He's not a bully boy, he's very caring towards victoria, and is remorseful after he shoves her down onto the sofa, and he seems to have a respectable moral outlook, such as his absolute disgust at being inside Errol's whorehouse/drug den. And he also remarked how he liked it when Brixton had 'decent families'. He may be a gangster but he certainly isn't unlikeable.
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No. Tell me how he profited from other people's misery? He was trying to legitimize his firm with a big real estate deal, and it doesn't specify exactly what his rackets are, and the only people who do get the extremely bad end of harold are a sleazy drug-peddling pimp, a corrupt councillor, his devious and snakey right-hand man, a few terrorists and some villains. Whats the big problem?
shareHarold only tucked up his own kind. When local cockney gangsters like Harold Shand were in charge you knew where you were. Mainly cos' he'd nailed your feet to the floor.
I met a bloke who was in the Blind Beggar when George Cornell was shot. Drove me home in his cab he did.....
He reminds me a bit of Terry Venables. I could imagine Tel pulling similar faces if he was being driven away by associates of Alan Sugar.
shareHe wouldn't be silent though....
Of course he co-wrote stories about a a private eye in London's underworld that were made into the Thames TV series "Hazell".
Ha! Venables...
http://element.searchpluswin.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=404571
I think you're taking the mickey here :)
If you're serious ;) my response is don't talk pish.
Seriously, do you really think for a moment that criminal gangsters only hurt other gangsters. Get a reality check here. Next thing you'll be saying the Krays never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it...
Although we're talking about a fictional gangster here, there's no evidence in the film that Harold "only tucked up his own kind". It's highly unlikely.
Of course I'm taking the mickey. Its a myth about the Kray twins [satirised in Monty Python as the Piranha brothers] that has become a cliche. Plus every taxi driver in London was in the Blind Beggar pub when George Cornell was shot. According to the police report and the eye witness who gave evidence there was only the barmaid and three rent boys...so ask them what they were doing before they got their cab drivers licence.
sharehe had his...ways.
Where there's smoke, there's barbecue!
What, sorry, run that past me again? - "No. Tell me how he profited from other people's misery?" - Although it's not detailed in the film exactly how Harold makes his money, it's clear it's not from honest toil. He's criminal ganglord for fecks sake. Do you think such people just get given money? His income is rom someone's pocket, someone's misery.
The film is very careful not to show what sources his income is from; it appears not to be drugs (something I have to say I think is very unrealistic even for 1980 but Harold's antipathy towards drugs is probably there to make him seem more sympathetic; it's certainly not realistic for a "real" ganglord.)
As the "hero" of the film, Harold's character is pretty likeable (although his character is the sterotypical cockney gangster), but that's because the film is careful to ensure that we don't see any ordinary/innocent people being hurt by him. Just because the only people we see on screen being harmed are criminals of one type or another this doesn't suddenly make him a loveable guy.
If I may so, your moral view is bit skewiff - only criminals, a terrorist, a pimp, a corrupt councillor etc get harmed. Well, that's okay then :)
Good film.
'only criminals, a terrorist, a pimp, a corrupt councillor etc get harmed. Well, that's okay then :)'
As opposed to people who don't deserve it? Of course its okay, don't be ridiculous
He is a gangster for goodness sake!! He is not a nice person!! What about stringing up the guys on meat hooks? What about getting Razors torturing someone with a machete? One things about gangsters is that they are quick witted people and very charismatic, still they are bad people!
share'what about stringing up the guys on meat hooks?'
Fair enough, that was quite vicious, but he did let them go afterwards and give them a grand each.
'What about getting Razors torturing someone with a machete?'
What, a heroin-dealing pimp? *beep* him, who cares?
This may have gone over your head, but the "decent families" bit was a racist comment. The film took care to show Harold was a racist, he made quite a lot of such remarks. Also, you're overlooking that he killed his right-hand man (who was NOT bent) in anger.
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It's racist because the kid who was working on the car got the full force of Harold's racism. Unless you're implying that all blacks deal heroin then you should see that he's blaming an entire race for the follies of a few.
shareI thought that movie showed all side's of Harold he was a monster and a murderous criminal but he felt sorrow over his fallen comrades and was shown to have a human side. That's the brilliance of Hoskins' performance is even though Harold's a horrible person, the audience still sympathizes with him, or atleast I did.
shareLike a lot of charismatic gangsters, Harold is likeable, even though he's obviously a villain. It was the same with the Kray twins, Al Capone and many other 'wrong-ens' who you can't help but like.
"Dream much, Will?"
I agree with the OP.
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left."
Oh dear, another "He was a gangster but he loved his old Mum and never hit a woman therefore he must have been decent, like the Krays" thread. What a load of pony.
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The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime
Tell that to the guy he casually had gashed with a machete multiple times, and to the widow he callously slapped in the face, and to his supposed comrade who he stabbed to death without hesitation (albeit after betrayal). Real likable bloke....
shareIn his defence, the stabbing was accidental.
shareHe is regularly described as an old fashioned type of gangster. Mobs in the past usually cared about their community to some degree. Locals used to prefer to visit the mafia rather than the police to solve their grievances, and would prefer to barrow money from them rather than the bank. Multiculturalism meant more intense competition from rival gangs, and drugs raised the stakes on everything.
shareHe was running a protection racket in the local snooker hall when he was still a "little acorn". I'm sure he used the same tactics again over the years, only on a bigger scale.
shareHe is regularly described as an old fashioned type of gangster. Mobs in the past usually cared about their community to some degree. Locals used to prefer to visit the mafia rather than the police to solve their grievances, and would prefer to barrow money from them rather than the bank
He was happy to slap a crying widow who was left to raise two children alone now that her husband had died.
He was also happy to risk crushing someone under a car for not giving directions to a drug dealer's house.