The Scamp

Having been in exile for three years between 1952 1955 from appearing in films, Dickie Attenborough returned to our screens in more mature roles like this one. His career at this stage was assisted by John Mills, but he also had the lure of producing his own films.

I really liked THE SCAMP, a late '50s slice of British social drama that seems to be unjustly forgotten by modern audiences. It tells of a young tearaway boy who's brought under the care of kindly Richard Attenborough, and the ways in which the boy's criminal family struggle to break up the friendship. The narrative feels very modern in the way that the story is surprisingly fast paced, with no slow spots or scenes that don't add to the overall picture.

THE SCAMP works so well because the characters are delightfully drawn. Child actor Colin Petersen could have been a brat in the hands of the wrong director, but superior B-movie helmer Wolf Rilla (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED) gets a fine and sympathetic performance out of him. Attenborough is as sympathetic as you'd expect, but the supporting cast are also great: Terence Morgan (SVENGALI) stars in one of his most dastardly roles, and further down there are minor parts for the familiar faces of Geoffrey Keen, Charles Lloyd Pack, and Sam Kydd.

This is a film about caring for other things than what is yours just because it's right - the kind of things that humans are capable of when circumstances allows them to be so.

Would a couple today care as much for a strange child? Somehow I doubt it but maybe these times will return with a vengeance now that capitalism is being seriously questioned.

Anyhow, the story is surprisingly complex and just as you think you know how it will all end there is still a twist in the end adding to the complexity of the story. It is almost as if there is an idea being presented instead of just a story.

Schoolteacher Richard Attenborough takes an interest in street kid Colin Petersen. His mother is dead, and his father, Terence Morgan, is a rough guy who clouts him for taking five pounds from his wallet, and gives him half a crown for almost getting away with it. When Morgan leaves the country to look for work, Attenborough takes in Colin, despite the misgivings of his wife, Dorothy Alison. Nonetheless, it seems to be working out.

Colin demonstrates his skill with drums throughout the movie; music is a major part of how he bonds with Attenborough, who fakes the piano very nicely. Colin later performed with the BeeGees.

It's a well put together movie, but the relative ease with which the wild youngster is tamed by thoughtful kindness seems a little pat.