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Hue and Cry (film)

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Hue and Cry
Original UK quad format film poster
Directed byCharles Crichton
Written byT. E. B. Clarke
Produced byMichael Balcon
Starring
CinematographyDouglas Slocombe
Edited byCharles Hasse
Music byGeorges Auric
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 23 February 1947 (1947-02-23) (UK)
[1]
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£104,222[2]
Box office£96,812 (UK)[2]

Hue and Cry is a 1947 British film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler and Joan Dowling.

It is generally considered to be the first of the Ealing comedies, although it is better characterised as a thriller for children. Shot almost entirely on location, it is now a notable historic document due to its vivid portrait of a London still showing the damage of the Second World War. The city forms the backdrop of a crime-gangster plot which revolves around a working class children's street culture and children's secret clubs.

Plot

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In a bombed-out post-war London neighbourhood, British boys' magazines with illustrated adventure stories are a guilty reading pleasure for members of a teen-age clique, the Blood and Thunder Boys. But their leader, Joe Kirby (Harry Fowler), discovers the plotlines of the popular publication are being copied by a crew of local thieves to plan and execute their jobs. Joe notifies C.I.D. Inspector Ford (Jack Lambert), who scoffs at the notion with humour. Then while at work, Joe tells his boss, Mr. Nightingale (Jack Warner), who suggests Joe forget it. Not to be dissuaded, Joe and another boy visit the stories' eccentric author, Wilkinson (Alastair Sim). While there, they note that Wilkinson's wording is being altered somewhere between drafting and publication. This leads Joe and his gang on the trail of a female employee of the stories' publishing house. They confront her at a handsome suburban home in Hampstead, but their interrogation gets the boys nowhere. Eventually though, they pinpoint the drop location for the robbers' loot.

Joe and the gang arrange with the author, Wilkinson, to create a new adventure story, designed to send all the criminals to the drop. Next day, Joe tells his boss, Nightingale, of their plan. Bad move. Joe realizes afterwards that Nightingale is the mastermind behind the local crimes. Later at the warehouse where the stolen loot is kept, Joe comes upon a cache of stolen fur coats. Nightingale suddenly appears and threatens Joe, but confusion results when other crooks and toughs arrive on the scene. In the melee, Nightingale is temporarily knocked unconscious. The crooks are then overrun by hundreds of city boys who respond to an arranged radio plea for help. Pandemonium and comedy rule the scene. Before long, the police arrive to restore order. Meanwhile, Joe trails Nightingale to a bombed multi-storied building. A showdown between the two follows. It ends when Nightingale falls through one of the many holes in the floor.

Cast

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  • Alastair Sim as Felix H. Wilkinson
  • Harry Fowler as Joe Kirby
  • Douglas Barr as Alec
  • Joan Dowling as Clarry
  • Jack Warner as Nightingale
  • Valerie White as Rhona Davis
  • Jack Lambert as Ford
  • Ian Dawson as Norman
  • Gerald Fox as Dicky
  • David Simpson as Arthur
  • Albert Hughes as Wally
  • John Hudson as Stan
  • David Knox as Dusty
  • Jeffrey Sirett as Bill
  • James Crabbe as Terry
  • Stanley Escane as Roy
  • Frederick Piper as Mr. Kirby
  • Vida Hope as Mrs. Kirby
  • Heather Delaine as Dorrie Kirby
  • Joe E. Carr as Short, Nattily-dressed Thug
  • Henry Purvis as Larry the Bull
  • Paul Demel as Jago
  • Alec Finter as Detective Sergeant Fothergill
  • Arthur Denton as Vicar
  • Robin Hughes as Selwyn Pike
  • Howard Douglas as Watchman
  • Bruce Belfrage as BBC announcer
  • Grace Arnold as Dicky's Mother

Reception

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On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the Tivoli cinema on the Strand in London.[1] According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.[3] The film earned distributor's gross receipts of £96,812 in the UK, £87,796 of which went to the producer.[2]

Restoration

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The film was digitally restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015.[4]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Alastair Sim". Art & Hue. 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985. Edinburgh University Press p 355. Gross is distributor's gross receipts.
  3. ^ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p209
  4. ^ Simon Heffer (11 July 2015). "Hue and Cry: rediscovering an Ealing masterpiece". The Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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