A gang of street boys foil a master crook who sends commands for robberies by cunningly altering a comic strip's wording each week, unknown to writer and printer. The first of the Ealing comedies.
Alastair Sim
Felix H. Wilkinson
Jack Warner
Nightingale
Valerie White
Rhona
Jack Lambert
Ford
Harry Fowler
Joe Kirby
Douglas Barr
Alec
Stanley Escane
Roy
Ian Dawson
Norman
Gerald Fox
Dicky
David Simpson
Arthur
Albert Hughes
Wally
John Hudson
Stan
David Knox
Dusty
Jeffrey Sirett
Bill
James Crabbe
Terry
Joan Dowling
Clarry
Frederick Piper
Mr. Kirby
Vida Hope
Mrs. Kirby
Heather Delaine
Dorrie Kirby
Paul Demel
Jago
Alec Finter
Det.-Sgt. Fothergill
Bruce Belfrage
B.B.C. Announcer
Grace Arnold
Dicky’s Mother
Arthur Denton
Vicar
Robin Hughes
Selwyn Pike
Howard Douglas
Watchman
Harry Purvis
Larry the Bull
Joey Carr
Shorty
Peter Mullins
Boy (uncredited)
Andrew Sachs
Schoolboy (uncredited)
Fred Wood
Congregation Member (uncredited)
Director
Charles Crichton
Screenplay
T. E. B. Clarke
November 10, 2022
7
This is one of the lesser known Ealing comedies and it has something of the Children's Film Foundation output to it too, as the youngsters cotton on to a dastardly plan to use the narrative bubbles in a children's comic to convey messages that unwittingly to the publisher and animator facilitate daring robberies. It's only when the young "Joe" (Harry Fowler) and his mates start to put two and two together, and with the help of "Felix" (Alastair Sim) they start to hone in on the kingpin - safe in the knowledge that he is close amongst them and will not go quietly if he is discovered. The humour is dark, subtle and personable, as are the efforts from Jack Warner ("Nightingale") and it is set in a wonderfully gritty post war, bombed-out London full of craters and ruins in which to set the increasingly enjoyable scenario. The youngsters gel well together too, a team effort with the odd red herring and plenty of fisticuffs that compensate for the nor terribly high production standards (especially the tinny audio). Remembering the environment in which it was made, it's a remarkably enjoyable and light-hearted indication that war was over and that the sunlit uplands were again on the horizon. Good fun.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00