Hue and Cry
1947
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. Read more
| Starring | Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler, Douglas Barr, Joan Dowling |
|---|---|
| Director | Charles Crichton |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Hue and Cry
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.
| Starring | Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler, Douglas Barr, Joan Dowling |
|---|---|
| Director | Charles Crichton |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 02 Sep 2002 Production year: 1947 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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After this early effort, director Charles Crichton went on to greater acclaim for making The Lavender Hill Mob and, in the 1980s, A Fish Called Wanda. However there's much to enjoy in this slight but entertaining Ealing comedy caper — the first of the genre from the famous studio — as Alastair Sim and a gang of East End urchins set out to thwart some fiendish crooks. A fun frolic from a more innocent age, with Sim in fine form as well as some evocative location footage of postwar London .
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The first 'Ealing comedy' uses vivid London locations as background for a sturdy comic plot with a climax in which the criminals are rounded up by thousands of boys swarming over dockland.
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Most helpful member's review
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Good family entertainment
'Hue and Cry' tells how a group of teenage boys and a girl foil a criminal organisation in London's post-war underworld. The film shows clearly the impact of the war on ordinary lives: the children play in bombed-out streets and houses while imitating the sounds of bomber aircraft and bomb explosions, London is plagued by criminals who easily outwit the police, and the final battle between crooks and children takes place in the bombed-out warehouses of the Thames' south bank, among the bomb craters, twisted iron and shattered glass, while the young hero and the villain stalk each other through the dark and sinister caverns of a gutted warehouse near Southwark Bridge, described by director Charles Crichton as 'a vast honeycombed shell' whose iron reinforcing bars stand out 'like the bones of a skeleton'. Alternatively, this is a film about a gang of teenage yobs who take the law into their own hands. The fact that most of them started full-time work at the age of thirteen or fourteen does not keep them off the streets or out of trouble! When this film was first released it was greeted with delight by critics and ordinary audiences alike. The film critic Roger Manvell, writing in 'The Penguin Film Review', described it as 'exciting and imaginative and ... entertaining', while Maurice Speed in his annual 'Film Review' for film fans, described it as 'a minor classic', 'unusual' and 'out of the rut'. Almost sixty years later, some viewers will see it as old-fashioned -- it's in black and white, the music is sometimes a little loud, it's obviously a children's fantasy, it's not as profoundly comic or satirical as some of the later Ealing comedies. Yet it remains an exciting drama which depicts life in post-war London more clearly and convincingly than any modern reconstruction, it is funny and it is still excellent family entertainment. Incidentally, there really were twenty-eight teenage lads in that taxi.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Love it!
Always loved this film and it was great to see it again! Alastair Sim does a great role as the comic book writer who doesn't realise that his scripts are being subtley altered. He really camps it up when the kids come to see him and the worried look on the boys faces as he offers them a drink is priceless!
Its fascinating to see post-WW2 London as well with the local kids playing in bombed out houses and derelict buildings whilst the black market is thriving. Many scenes stand out including one where the kids stare into a seamstresses window and she pulls her tongue out to them or a trek through the sewers where one kid becomes hysterical at the thought of not finding their way out. Jack Warner plays a good part and there are many other great scenes and characters to entertain along the way. Love it! -
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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.... -