Heart of a Man, The (1959)

Out-of-work sailor Frankie Martin (singing star Frankie Vaughan) meets Bud (Peter Sinclair), an eccentric tramp who claims he is a millionaire.

Bud gives Frankie a shilling and promises him that if he can make £100 from it within a month, he will be given £1,000.

Frankie spends his shilling in a cafe where he meets a shady gang who offer him the job of chucker-out on a yacht used for illegal gambling parties. The yacht owner is Tony Carlisle (Tony Britton), a caddish upper-class criminal.

Frankie falls for Tony’s girl, Julie (Anne Heywood), “bounces” the wrong customer overboard and is soon jobless again.

He tries his luck in the canvas ring and shows promise of becoming a boxer until Julie’s sudden appearance with another man distracts him during a bout. Frankie finishes the fight laid out on the canvas – and he’s out on his ear again.

When he turns to singing and Johnnie “ten per cent” (Anthony Newley) becomes his agent, the happy-ever-after ending is not far off. Frankie becomes one of the country’s best-love entertainers and ends up topping the bill at the London Palladium.

This production from husband and wife team Anna Neagle and Harold Wilcox was filmed at the Rank Organisation’s Pinewood Studios in Middlesex. It was to be the last directing role for Wilcox.

Frankie Martin
Frankie Vaughan
Julie
Anne Heywood
Tony Carlisle
Tony Britton
Bud
Peter Sinclair
Sid
Michael Medwin
Johnnie
Anthony Newley
Razor
Harry Fowler
Charlie
George Rose
Oscar
Harold Kasket
Cha Cha
Vanda Hudson
Leslie Mitchell
Himself
Kent Walton
Himself
Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey
Himself

Director
Herbert Wilcox