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| distributor = {{ubl|[[General Film Distributors|GFD]] (UK)|[[Eagle-Lion Films]] (US)}}
| distributor = {{ubl|[[General Film Distributors|GFD]] (UK)|[[Eagle-Lion Films]] (US)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1947|02|23|UK}}<ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=http://artandhue.com/shop/alastair-sim/|title=Alastair Sim |work=Art & Hue |date=2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1947|02|23|UK}}<ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=http://artandhue.com/shop/alastair-sim/|title=Alastair Sim |work=Art & Hue |date=2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>
| runtime = 82 min.
| runtime = 82 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| language = English
| budget =£104,222<ref name="money">Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985. Edinburgh University Press p 355. Gross is distributor's gross receipts.</ref>
| budget =
|gross=£96,812 (UK)<ref name="money"/>
}}
}}
'''''Hue and Cry''''' is a 1947 British film directed by [[Charles Crichton]] and starring [[Alastair Sim]], [[Harry Fowler]] and [[Joan Dowling]].
'''''Hue and Cry''''' is a 1947 British film directed by [[Charles Crichton]] and starring [[Alastair Sim]], [[Harry Fowler]] and [[Joan Dowling]].


It is generally considered to be the first of the [[Ealing comedies]], although it is better characterised as a thriller for children. Shot almost entirely on location, it is now a notable historic document due to its vivid portrait of a [[London]] still showing the damage of the [[Second World War]]. London forms the backdrop of a crime-[[gangster]] plot which revolves around a [[working class]] [[children's street culture]] and [[Childhood secret club|children's secret clubs]].
It is generally considered to be the first of the [[Ealing comedies]], although it is better characterised as a thriller for children. Shot almost entirely on location, it is now a notable historic document due to its vivid portrait of a [[London]] still showing the damage of the [[Second World War]]. The city forms the backdrop of a crime-[[gangster]] plot which revolves around a [[working class]] [[children's street culture]] and [[Childhood secret club|children's secret clubs]].


==Plot==
==Plot==
In a bombed-out [[post-war]] London neighbourhood, [[British boys' magazines]] with illustrated adventure stories are a [[Guilty pleasure|guilty reading pleasure]] for members of a teen-age [[clique]], the Blood and Thunder Boys. But their leader, Joe Kirby ([[Harry Fowler]]), discovers the plotlines of the popular publication are being copied by a crew of local thieves to plan and execute their jobs. Joe notifies [[Criminal Investigation Department|C.I.D.]] Inspector Ford ([[Jack Lambert (British actor)|Jack Lambert]]), who scoffs at the notion with humour. Then while at work, Joe tells his boss, Mr. Nightingale ([[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]), who suggests Joe forget it. Not to be dissuaded, Joe and another boy visit the stories' eccentric author, Wilkinson ([[Alastair Sim]]). While there, they note that Wilkinson's wording is being altered somewhere between drafting and publication. This leads Joe and his gang on the trail of a female employee of the stories' publishing house. They confront her at a handsome suburban home in [[Hampstead]], but their interrogation gets the boys nowhere. Eventually though, they pinpoint the drop location for the robbers' loot.
Following church choir practice in 1946 east London, Joe Kirby ([[Harry Fowler]]) reads aloud to his gang (The Blood and Thunder Boys) from the Trump boys' comic, but finds a page missing. He then buys a copy so he can follow the adventures of fictional detective Selwyn Pike. While reading one part of the latest story, Joe finds the comic adventure being repeated exactly in real life when he comes across two men carrying a crate (Joe thinks they contain corpses) into Mr Jago's fur shop. Even the truck number plate—GZ 4216—matches the comic.


Joe and the gang arrange with the author, Wilkinson, to create a new adventure story, designed to send all the criminals to the drop. Next day, Joe tells his boss, Nightingale, of their plan. Bad move. Joe realizes afterwards that Nightingale is the mastermind behind the local crimes. Later at the warehouse where the stolen loot is kept, Joe comes upon a cache of stolen fur coats. Nightingale suddenly appears and threatens Joe, but confusion results when other crooks and toughs arrive on the scene. In the melee, Nightingale is temporarily knocked unconscious. The crooks are then overrun by hundreds of city boys who respond to an arranged radio plea for help. Pandemonium and comedy rule the scene. Before long, the police arrive to restore order. Meanwhile, Joe trails Nightingale to a bombed multi-storied building. A showdown between the two follows. It ends when Nightingale falls through one of the many holes in the floor.
Joe gets a friend to distract Jago so he can search the crates. Jago catches Joe and calls the police but he does not press charges. A policeman, Inspector Ford, tells Joe to stop letting his imagination run wild. Ford sends Joe to meet a [[New Covent Garden Market|Covent Garden]] grocer, Nightingale ([[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]), for a job. Nightingale likes Joe's stories.

