THE SLEEPING TIGER is a 1954 British noir directed by Joseph Losey (under the credit of Victor Hanbury,due to his blacklisting in the McCarthy era) this was the first collaboration between Dirk Bogarde and Losey, marking the beginning of one of British cinema’s most important actor/director partnerships. A psychiatrist, Clive Esmond (Alexander Knox) catches young gunman Frank Clemens (Dirk Bogarde) breaking into his house. Rather than send him to prison he invites the delinquent to stay at his home as a social guinea pig – Esmond believes he can curb the fugitive’s criminal tendencies. Further tensions arise however when the youth begins an affair with Esmond’s wife (Alexis Smith).