Calamity the Cow

This had the look of a film made in 1957 and not 1967 but this could have been intentional by the maker. I failed to spot Phil Collins only knowing it was THE Phil Collins when I read it here on IMDB. An adventure to keep very young audiences entertained, below ten years old? Worth a watch for older nostalgia lovers.

Not one of the most enlivening Children's Film Foundations movies out there, but it's passable enough. The usual group of kids end up buying a cow, and series regular John Moulder-Brown leads the pack. Phil Collins also appears, but then disappears again for a large segment, supposedly due to his tearaway behaviour. The villains are signposted from the outset and everything is rather predictable, but Calamity herself is completely endearing and it has a certain dated charm; in particular it looks and feels like a 1950s film.

That has a distinctly post-wartime feel to it as a group of kids convince their dad to buy them a cow. They promise to take care of it, and they do such a good job that they are soon ready to enter it to into their local livestock show. Thing is, the farmer who sold them the cow "Kincaid" (Alastair Hunter) has his own eyes on that particular prize, and the children soon find that keeping hold of "Calamity" might prove harder than they imagined. This is quite an enjoyable Children's Film Foundation production that allows the children and the story to meander along for an hour with the odd comical moment and not a jot of jeopardy. The children - led by familiar face John Moulder-Brown as "Rob" - deliver an ensemble effort amiably enough and the scenarios allow some scope for a bit of farmyard humour that raises a few smiles. Remember it was made for children and you might still get some nostalgic joy from it's simplicity.

Maybe in its day it might have kept the minors interested. However even allowing for the elapse of 65 years it remains patently unfunny and it strictly adhered to the formulaic storylines beloved by the producers of these films.