Later, in a hideout in a bombed-out building, Joe friends tease him about the incident, until another boy says he saw a truck with GZ 4216 plate that morning. Joe says he thinks criminals are planning jobs via the Trump. To find out more they visit the comic's writer, Felix Wilkinson ([[Alastair Sim]]).
Joe and Alec find Wilkinson's house, find out the comic's editions are being manipulated and tell Wilkinson. He sees the criminals are using the codes from the comic to communicate their plans but, fearful of the gang, Wilkinson refuses to aid the boys.

Joe tells the police but nobody listens so he visits the offices of the Trump. Here Joe meets Norman and together they work out the code from the next issue - 'Tattoo Jack's’ plan to rob an [[Oxford Street]] department store. At the store, Joe's gang think they have overpowered the thieves but it is really the police, who have been tipped off anonymously. The kids scarper down a manhole.

Norman then tells the kids about Rhona Davis (Valerie White) who also works at the Trump. After following her home, the boys tie her up. Joe then telephones Nightingale, who then rescues Miss Davis. One of Joe's gang gets in the villain's car unnoticed and hears that stolen goods are being moved to Ballard's Wharf but without seeing that it is Nightingale.

Joe then gets Wilkinson to create a Trump story that sends all the criminals to Ballard's Wharf. Next day, Joe tells Nightingale the whole plan, but then realises he is the mastermind as his car number plate matches. Nightingale and Miss Davis review the latest Trump story and are amused at Joe's attempt to capture them, that is until Nightingale realises Joe has caught him out by sending the crooks to Nightingale's own warehouse.

Joe goes to the warehouse and finds the stolen furs but is disturbed by Nightingale. However, when the other crooks arrive, Nightingale doesn't know the password as he never finished the latest comic story. He's knocked unconscious by the crooks. Heading for Ballard's Wharf, the crooks are outnumbered by hundreds of boys who capture them. Nightingale tries to flee in a van, but Joe leaps aboard and causes it to crash. Nightingale runs into a bombed building and, after a fight with Joe, Nightingale falls through one of the many holes in the floor. Joe jumps on to Nightingale, sprawled out below, winding him completely just as the police arrive. The final scene returns to the same church choir session as at the film's beginning, but with many of the boys now sporting black eyes and bandages, war-wounds from their recent adventures.


==Cast==
==Cast==
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==Reception==
==Reception==
On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the [[Tivoli Theatre of Varieties|Tivoli cinema]] on the Strand in London.<ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=http://artandhue.com/shop/alastair-sim/|title=Alastair Sim |work=Art & Hue |date=2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=xtGIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=hungry+hill+film+box+office&source=bl&ots=MTsQXadYDw&sig=2h-5aG3Vy4tT_h1mlC4mfRi18JQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ8b6P1YHMAhVEFqYKHcy9BF8Q6AEIMzAF#v=onepage&q=hungry%20hill%20film%20box%20office&f=false Robert Murphy, ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48'' 2003 p209]</ref>
On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the [[Tivoli Theatre of Varieties|Tivoli cinema]] on the Strand in London.<ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=http://artandhue.com/shop/alastair-sim/|title=Alastair Sim |work=Art & Hue |date=2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xtGIAgAAQBAJ&dq=hungry+hill+film+box+office&pg=PA209 Robert Murphy, ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48'' 2003 p209]</ref> The film earned distributor's gross receipts of £96,812 in the UK, £87,796 of which went to the producer.<ref name="money"/>


==Restoration==
==Restoration==
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[[Category:1947 films]]
[[Category:1940s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:1940s crime comedy films]]
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[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
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[[Category:1940s adventure comedy films]]
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[[Category:1947 comedy films]]
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[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
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[[Category:1940s British films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language adventure comedy films]]

Latest revision as of 04:59, 4 October 2024

Hue and Cry
Original UK quad format film poster
Directed byCharles Crichton
Written byT. E. B. Clarke
Produced byMichael Balcon
Starring
CinematographyDouglas Slocombe
Edited byCharles Hasse
Music byGeorges Auric
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 23 February 1947 (1947-02-23) (UK)
[1]
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£104,222[2]
Box office£96,812 (UK)[2]

Hue and Cry is a 1947 British film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler and Joan Dowling.

