The Violent Enemy (also known as Came the Hero) is a 1968 film directed by Don Sharp and starring Tom Bell, Susan Hampshire, Ed Begley, and Noel Purcell.

[2] It was written by Edmund Ward based on the 1966 novel A Candle for the Dead by Hugh Marlow (as Jack Higgins).

[5] The sale of the movie rights enabled Higgins to quit teaching and write full time.

Tom Bell has the right air of disillusionment about him as the IRA man who's learned moderation in a British jail".

[11] The Radio Times noted, "it's efficiently made, if unsurprising, and familiar American actor Ed Begley is worth watching as the fanatical Irish mastermind behind the scheme.