The Cracksman

Gullible master locksmith (Drake) is continually duped into using his lock-picking prowess to commit unsuspecting crimes for the dapper con artist Dennis Price and his shady associates. Judge Geoffrey Keen initially sentences him to one year's probation, but after a number of other ruses in which he's left holding the baby, so to speak, he's incarcerated and quickly earns the respect of fellow inmates for his sleight of hand (albeit inadvertent). But a stint in the big house isn't going to cure his credulity and he's duly enlisted in another scam on his release.

Drake looks like Gordon Jackson in Richard Attenborough's stout frame, and he has great comic timing, playing a character so innocent and optimistic, it's impossible not to form sympathy for his constant exploitation. Percy Herbert co-stars as the gaol-house heavy with whom Drake forms an enduring friendship, and the lovely Nyree Dawn Porter is the refined beauty assigned to seduce Drake into a daring safe-cracking job, organised by heavyweight mobster Eddie Byrne. The impeccable cast also features George Sanders, Dennis Price, Finlay Currie and Neil McCarthy (as Drake's slightly unusual cell-mates), Norman Bird and Ronnie Barker in an audition for "Porridge".

Quite typical of the British comedies of the era (in fact the giant marrow scene could have even been borrowed from "Two-Way Stretch"), with more than a few chuckles (the gaol break to collect bird seed or the balloon scene in which Drake is plied with champagne spring to mind) and if there's a criticism, it's the epic near two-hour duration which could have been far more economical. And sorry to disappoint, though Robert Shaw is credited in this movie on IMDb, and no disrespect intended, it's actually Richard Shaw who plays the minor role of "Moke" in the movie.

This was Associated Britsh Picture Corporation's third attempt to turn popular television comedian Charlie Drake into a big screen star. To say that this is a notch up on the previous effort (Petticoat Pirates) is not saying much, but at least this is a properly constructed vehicle for Drake rather than a series of irrelevant scenes inserted into an existing story. In this movie Drake actually has a character name and the fact that he is in nearly every scene will either please or appal you depending on your tolerance of the character. The Drake films were clearly intended to be ABPC's answer to Rank's Norman Wisdom films, which had had ten years of box office success but by 1963 were beginning to flag. Unfortunately, public tastes were marching relentlessly on to the swinging sixties and the appetite for sentimental "little man" comedy was on the wane. Even if you are a Charlie Drake fan, the main problem with this effort is the glacial pace. It is at least thirty minutes too long, mainly due to the profusion of slapstick set pieces. As with Petticoat Pirates, ABPC quite unnecessarily shot this in CinemaScope and Technicolor and filled it with familiar British comedy actors including Ronnie Barker having a pre-Porridge spell behind bars and ultra smooth Patrick Cargill trying to play common. If you must watch a Charlie Drake movie, this is probably the best, but that is not much of a recommendation.

No expense was spared on this lavish big screen vehicle for Charlie Drake, much of it filmed on location around a very wintry-looking London in CinemaScope and Technicolor with a supporting cast (in a nod towards 'The Rebel') headed by George Sanders. None of these blandishments (and certainly Ron Goodwin's galumphing score) made him any funnier, so he soon returned to TV.

Ironically Ronnie Barker's name doesn't even make the opening credits, yet the most enduring feature of the film is the first appearance - fully formed - of Norman Stanley Fletcher looking barely a day younger under an earlier alias and with a scar on his right cheek. Sixteen years later the character would return to the big screen (minus the scar) billed above the title.

I hadn't seen anything with Charlie Drake since I was a child. This was on TV recently and I watched it out of sheer boredom. Gradually, I got engrossed in it and found that it contained moments of sheer genius.

I think that Charlie Drake is a forgotten comedy hero who beats his contemporaries hands-down when it comes to acting ability.

British comedian Charlie Drake is an acquired taste, and at his best as the hapless "cracksman" of the title in this modest little spoof of crime pictures. The script is sharper than one might expect from this kind of film, and little Charlie is up to his ears in trouble. His endearing innocence (if not talent) suggests a contemporary version of Chaplin; while his physical appearance suggests the love child of Ned Beatty and Mickey Rooney, making him wholly appropriate for comedy,--and nothing else. He plays so well with bad guy George Sanders, who really comes to life here, that I can almost imagine them as a comedy team, which sounds ludicrous I know, as they would have seemed so incongruous together, but then again comedy teams generally do,