The Criminal (released in the United States as The Concrete Jungle) is a 1960 British neo-noir crime film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Jill Bennett, and Margit Saad.

[2][3] Baker plays Johnny Bannion, a recently-paroled gangster (patterned after Albert Dimes[4]) who is sent back to prison after robbing a racetrack, with both the authorities and the criminal underworld looking for the money.

The ensemble supporting cast features Jill Bennett, Rupert Davies, Laurence Naismith, Patrick Magee and Murray Melvin in his film debut.

The film, a “B” melodrama [5] is noted for its harsh and violent portrayal of prison life which led it to be banned in several countries, including Finland and Ireland.

In prison, Italian mob boss Frank Saffron takes him under his wing and secures a move to a different block through claiming to be a Roman Catholic.

"[7] He says the producers wanted a sequence where the criminals rob a race track but he felt that had been done in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), so he filmed it taking place off screen.

[11] Characterizing the film’s style as “vital and vulgar as ever,” critic Dan Callahan at Senses of Cinema offers this measured praise: Losey’s command of atmosphere and his ability to build tension are outstanding here…The bursts of violence in The Criminal are orgasmic in their surety, in their explosive feeling of energy at last unleashed.

Some scenes spill over the top, making an unconvincing mess, yet mournful soundtrack jazz and winter landscapes signal a darkening of Losey’s consciousness.

[14] Losey presents three major settings in the film: the penitentiary; Bannion’s apartment after his parole; and a desolate winter landscape where he’s hidden the heist money.