seen in one of the shots and these can also be seen on You Tube footage from the same track which actually closed in 1962 for housing development.   

To quote a review from Dfordoom on the ‘Classic Movie Ramblings’ website; “Never Back Losers is not a great movie. It’s not even a good movie. It is at best a harmless distraction.” There is a good mix of racing action and industry terminology but the plot and script were a little weak in my opinion. Having said that Never Back Losers is certainly worth a watch if even just for the performance of Patrick Magee and the racing scenes from Lingfield and Hurst Park.
(Rating 5/10)

Favourite Quotes
Jim Matthews: “What did you say the name of that jockey was who is taking over from Sanders?”
Ben Black: “I didn’t, but you’ll find out anyway, it’s Clive Parker, but I wouldn’t go stirring things up there if I was you.”
Jim Matthews: “Are you afraid that I might live to regret it?”
Ben Black: “No, I’m afraid that you won’t.”

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