Hue and Cry

This was the first of the Ealing comedies and after fifty years it is still entertaining.The only thing that hasn't stood the test of time is the overacting of Alistair Sim as a writer of boy's adventure stories. The kids in the film are wonderfully natural.

Pictorially it is an interesting look at a London still suffering from the war. Most of the film was shot on location and the kids playgrounds were the bomb damaged buildings. During the climatic scenes there are some magnificent shots, taken from above, where it appears as though every kid in London is rushing through the streets to help capture the criminals.

Oddly enough, although very different, the movie had somewhat the same scenic look as THE THIRD MAN. Both were set in bomb damaged cities and in HUE AND CRY there is even a scene where the kids escape through the sewers of London, predating Harry Lime's famous scene in the sewers of Vienna.

North Americans may find the accents rather a deterrent but I think the film is well worth the effort.

Though I don't think this film is particularly well regarded, or even known; this is a splendid little tale of youth as the adult world would prefer it and a rather kindly mentor in the lugubrious shape of Alastair Sim. The plot hinges on the now unknown pursuits of comic strips and collecting vehicle registration (licence) plate numbers.

The humour is more subtle and understated than in the later films, indeed one can feel the transition with the years through films such as The Magnet and The Maggie before we reach the true classics of the genre.

Finally, though many will link the name of the great Alastair Sim with Ealing Comedies, am I right in thinking that this, the first of the Ealing Comedies is the only one to feature him?

Alastair is better known working with other studios I believe.

Eccentric boys' adventure writer Felix H Wilkinson (Sim) has his copy - "The Enthralling Adventures of Selwyn Pike and his Youthful Assistant Smiler" - altered by master crooks, using a special code through the pages of kids' comic 'Trump'. Only sharp-eyed schoolboy Joe Kirby (Fowler) seems to have noticed, but fails to convince a sceptical Detective Inspector Ford (Lambert).

Undeterred, Kirby enlists the help of a gang of bombsite-dwelling little cockneys, the self-styled 'Blood and Thunder Boys' to up-end the criminals' dastardly plans. Wilkinson is persuaded to alter his copy and catch the robbers, headed by Kirby's boss Nightingale (Warner, cast against type as a baddie), and Trump secretary Rhona Watson (White).

Originally billed with the slogan, "The Ealing film that begs to differ", Hue And Cry is less a comedy (actually, it's Ealing Studios' first acknowledged 'comedy') than a thrilling adventure story for older kids; the occasional punch-up scenes are peculiarly realistic. Director Crichton weaves a fantastic, but bizarrely believable yarn, helped no end by his unsentimental, dedicated cast.

The standout performer is Sim, whose potty writer, despite limited screen time, pretty much waltzes off with the entire picture - whether he's castigating the crooks ("The insolent scoundrels, they've purloined one of my codes - the very code I invented for the 'Case of the Limping Skeleton!'") or tremulously backing out of the deal ("Remember what happened to Nicky the Narc in the 'Case of the Creeping Death'?").

Acclaimed cinematographer Dougie Slocombe makes great use of post-Blitz London locations, including Holborn Viaduct, Docklands, and Covent Garden - particularly for the climactic scenes of hundreds of boys teeming Battleship Potemkin-fashion down the capital's steps toward the scene of the crime. While an almost incidental scene of a small boy re-enacting an aerial dogfight on a bombsite leaves viewers in no doubt about the psychological impact of the World War II on a new generation.

The Trump!

Forgotten, under seen or not very good? Either way Hue & Cry is a very important film in the pantheon of Ealing Studios. Blending comedy with that of a children's thriller, this would be the launching pad for the long string of Ealing classics that would follow. Nobody at the time would know of its importance, nor did head guru Micahel Balcon have ideas to steer the studio in the direction that it would take, thus practically inventing its own genre of film.

In truth, it's a scratchy film, admittedly one with moments of class and social hilarity, nifty set-ups and ever likable young actors, but it's a bit too wrought to fully work, the odd blend of comic book values and crime busting youths is never at one for a fully rounded spectacle. But the hints of greatness are there, an awareness of the times, the half bombed London backdrop, the send-ups of Hollywood conventions, and the irrepressible Alastair Sim a forerunner of many eccentrics to follow.

Hue & Cry is a fine and decent viewing experience, and perhaps it's harsh to judge it against "those" bona fide classics coming up along the rails? But really it's more for historical values to seek it out and it's not an Ealing film you would recommend to a newcomer wanting to acquaint themselves with that most brilliant of British studios. 6.5/10

I found a copy of this movie in my local (Phoenix, Arizona) used book store. Ah, bliss! The sights of old London, albeit somewhat bomb-damaged, before the developers started to build ugly tower blocks. The movie itself is excellent, with good characterization for the 'kids', although Jack Warner's role as the villain seems a little overblown. Alistair Sim's role as the nervous author of comic books is an excellent vignette, showing his trademark nervous twitchy smile. The final chase and confrontation, at "Ballard's Wharf", reputedly in Wapping, was actually filmed on the opposite side of the river, as can be scene in the long shots, where St. Paul's cathedral can be seen.