Out (1978)

After an eight-year stint for a failed bank heist, Frank Ross (Tom Bell, Prime Suspect) returns to his old gangland haunts to find the snitch who sent him to jail. The smooth, streetwise ex-con quickly adjusts to the new attitudes of the disco-tinged '70s but discovers that although neighborhoods change, old grudges never go out of style. Played with steely intelligence by Bell, Ross doesn't hesitate to pull a gun or swing a fist if it suits him. Can he find the rat without falling into the clutches of a ruthless crime boss (Brian Cox, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) or the detective (Norman Rodway, The Bretts) determined to destroy him? Filmed on location in South London, Out depicts a world where gritty pubs, dingy flats, and run-down office buildings teem with high-living mobsters, cash-starved hustlers, and corrupt cops. BAFTA nominee Bell delivers a psychologically complex portrait of a gangster whose inner demons torment him as ferociously as his flesh-and-blood enemies.