Break in the Circle

After seeing Prof. Pal Kudnic (Arnold Marlé) crossing the East – West German frontier, the location for subsequent events is established by a view of Polperro Harbour.

A view over the harbour and out to sea is shown behind the films title.

The arrival of a motor boat into Polperro is seen by Lisa (Eva Bartok) whilst fishing. They all exchange greeting waves.

Having dropped the fish she caught she makes her way home.

Not a set at all but Polperro, Cornwall, on the west side of the harbour. SJ

On the way, she meets with Maj. Hobart (Guy Middleton) ……

This was sent in by Dean Nelson with our thanks to him and Google, confirming the picturesque Polperro.

……… who is looking for a boat named ‘Bonadventure’.

The railing is still there. The fish market to the left has obscured the building above Tucker's head. Polperro. SJ

Lisa goes to the harbour to meet Capt. Skip Morgan (Forrest Tucker), who owns the boat "Bonadventure" that she waved to earlier, to tell him that Maj. Hobart is likely to be coming to see him. Polperro harbour.

Panning right a little. SJ

Maj. Hobart tells Morgan that someone wants to charter his boat for a large sum of money. He is initially not interested but eventually agrees to meet that person the following morning in London. Polperro harbour.

And a bit more. SJ

Later that day Morgan calls on Lisa with a present and for “something to eat”. The Warren on the east side of Polperro. The Warren and other parts of Polperro appear in 'Miranda', ‘Mad About Men', 'The Manxman' and ‘Behemoth the Sea Monster’.

Now SJ

He knocks on her door and she lets him in. The Warren, Polperro.

The Warren on the east side of Polperro. SJ

The following morning Morgan sets off early for London in his Triumph TR2 – PDU 730, used by Triumph as a publicity car and believed to still be in use in 2023.

Through the town.

And onto the road to London….194 miles it says on the sign.

Passing Windsor Castle as seen from King Edward Vll Avenue, Windsor, Berks.

About the only place along this bank to get a glimpse of the castle through the trees. Revisiting this spot a year on from 'Life is a Circus'. (SR)

Along Grosvenor Road, SW1 looking towards Chelsea Bridge.

The Chelsea Waterworks Chimney is still there behind the tree centre right and Grosvenor Railway Bridge runs over the Thames to the left. SJ

Turning into a garage at 111 Grosvenor Road, SW1

Obscured by trees, Paxton Terrace overlooked by Sullivan House. SJ

To fill up with fuel.

The garage is now a grassy area between Paxton Terrace and Telford Terrace. SJ

Whilst filling his car Bert (Arthur Lovegrove) points out to Morgan that there is a ‘squad car’ on the other side of the road.

Yes invaluable to get it just right. SJ

As Morgan drives off, ……….West Cromwell Road looking west towards the Talgarth Road and its junction with North End Road prior to widening. West Kensington Court top right.

A busy wet afternoon with West Kensington Court on the right. SJ

……….. the police car follows. Panning left from the previous capture.

This is the view turning around left from the previous now looking east. SJ

At speed he passes the Finborough Arms (to the right), Finborough Road, SW5 recognised by Neil McPherson.

Even with a temporary hold of the traffic it is difficult to achieve the exact camera angle given the changes in road layout. (RL)

Where he immediately stops and backs into Ifield Road to let the police pass.

It would be impossible for Morgan to achieve the same maneuver these days. (RL)

Having reversed his journey he parks up. That tower is distinctive to Dave W who has identified it as that of St. Anne's Church, Dean Street, London W1 as seen from a bomb site on Old Compton Street circa 54 to 62 and 47-49. The building to the right of the tower is 'Comptons' public house, to which an extra floor was added in 2014 to create penthouse apartments.

Dave W captures the current occupant of the bomb site. (RL)

Walking through a market he gets into a taxi. Dave W nails it to Rupert Street at the side of the Gielgud Theatre. Evidence? The mix of window ledges and playbills is still to be found.

Arriving at Little Sanctuary off Parliament Square, SW1 he is met by the Major who takes him off to his rendezvous.

Little Sanctuary between Broad Sanctuary and Little George Street. SJ

He meets with Baron Keller who asks Morgan to bring to the UK a fellow countryman to whom he owes a debt of honour. Prof. Pal Kudnic who is currently at Ludwigstraße, Hamburg, and the payment of £2,000. He returns to collect his car. Dean Street, London W1 in the background.

Dean Street as it is today from Dave W. (RL)

To find it occupied by Chief Agent Farquarson (Fred Johnson) who says Special Branch want to interview him, they drive off to ‘Kensington Gardens’. Shown as ‘Eggerton Gardens, SW7’, similar ironwork can be seen in Queensborough Terrace, W2. Unidentified location but I can’t help but feel that these properties have been seen before.

Morgan arrives back in Polperro that evening and invites Lisa to a meet on his boat, they set sail for Hamburg. Polperro harbour pier, facing The Warren. (SD)

They arrive in Hamburg. An aerial view of the City. Manuel Gurtner confirms, adding "Indeed, as the dome on the left edge belongs to the corner building of the then Botanical Faculty of the University of Hamburg, now Bucerius Law School, located at the junction of St. Petersburger Straße and Jungiusstraße with Bei den Kirchhöfen street. In the distance, the spire of Sankt-Petri Church, the Town Hall tower, and the tower ruins of the former St. Nicholas Church can be seen.

And proceed into harbour. Hamburg Harbour with slipway crane scaffoldings of the Blohm & Voss shipyard in the far left background.

