Neil-117

BOY!!! yells the newspaper editor. The meekly subservient copy-boy dashes past the blonde fashion reporter at her typewriter (male reporters don't seem to have typewriters) while the diplomatic correspondent serves tea at his desk from a china teapot.

Ah what bliss to make movies in the 1950s, when every cliché was still fresh and nobody questioned the established social order. This flimsily plotted movie is a perfect example of its type, in which foreign crooks are pursued by London newspaper reporters and police to a highly predictable ending.

It is undemanding and formulaic but quite enjoyable as a late night time-filler.

A very short movie with low production standards, but a story worthy of Shakespeare. It's a profound tragedy played in standard cops and robbers costume. Quick, somebody buy this story and do a modern remake! A policeman faced with deep moral choices finds that once he's set foot on the path of corruption he is trapped by an ever more complex web of lies and intrigue. A lifetime of personal honor is at stake and we wonder if redemption is possible. All is revealed in a dramatic ending.

Anyone able to sit still and concentrate for just an hour will be thoroughly rewarded. The ending is indeed sudden and possibly surprising, but not hard to understand.

The humor is mainly in the dialog, which is a constant stream of puns, ambiguity and double entendres, supported by chaotic action with many semi-slapstick sight gags. The characters are all amusing stereotypes and the plot is definitely secondary to all of the above. The whole thing is totally lighthearted fun of a rather dated kind which would appeal to those who appreciate the old silent comedies; I'd only recommend this if you are in that kind of mood.