''Hue and Cry'' is a 1947 British film directed by

Charles Crichton Charles Ainslie Crichton (6 August 1910 – 14 September 1999) was an English film director and editor. Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he became best known for directing many comedies produced at Ealing Studios and had a 40-year career ...

and starring

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lamb ...

and

Joan Dowling Joan Dowling (6 January 1928 – 31 March 1954) was a British character actress. Life and career Dowling was the illegitimate daughter of Vera Dowling. A piece in ''The Laindon and District Times'', on 23 June 2015, written by her cousin Joh ...

. It is generally considered to be the first of the

Ealing comedies The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...

, 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

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still showing the damage of the

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. London forms the backdrop of a crime-

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

plot which revolves around a

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children's street culture Children's street culture refers to the cumulative culture created by young children. Collectively, this body of knowledge is passed down from one generation of urban children to the next, and can also be passed between different groups of chi ...

and children's secret clubs.

Plot

Following church choir practice in 1946 east London, Joe Kirby (

) 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 it contains corpses) into Mr Jago's fur shop. Even the truck number plate—GZ 4216—matches the comic. 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

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

grocer, Nightingale ( Jack Warner), for a job. Nightingale likes Joe's stories. Later, in a hideout in a bombed-out building, Joe's 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 (

). 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 Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

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

Reception

On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the Tivoli cinema on the Strand in London. According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.

Restoration

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

External links

* *
Hue and Cry
' at screenonline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hue And Cry (Film) 1947 films 1940s crime comedy films British crime comedy films British black-and-white films 1940s adventure comedy films Films set in 1946 Films set in London Films directed by Charles Crichton Films produced by Michael Balcon Films with screenplays by T. E. B. Clarke Films scored by Georges Auric Ealing Studios films Films about comics 1947 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films