Tiger Bay (1959)

Taking its title from the name of a rough sea side district in Cardiff, Wales Tiger Bay was the film debut of a young Hayley Mills, playing an 11 year old girl who witnesses a murder. John Mills, Hayley's father and an established actor at the time plays the police superintended looking into the death of a Polish immigrant. Said emergent was killed, semi-accidently by another immigrant played Horst Buchholz (known as "the German James Dean"). Horst is kind of a sympathetic figure, he even managers to befriend the little girl who witnessed his crime, and the character does an interesting back and forth about whether or not he is going to kill the girl, knowing if he does he will likely get away with his crime, but also liking her and not wanting to do it. The film does an excellent job of not telegraphing where its going and I was left unsure if the murder will get away with it or not until the very end of the movie. A nice find of a flick. ***