A Cry from the Streets

What a pity that the previous reviewer fails to judge the film in the context of its time ; post war London.

Its very a simplistic view of life in the 1950's that doesn't try to be highbrow or talk down to its audience.

Smoking was incredibly common in those days & the film merely shows life as it was. Children being told to go off & gather flowers on their own is certainly something that would be unusual in 2009, but in my own childhood in the 60's was 100% normal.

Its a fantastic social 'document' showing us where we have come from & perhaps reminding us that our modern predilection for wrapping our children in cotton might not be the best way forward.

This is not a bad film, and a very welcome look at the complexities of children and the relationships adults have with them. None of the character are simple, mny are complex and some of it is actually hard to watch. Don't judge this this my our own sugar-coated, health and safety obsessed view of children today. See it as a realistic portrayal of children and societal problems of the 1950s. Then think how we see children and their lives today - overly protected and overly idealised. There are also hints of the good actor Max Bygraves could have been had he not gone for a singing career.

A fresh-faced young Max Bygraves is charming and appealing in the first of two socially concerned dramas he made (the second being 'Spare the Rod') which touches upon such vexatious contemporary issues as juvenile delinquency, capital punishment and domestic violence. Larry Adler supplies an appropriately wistful harmonica score, and Aussie tyke Colin Petersen surprise, surprise shows a precocious talent for - you guessed it - the harmonica; on which he accompanies Max when he bursts into song in one scene.

Fortunately we don't have hanging anymore, but firearms sadly are hardly the aberration today they're portrayed as here; while it's also a sign of the times that drunken mother Eleanor Summerfield occupies a shabby but extremely spacious London flat that would today be prohibitively expensive for her to live in.

Barbara Murray is a social worker who tries to find good homes for her children. She's frustrated by some of the foster parents, who are uncaring. Her new friend, Max Bygraves, thinks she should be paying more attention to him, but gradually comes to care about the children too.

It's a sympathetic view of lack of support for children, not only by the system, but also in its portraits of the actual parents. I found it to be a good movie, even though the high-pitched piping of the children annoyed me by the end. Bygraves sings one song, "Gotta Have Rain", with accompaniment by Larry Adler. It charted in the UK, and was a hit for Eydie Gormé in the United States.

there are some new satellite channels in the UK,bad movies and matinée movies, which are showing a lot of old British films from the 40s and 50s.The sort that used to be shown on terrestial channels at 2 am.These are at times rather intriguing,because occasionally i will view a film that i saw in the cinema and think "Did i really pay money to watch this".I suppose that everyone,not least Max Bygraves has probably forgotten that he appeared in a number of films in the 50s.There is little that can be said in favour of this film except how times have changed.When Barbara Murray goes to see a foster mother one of the fostered children is actually encouraged to strike a match to light her cigarette!A child is encouraged to leave a home to go and live with his alcoholic mother.4 young children are let off a bus on their own to go wandering in a wood.If you are interested in the period then it is worth a look,otherwise give it a miss.