''Small Town Story'' is a 1953 British thriller, directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. Later, Tully wo ...

and starring

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and ''A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

and

Susan Shaw Susan Shaw (29 August 192927 November 1978) was an English actress. Biography Shaw was born Patsy Sloots in West Norwood, London. She had wanted to become a dress designer and was working as a typist at the Ministry for Information when she di ...

(in a rare bad-girl role). The film is set in the world of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and features appearances from sporting legend

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most o ...

and commentator

Raymond Glendenning Raymond Carl Glendenning (25 September 1907 – 23 February 1974) was a BBC radio sports commentator and occasional character actor. Early years He was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, and was educated at Newport High School and the Unive ...

, as well as players from the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

and Hayes football teams. It also features the only screen acting credit of

Kent Walton Kent Walton (22 August 1917 – 24 August 2003), born Kenneth Walton Beckett, was a British television sports commentator, presenter and actor. He is best remembered as the predominant commentator on ITV's coverage of British professional wrestl ...

, later to himself become a famous sports commentator. The film soon disappeared from cinemas and its fate was unknown for several decades. The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

included it on its " 75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films due to its perceived interest as a sporting period piece, the involvement of stars of the sporting world at the time, its curiosity value as the only known British black-and-white football-set thriller apart from ''

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery ''The Arsenal Stadium Mystery'' is a 1939 British mystery film and one of the first feature films wherein football is a central element in the plot. The film was directed by Thorold Dickinson, and shot at Denham Film Studios and on location at ...

'', and increasing interest by film historians in Tully as a director. It has now been found, restored and released on DVD.

Plot

Canadian ex-serviceman Bob Regan (Walton) returns to Oldchester, the English town where he was stationed during the war, hoping to find Pat Lane (Shaw), the girl he fell in love with. He meets up with Mike Collins ( George Merritt), an old acquaintance who now manages Oldchester United, the local football club. He also renews his friendship with Collins' daughter Jackie (Margaret Harrison). Mike tells Bob of an odd proviso surrounding the allocation of £25,000 from the estate of a recently deceased businessman and supporter of the football club – if Oldchester United win promotion to the next division of the Football League that season the money is theirs, if not it goes to the man's nephew. He remembers Bob as a skilful footballer, and asks him to sign up for the team to boost the promotion quest. Bob agrees. The nephew Nick Hammond (Wheatley) is determined that the money will be his, and is worried that Bob's football prowess may well propel the team to on-pitch success. He is acquainted with Pat, now living in London, and persuades her to join him in a scheme to scupper Oldchester's chances. Knowing of Bob's fondness for Pat, and that Pat cares nothing for Bob, he proposes that if Pat can tempt Bob away from Oldchester and the football team, and the team fails in its promotion bid, he will give her a share of the inheritance. The mercenary Pat jumps at the prospect, begins to work her charms on Bob and soon lures him to London to be with her. He is talent-spotted by scouts, and signed up by Arsenal F.C. In due course Bob becomes aware of Pat's true colours, seeks his release from Arsenal and returns to Oldchester, where reformed jail-bird Tony Warren (Houston) becomes his unofficial bodyguard. The end of the football season approaches with Oldchester needing to win their final home match to gain promotion. The game starts well, with Bob's goal giving the team a half-time lead. However Nick, in a last attempt to derail Oldchester's chances, succeeds in kidnapping Bob at the half-time interval. Following a car chase involving Tony and Jackie, the tables are turned and Bob is freed. He gets back to the football ground during the closing stages of the match, to find Oldchester trailing by one goal. Returning to the pitch, he scores two late goals to seal Oldchester's victory, promotion and financial windfall. As a bonus, he realises his attraction to Jackie and the couple embrace.

Cast

as Tony Warren *

as Pat Lane *

Alan Wheatley Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...

as Nick Hammond *

as Bob Regan * George Merritt as Mike Collins * Margaret Harrison as Jackie Collins *

Norman Williams Norman Williams may refer to: * Norman Williams (Australian cricketer) (1899-1947), Australian cricketer * Norman Williams (New Zealand cricketer) (1864-1928), New Zealand cricketer * Norman Williams (RAAF officer), Royal Australian Air Force of ...

as Elton * Arthur Rigby as Alf Benson * Michael Balfour as Turner *

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

as Marsh *

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scotland, Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series ''Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom We ...

as Maid *

Billy Milne William Milne DCM, also known locally as 'Stir', (24 November 1895 – July 1975), was a Scottish footballer who played for Arsenal, before becoming a long-standing member of the club's backroom staff. Born in Buckie, Banffshire, Milne star ...

as Trainer *

as himself *

as himself

Reception

On its release, ''Small Town Story'' found little favour with critics. The ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' said: "The film may find sympathy among incorrigible football fans (the matches are neatly staged and efficiently photographed) but the inadequacy of both script and direction severely limits its appeal". ''

Kine Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. History ''Kinematograph Weekly'' was founded in 1889 as the monthly publication ''Optical Magic Lantern a ...

'' described it as "So-so quota support. The acting is very second eleven...it's definitely off-side".

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Small Town Story 1953 films 1950s thriller films British black-and-white films British association football films Films directed by Montgomery Tully 1950s rediscovered films British thriller films Rediscovered British films Films scored by Eric Spear 1950s English-language films 1950s British films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links