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''The Cracksman'' is a 1963 British
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by Peter Graham Scott.Personal letter from Delia Derbyshire to Associated British Picture Corporation, dated 25 April 1963.


Plot

Charlie Drake plays honest but naive locksmith Ernest Wright who believes that everybody else is equally honest. First, he is duped by a debonair con man into opening a car. He is caught by the police but given probation. Next, the same man fools him into breaking into a house, and again he is caught while the villain escapes and he lands in jail. When he is released, he again gets tricked, this time by a woman, into opening a safe, for which he receives a three-year jail sentence. On arrival in prison, he has a reputation as a master thief. Upon his release, he finds himself as a pawn being manipulated by two gangs into a safe-cracking scheme but, with the help of undercover policewoman Muriel, he helps trap the crooks and clear his name. Portions of the film satirise the 1962 films '' Birdman of Alcatraz'' and '' Dr. No'', Drake's hit song '' My Boomerang Won't Come Back'', and the Ceremony of the Keys at the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sepa ...
.


Cast

* Charlie Drake as Ernest Wright * Nyree Dawn Porter as Muriel * George Sanders as Guv'nor * Dennis Price as Grantley * Percy Herbert as Nosher Jenkins * Eddie Byrne as Domino * Finlay Currie as Feathers * Geoffrey Keen as Magistrate * George A. Cooper as Fred * Patrick Cargill as Museum Guide * Norman Bird as Policeman * Neil McCarthy as Van Gogh *
Christopher Rhodes Sir Christopher George Rhodes, 3rd Baronet (30 April 1914 – 22 June 1964) was an English film and television actor. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the United States Legion of Merit for his Second World War service. Early life Rhodes w ...
as Mr. King * Ronnie Barker as Yossle * Wanda Ventham as Sandra * Jerold Wells as Chief Prison Officer * Tutte Lemkow as Choreographer * Richard Leech as Detective Sergeant * Robert Shaw as Moke


Additional credits

* Delia Derbyshire created the sound for the "In a Monastery Garden" sequence. The instrument is, in her words, "an E♭ safe-unlocking mechanism".


References


External links

* 1963 films 1960s crime comedy films British crime comedy films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films scored by Ron Goodwin 1963 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-comedy-film-stub