No Way Back (1949 film)

No Way Back is a 1949 British crime film directed by Stefan Osiecki and starring Terence De Marney, Eleanor Summerfield and Jack Raine. The screenplay concerns an injured boxer who sinks into bad company when his fighting career comes to an end leading to a spiral of crime. It was made at Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames.

Johnnie Thompson, a veteran and popular boxer known as "The Croucher" for his distinctive fighting style, enters the ring against a much younger opponent Tommy McGovern. Despite his years of hard living, Thompson remains confident of winning but soon finds himself in trouble. Drawing on all his reserves he is able to knock his opponent down but not out. McGovern gets up and then knocks Thompson out for a ten count.

Thompson still hopes to continue his career and regain his title, but a visit to the Doctor's informs him that the sight in one of his eyes has gone. He realises he will be unable to fight on and retires. His promoter explains that he spent most of his money during his career, and even a benefit held in his honour goes towards paying taxes. His wife, a glamorous nightclub singer, leaves him now that he can no longer provide expensive things for her. Thompson sinks into self-pity, returning to pubs in his old haunt in East London where he grew up to drink himself into an alcoholic stupor.

One day while drinking, he encounters a former girlfriend from before his boxing career took off, Beryl. She is now the girl of a local big-shot gangster boss Joe Sleat. Sleat, who remembers Thompson as a young boy and was always jealous, is amused to see him in his current state and offers him a job working for him. Beryl tries to stop Thompson from being drawn into Sleat's orbit, but she is unsuccessful. Before long Thompson has become one of Sleat's best men, although he is treated contemptuously by the boss.

Before long Beryl and Thompson are clearly developing feelings for each other, irritating Sleat who feels that Thompson is getting above himself. He sets up an armed robbery on a jewellers and plans it so that Thompson will be killed in the raid. Beryl gets wind of this and intercepts the message telling Thompson about the raid, and then informs the police of Sleat's robbery. In the ensuing chaos, Sleat shoots a policeman dead and escapes. Now a fugitive, he returns to his house where Beryl and Thompson are. She tries to tell Thompson not to get involved, but he still feels obliged to Sleat for giving him a break in his outfit.