L'aimant

Though The Magnet oozes middle-class wholesome 1950's family values, which can be seen these days as starchy and very straight-laced, this unusual offering from the Ealing Studios works well on many levels.

With his father a child psychologist, ten year old Johnny Brent (James Fox) has a very colourful imagination and loves inventing things and questioning everything. Johnny keeps getting under his mother's feet and so he is sent off out to play at the local beach to explore.

There, he trades rather dishonestly a magic (non-existent) watch for a giant magnet from a younger lad. The lad's nanny tells him off and so Johnny scarpers and starts imagining that he's in trouble with the police. Then, through completely contrived, but affectionately drawn events, the giant magnet comes up for auction and raises money for a hospital appeal. Johnny becomes hero.

Yes, this is whimsical nonsense and is rather Disney, before Disney did such things. But it's also the locations and snapshot of British life back then. It'll certainly appeal to the older generation and undoubtedly, to us boys of all ages, more, as it harks back to our own childhoods.

Generally, the acting is quite average and the direction from Ealing regular Charles Friend is about passable, though there are some fantasy sequences which are OK. However, the young James is a tonic, eschewing youthful zest and intrigue. He's completely natural and believable, little wonder that he went on to become the mega star he did.

The DVD transfer is OK but is a bit soft.

All in all, if you're expecting a comedy caper, as in the best Ealing tradition, you may be disappointed. But if you love your Ealing's and want to explore beyond the box-set classics, then this does quite nicely.

A lot of the film was shot in New Brighton, and I have added this to the database as a location. The pier and ferry are no longer there but the Floral Pavilion and Wilkie's fairground (where they try to influence the pinball machine with the magnet) are. The swimming baths where the Miss New Brighton Competition takes place has gone as well. The bike shop was Longworths in Rowson St. You went and chose your bike and Mr Longworth told you to come and collect it next week so he had time to put the seat at the right height, check the brakes,oil it for you and check the tyres.

This post-war British film from the great Ealing studios, is a charming tale of innocence lost, and particularly the idea of childhood guilt, brought on by a small incident and exacerbated by fear and misconstrued information. Johnny Brent (a young James Fox - billed as William Fox), a 10 year old wanderer, cons a younger boy into giving him his magnet. After feeling guilt (and particularly the fear of being caught out) he hands the powerful magnet to a charity organiser, feeling that he would be rid of his culpability. His imagination - coupled with his stricken conscience - takes over, as the boy with the magnet becomes of interest to the local authorities. He overhears and misinterprets some information he believes is connected with the boy he stole from. Fearing that he has caused the death of the boy, Johnny runs away.

The Magnet is full of genuine charm. It almost perfectly captures those moments of childhood where we believe we have done great wrong - a usual emotion of guilt, but particularly it is the acquisition of information in these situations that are fundamentally ingrained on our conscience. Johnny's father, Dr Brent (Stephen Murray), is a Jungian Psychoanalyst who attempts to interpret the unusual behaviour of his son, which leads to some interesting asides - this could possibly even be a criticism of this form of psychology, and it's intrinsic hypotheses that all strange behaviours are connected to the parents.

This is by no means the greatest of Ealing Studios output, but it is a delightful story of youth, with a good lead performance from Fox. It is always irresistible to watch old British films, and see an autonomous country that looks individual, before the signs and signifiers of American consumerism invaded and changed the landscape forever.

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What a refreshing sight this film was to be enjoyed with my ten year old son, who by coincidence, was the same age as the protagonist in this film. I shuddered to think that Joseph might be able to act in a similar fashion on several occasions when I was not present, but I trust he will not. The film is funny, sharp-witted, and intelligent in its satire. The British have an understated way of delivering these kind of gems to the screen; whereas Hollywood always goes for the big production values and star power most of the time. Only the small independent filmmakers in America have a chance at making a film like this. See it and enjoy. And be careful buying your son or daughter a large magnet.

After a characteristically stressful Physiology exam, decided to settle down with a movie, and what better than an offering from that beloved British institution, Ealing Studios? 'The Magnet (1950)' is one of the studio's lesser-known comedies, but ranks among their most charming efforts. The film is directed by Charles Frend, who also commandeered the excellent 'A Run for Your Money (1949)' – which succeeded despite being a veiled reworking of Capra's 'Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936).' In 'The Magnet,' resourceful youth Johnny Brent (William Fox) cheats another boy out of an expensive magnet, before realising that this sin might eventually catch up to him. His attempts to dispose of the magnet are humorously futile, until he unloads the stolen object onto a kindly engineer, who interprets the gift as a noble gesture of Dickensian kindness. While little Johnny worries that his crime will be the death of him, his anxious parents (Stephen Murray and Kay Walsh) become concerned about his odd behaviour. The father, a trained psychiatrist, attempts to apply Jungian psychoanalysis to his son, and smugly reaches an entirely erroneous conclusion. This pleasant, easy-going film has all the hallmarks of an Ealing classic, with a particularly excellent and likable performance from its young star.