It is generally considered to be the first of the Ealing comedies, although it is better characterised as a thriller for children. Shot almost entirely on location, it is now a notable historic document due to its vivid portrait of a London still showing the damage of the Second World War. The city forms the backdrop of a crime-gangster plot which revolves around a working class children's street culture and children's secret clubs.

Plot

[edit]

In a bombed-out post-war London neighbourhood, British boys' magazines with illustrated adventure stories are a guilty reading pleasure for members of a teen-age clique, the Blood and Thunder Boys. But their leader, Joe Kirby (Harry Fowler), discovers the plotlines of the popular publication are being copied by a crew of local thieves to plan and execute their jobs. Joe notifies C.I.D. Inspector Ford (Jack Lambert), who scoffs at the notion with humour. Then while at work, Joe tells his boss, Mr. Nightingale (Jack Warner), who suggests Joe forget it. Not to be dissuaded, Joe and another boy visit the stories' eccentric author, Wilkinson (Alastair Sim). While there, they note that Wilkinson's wording is being altered somewhere between drafting and publication. This leads Joe and his gang on the trail of a female employee of the stories' publishing house. They confront her at a handsome suburban home in Hampstead, but their interrogation gets the boys nowhere. Eventually though, they pinpoint the drop location for the robbers' loot.

Joe and the gang arrange with the author, Wilkinson, to create a new adventure story, designed to send all the criminals to the drop. Next day, Joe tells his boss, Nightingale, of their plan. Bad move. Joe realizes afterwards that Nightingale is the mastermind behind the local crimes. Later at the warehouse where the stolen loot is kept, Joe comes upon a cache of stolen fur coats. Nightingale suddenly appears and threatens Joe, but confusion results when other crooks and toughs arrive on the scene. In the melee, Nightingale is temporarily knocked unconscious. The crooks are then overrun by hundreds of city boys who respond to an arranged radio plea for help. Pandemonium and comedy rule the scene. Before long, the police arrive to restore order. Meanwhile, Joe trails Nightingale to a bombed multi-storied building. A showdown between the two follows. It ends when Nightingale falls through one of the many holes in the floor.

Cast

[edit]
  • Alastair Sim as Felix H. Wilkinson
  • Harry Fowler as Joe Kirby
  • Douglas Barr as Alec
  • Joan Dowling as Clarry
  • Jack Warner as Nightingale
  • Valerie White as Rhona Davis
  • Jack Lambert as Ford
  • Ian Dawson as Norman
  • Gerald Fox as Dicky
  • David Simpson as Arthur
  • Albert Hughes as Wally
  • John Hudson as Stan
  • David Knox as Dusty
  • Jeffrey Sirett as Bill
  • James Crabbe as Terry
  • Stanley Escane as Roy
  • Frederick Piper as Mr. Kirby
  • Vida Hope as Mrs. Kirby
  • Heather Delaine as Dorrie Kirby
  • Joe E. Carr as Short, Nattily-dressed Thug
  • Henry Purvis as Larry the Bull
  • Paul Demel as Jago
  • Alec Finter as Detective Sergeant Fothergill
  • Arthur Denton as Vicar
  • Robin Hughes as Selwyn Pike
  • Howard Douglas as Watchman
  • Bruce Belfrage as BBC announcer
  • Grace Arnold as Dicky's Mother

Reception

[edit]

On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the Tivoli cinema on the Strand in London.[1] According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.[3] The film earned distributor's gross receipts of £96,812 in the UK, £87,796 of which went to the producer.[2]

Restoration

[edit]

The film was digitally restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015.[4]

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Alastair Sim". Art & Hue. 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985. Edinburgh University Press p 355. Gross is distributor's gross receipts.
  3. ^ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p209
  4. ^ Simon Heffer (11 July 2015). "Hue and Cry: rediscovering an Ealing masterpiece". The Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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