In 1980, two years after he starred in Dennis Potter’s brilliant British miniseries Pennies from Heaven, but eight years before he became a movie star thanks to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Bob Hoskins starred as a tough British gangster in this modern film noir, whose requisite femme fatale is a real killer: Helen Mirren, in one of her early standout film roles as well. This drama, because of its toughness and its controversial ending, was shelved from distribution – until a young company named HandMade Films, co-created by former Beatle George Harrison, came to the rescue.