The Black Panther (1977)

The Black Panther is a 1977 British thriller film directed by Ian Merrick, his first film starring Donald Sumpter, Debbie Farrington and Marjorie Yates. Ex-soldier turned armed robber Donald Neilson kidnaps a teenage heiress.

A true case, verified from primary sources, such as "The Guardian" and director Ian Merrick. The film was heavily attacked in the media on first release, as when interviewer [Sue Lawley] lied, when reviling director Ian Merrick and the film on the BBC series [Tonight] program live, when she said "i've seen the film and I think its sick" when she hadn't. . but John Patterson for The Guardian commented on its BFI, DVD and Blu-ray release in 2012 that it "emerges as a meticulous, tactful, well-made and highly responsible true-crime movie".http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/jun/06/the-black-panther-donald-neilson In 2012 the film was remastered and resurrected into the British Film Institutes Archives and Hall of Fame, as an important British film to rave reviews. It also shot to number ten on their sales list. François Guerif, France’s top film critic called it a "A Masterpiece" in 2015 when he reviewed the film for the prestigious Beaune Film Festival.

Synopsis

L'histoire vraie du braqueur et meurtrier Donald Neilson qui, dans le milieu des années 1970, choqua l'Angleterre en kidnappant une jeune fille de 17 ans, Lesley Whittle, issue d'une riche famille et qu'il assassina sauvagement. Surnommé "la panthère noire" en raison de sa cagoule noire, cet ancien militaire, tyrannique avec ses proches, braqua méthodiquement plusieurs bureaux de postes se soldant par les meurtres de ses propriétaires. Ennemi public numéro 1, Neilson fut arrêté en 1975 et condamné à la prison à perpétuité.

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