Was it because he caused an accident in which his brother was hurt by reckless driving (and had his drivers license revoked). At the start of the movie, Yately shows his drivers license to Cartley, but near the end Cartley states that he knows he has been driving without a license, so I take it that the license he showed Cartley was either stolen or a forgery
shareI got the impression that he'd been involved in some sort of robbery possibly as the getaway driver. When he goes to see his brother in the shop, the brother refers to "the boys" asking after him - presumably the gang
shareYes, the inferences are clearly there to show that he had been a driver for a criminal gang, most probably involved in robberies.
There's not neccesarily any reason to suspect, however, that his papers are forgeries. We don't know what kind of penalty would be placed on his driving licence because of his offence- any kind of endorsement or ban might well have expired during his prison stay, so he could be legitimately allowed to drive again.
There is a reason to suspect that his papers are forgeries. SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
If you watch the last fifteen minutes of the movie, Yately confronts Cartley stating that he knows about his scam of keeping and sharing with Red the salaries of several other non-existant drivers. Cartley replies that Yately is in no position to disclose this because, 'You don't think that I'm not aware of the fact that you've been driving all this time without a license'. As Yately showed a license to Cartley at the start of the movie I can only assume that this is a forgery or that Yately is impersonating another person and using that person's license. Yately makes no attempt to dispute this statement. Also he told the office girl at the start of the movie, 'My name's Joe, but everyone calls me Tom'. This could be an indication that he has taken someone else's identity. Also if he's been released from prison, would he not have to report to his parole officer on a regular basis. Also he wanted to keep out of the fight at the dance hall, because he couldn't afford to risk his true identity being discovered.
That's the way I see it anyhow.
I agree with you,altho73. sounds plausible.
shareFair enough, I had completely forgotten about that bit. Good point.
shareMy inclination is that his prison term was not for his part in a robbery. In the scene at the shop his mother says that he spent a year in jail, and had he been involved in a robbery he would surely have got more than a year in 1950's England. He'd more likely have got four years minimum - after all a man got a year in prison for tampering with the electricity meter in his house! Also the mother shows a great deal of animosity towards him for what he has done to Jimmy, so it seems to me that his crime was something like joyriding in a stolen car which he crashed therby causing the injury to Jimmy.
shareHe doesn't seem the type to go joyriding (not common then anyway - people generally only stole cars for a reason). I suspect that Jimmy's legs and Tom's prison sentence are unconnected - Jimmy says it was an accident after all. His mother definitely implies that he's been involved in something dishonest - she refuses to believe that he got the money he gave to Jimmy honestly and the animosity seems more down to that than to Jimmy's legs (which she doesn't mention).
shareWhy does his ownbrother call him Tom then?How do you know he was on parole?
shareWhy does his own brother call him Tom then?
His own brother calls him Tom because that is his real name. He told the office girl, 'My name is Joe Yately but everyone calls me Tom'. His real name was Tom (something) and he was using Joe Yately's name and driver's license because his own license had been revoked.
How do you know he was on parole?
I know he was on parole because his brother said to him, 'We heard you were out' and his mother said that he had spent a year in jail, so it would be natural that he would be on parole having recently been released from prison.
I suspect that Jimmy's legs and Tom's prison sentence are unconnected.
Jimmy's legs and Tom's prison sentence ARE connected because when Tom gives the roll of banknotes to Jimmy he says, 'I want to make up for what I did to you', Jimmy replies, 'It was an accident, I never blamed you'. This to me suggests that Tom crashed a stolen car while driving recklessly and injured Jimmy who was either a passenger or a bystander.
His mother definitely implies that he's been involved in something dishonest - she refuses to believe that he got the money he gave to Jimmy honestly and the animosity seems more down to that than to Jimmy's legs (which she doesn't mention).
Stealing cars is something dishonest. Her animosity is clearly because of what she believes Tom did to Jimmy, she says, 'For you it was just a year in prison, for Jimmy it's a life sentence, look at him, stuck inside the shop all day never able to go out'
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Yup, I'd agree with that. One of the good qualities about this movie is that it doesn't tell you the whole story, it leaves questions in your mind but you can find the answers by viewing the movie again and putting certain things together.
shareTotally agree. The crime, prison sentences and his brother's accident that are alluded to must be related; that's part of crafting a story- basic storytelling theory, and particularly screenwriting theory, suggests that non-relevent information is simply not part of the picture. And yes, what's left out is just as important as what is put in. Joining up the dots is part of being able to engage an audience.
shareAbsolutely! I love how films of this era dont spell everything out and let us draw our own conclusions, right or wrong. It assumes a level of intelligence in its audience (well, perhaps not intelligence but that we're not just too lazy to work things out for ourselves)
shareOne other detail of dialog that hasn't been mentioned yet:
Tom gets fed up and is about to go back home. He's in the train station talking on the phone with his brother. He makes some comment asking his brother to tell so-and-so he'll be back in town, and his brother is a little alarmed by this. I think because the "honest" job of hell-driver didn't pan out, he's bitter and ready to go back to a dishonest life.
These sketchy plans are dropped when he hears that Gino is badly injured and burned.
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