Morgan prepares to moor up at the derelict Kaiserspeicher A, destroyed during WWll and now rebuilt as the home of the Elbphilharmonie.

Going ashore to meet with Emile (Eric Pohlmann) he is first met by Franz (Guido Lorraine) who directs him. Kaiserspeicher A, Hamburg Harbour.

Emile sends Morgan to meet with Fritz……… Unknown location.

…………… who directs him to a car that will take him to ‘Ludwigstraße’. Manuel enlarges upon the scene to say that Morgan crosses at the Alsterarkaden the Reesendamm bridge, which separates the Kleine Alster from the Binnenalster, while the Hamburg Town Hall at Rathausmarkt can be seen in the far right background.

He gives the address to the driver and gets into the car. Morgan hides the Town Hall tower. I believe the two buildings to the left have been demolished, perhaps to enlarge the concours. In fact, Manuel adds, the two buildings still exist, located at Reesendamm, as the left one houses the Hamburger Sparkasse bank.

This is from Guenni Z. who tells us, "Hamburg/Alsterfleet, im Hintergrund der Uhrenturm des Hamburger Rathaus. Aufnahmedatum Sommer 2007" Hamburg Alster canal area. In the background the clock tower of the Hamburg town hall, taken in the summer of '07. Vielen Dank.

The journey commences. The Town Hall in the background but it would appear that redevelopment of the area has changed the road alignment. Whilst I proposed that a 'local' should clarify this for me, Manuel Gurtner has in fact done so, advising that all the surrounding buildings still exist, although they have been renovated. Coming from Bergstraße the Mercedes turns into Mönckebergstraße in direction of Hamburg main station. The tram tracks disappeared in 1978.

And continues......, Manuel completes, "at the well-known Reeperbahn in daylight, with Café Lausen in the centre background, where the song 'Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins' (On the Reeperbahn at half past midnight) was created, made famous by Hans Albers in the 1954 feature film of the same name.

At least arriving at a street sign that says ‘Ludwigstraße’. Manuel advises that actually there is a street of this name in the Sternschanze district at the Altona borough, but it seems to look different. Unidentified location.

The driver says that he will wait for Morgan, but drives off. Unidentified location.

Morgan searches for the address. Identified by Rob Clack, this is Goswell Lane in Windsor, Berkshire with the corner of Goswell Place to the centre.

At the point the lane now goes underneath the shopping centre. (SR)

When Morgan doesn’t return to the boat Lisa knocks Dusty (Reginald Beckwith), his crew, out and makes her own way to ‘ludwigstraße’. The rear of the destroyed Kaiserspeicher A, Hamburg harbour.

Similarly taking a taxi. Rounding from a narrow thoroughfare to the Rathausemarkt seen in Capture 34.

On arrival she looks down the street. Found with the help of Rob Clack, this is facing westward on Goswell Lane in Windsor.

The wall on the right seems to have remained despite the rebuilding. (SR)

With the help of Lisa, Morgan escapes from his captors and they find a telephone box. Reeperbahn, Hamburg with the Moulin Rouge night club prominent in the background.

Then walks from ‘Planten un Blomen’ to a restaurant to meet with Emile and enlist his help to take him to the films village of 'Ahnbeck'. Unknown location.

Together with a group of strong men they make their way. Unknown location but most likely near the gravel works that feature in film.

Rescuing Prof. Kudnic from his captors they return to harbour. An unknown location but, perhaps a hint from Manuel Gurtner in that in the background can be seen the counting building of Blaufries, which was part of the Dutch transport and warehousing group Blaauwhoed, based in Rotterdam.

The gates are open, they are through, but police are everywhere, Emile’s ‘business’ has been raided, they now have to find Morgan’s boat. Unknown location.

They have to lie low whilst Dusty brings the boat to them. Believed to be the Fowey Estuary, Cornwall. Confirmed by Phil Bacon who narrows the location to what is now Fowey Harbour Clay Quay, looking upstream towards Lostwithiel that at the time of filming was probably No.8 Jetty. The actors are most likely lying on the tracks of the Traveling Crane.

Once back near into UK harbour waters, Morgan jumps ship to travel to London whilst instructing Dusty to turn the boat round and keep the engines running. Grosvenor Square, W1 and the junction with Grosvenor Street.

The letter box has rotated. SJ

He gets out of the taxi and enters the home of Baron Keller, Morgan's fee has gone up to £100,000. 48 Grosvenor Square.

The south-east corner of the square. SJ

Lisa escapes from the boat and runs to find a convenient telephone box in order to call Col. Patchway (David King-Wood) of Special Branch to whom she has been reporting. Unidentified location.

Keller, Hobart and Morgan make for the films ‘Marshfleet Ferry’. Hall Terrace, Bodinnick, Cornwall. The Old Ferry Inn to the left.

Looking eastwards up the hill from the Bodinnick Ferry landing stage. Picture sent by Lionel Sear.

They arrive just in time. Bodinnick looking across to Fowey.

The same location now by Lionel Sear. The Bodinnick Ferry east side landing stage looking westwards towards Fowey. A rather larger chain ferry these days.

Whilst the police and Special Branch arrive too late at the ferry……. Bodinnick looking across to Fowey.

Similar to the previous capture but the ferry is almost at the other side where it lands further to the north. Again from Lionel.

……..a coastal patrol boat is in a better position to resolve the situation leaving Lisa to watch Morgan and Kudnic walk away escorted by Farquarson. Polperro harbour pier, facing Quay Road. (SD)