First published in the year 1979, The Tuxedo Warrior looks at the early bouncer career of Cliff Twemlow. Who later went on to become a key figure in micro-budgeted/ often SOV  action/horror/sci-fi cinema of the UK, which this year has been celebrated by the excellent InterVision/ Severin Blu Ray Boxset Bloody Legend- which brought together a doc about the great man, eleven of his features and much more. Here from Severin/ Encyclopocalypse Publications is a reprint of the book.

The paperback book comes presented in a smaller-than-A5-sized B format. It features a glossy cover- on its front, we get a close-up picture of a brass knuckled dusted covered fist, and on the back write-up/ picture of a tower blocked cityscape- which I’m presuming is Manchester, where Mr Twemlow worked as a bouncer.

The book runs at one hundred and twenty-nine pages, and is largely text-based- aside from a few rather murky monochrome pictures of Cliff doing his workouts. The book opens with a recent two-and-a-half-page foreword from Cliff’s gym buddy/ come film collaborator Brian Sterling- Vete, who featured heavily in the extras on the  Bloody Legend boxset.

As we get into Cliff’s own autobiographical texts, he briefly touches on his youth in the 1930s to 1940s Hulme, Manchester. Before moving into how, in 1952, as a young man, he moved to the Lancastrian seaside town of Morecombe, first working as a lifeguard in the local pool, before going on to become a bouncer in a club.

As the book unfolds, he tells us stories of his time as a bouncer, moving to Glasgow, then back to Manchester.  Detailing people he met, situations/ flights he encountered, and his general philosophy on life.

He has a very readable style of writing- giving just enough description of situations, often weaving in touches of wry to at times laugh-out-loud humour. It’s a short but highly entertaining read.

Having watched, reviewed, and very enjoyed the Bloody Legend boxset- this was a most fascinating read- adding in new detail to what I was aware of, of Mr Twemlow's time working on the doors of pubs and clubs of the UK. But aside from that, I think it works as an entertaining social history of the art of bouncing in the UK in the late twenty century. So, whether you’ve come to the book via the box set or have a general interest in the tough door guys on the doors of Britain's clubs,  The Tuxedo Warrior is well worth a look.