The Blue Parrot

Many British crime thrillers of the 50s are set in a nightclub.The nightclub in this film is so small and uninhabited that getting a parrot cage in might be difficult a blue budgie cage more likely.Yet again we have an "American policeman" helping Scotland Yard.Obviously the producers in this case could not afford an American actor so instead they brought in an Irishman,Dermot Walsh,who makes a woeful attempt at an American accent.Did the producers really think that this would be enough to sell this to American audiences.John Le Mesurier makes a suitably sinister club owner and Ballard Berkley plays a detective for the umpteenth time.Funny that it was not till he played "The Major" in Fawlty Towers that he ever really became famous.The plot is full of the usual contrivances and twists of the genre and is fairly unmemorable.

This was one of several second features made by the technicians' union the ACT. From a story by Daily Express Crime Correspondent Percy Hoskins, it was to be one of the last films of director John Harlow, praised for some of his 1940's work, but whose career fizzled out. The Blue Parrot is a shady Soho nightclub of the type where a bottle of champagne with one of the hostesses can set you back £10.00, a lot of money in 1953. Then one of its disreputable clientèle is murdered.

This has all the classic ingredients of British thrillers of the time, including a nightclub with the inevitable Ferdy Mayne advising that "it's not healthy to ask too many questions in Soho" an avuncular but no-nonsense senior policeman (Ballard Berkeley) and his plucky undercover operative (Jacqueline Hill). Oh yes, and a tough American hero. Except it's not a real American but the usually dependable Dermot Walsh, who acts as if he's on speed for half of the time and is fairly ridiculous. It's hard to figure out his purpose, surely not a vain attempt to encourage distribution across the Atlantic, where his performance would only invite derision. By contrast Ballard Berkeley is a natural as the senior police officer which is why he played so many of them and Jacqueline Hill shows some of the intelligence and strength of character that she brought a decade later to her celebrated role as Barbara Wright in the early years of DOCTOR WHO. Then there's John Le Mesurier as the Blue Parrot's inscrutable proprietor who supposedly rides a high-powered motor bike; it's fun to imagine this most urbane of actors actually doing this. So not bad entertainment for fans of this kind of movie.

British noir movies from the 40's and 50's are occasionally surprisingly very good given the fact that they were made on low budgets. This effort is rather poor. Even having just watched it I can't recall what it was all supposed to be about. A nice performance from John le Mesurier as the night club owner is the only reason to watch other than the nostalgia element of seeing actors of the period.

THE BLUE PARROT is one of those innumerable British attempts at a film noir/murder mystery that flooded cinemas during the 1950s. These were always second rate features that suffered hugely from a lack of budget and scripts that seem to have been written overnight or with the dialogue simply made up on the spot.

This one's set in and around the titular nightclub, although with about half a dozen extras it's hardly a buzzing place. There's not even a sense of mystery or surprise, instead THE BLUE PARROT just goes through the motions and has a sense of weary familiarity to it from the start. I note that director John Harlow's career finished soon afterwards - he may have simply been considered too old-fashioned - as did the career of the guy who came up with the story, while the dialogue writer died within a couple of years. Bad luck or what?

The main acting role goes to Irish star Dermot Walsh, coming across as a very unconvincing American. Ballard Berkeley (FAWLTY TOWERS) is better as the investigating detective, although he must have been able to play this kind of role in his sleep. John Le Mesurier is on hand in a mildly sinister role - although anything is better than his attempt at an Italian character in the following year's DANGEROUS CARGO - and there's a minor turn from Ferdy Mayne too. THE BLUE PARROT's still rubbish, though.

It isn't for nothing this film has such a low score and, although it might have some academic interest to see some early British actors who later achieved greater fame, it has no intrinsic value to justify more than ten minutes watching it.

The script and direction are virtually non-existent and all the acting (except Richard Pearson) is dire.

The use of an American character, who has no reason to exist other than to attract American budget money, is absurdly not played by an American, and would be scoffed at by American audiences - even more so than Dick van Dyke was in 'Mary Poppins', by British audiences.

And this ersatz 'American' is the worst part of the film. The second worst part is that we have no concern or sympathy for the murdered victim, and wonder why Scotland Yard would even be interested - let alone the FBI as well. One would think this was the only murder the police had had that month.

But the most unbelievable aspect of 'The Blue Parrot' is that anybody in the British film industry at that time would have believed they had a winner on their hands.

Finally, just look at the 2-wall sets: the foyer of the club, for example... and the 1-wall corridor outside 'Annie Oakley's' room...

There is no worthwhile reason to consider viewing this film.

IMHO...