''The Wrong Arm of the Law'' 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 ol ...

directed by

Cliff Owen Cliff Owen (22 April 1919 – November 1993) was a British film and TV director best known for his comedy ''The Wrong Arm of the Law'' which starred Peter Sellers. He also directed two of the three films, made in the mid-1960s, featuring the double ...

and starring

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Awa ...

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...

and

Bill Kerr William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian, and vaudevillian. Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second Worl ...

. It was partly written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and made by

Romulus Films Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Fil ...

. The film opened at the Warner Theatre in London's West End on 14 March 1963.

Plot

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, a gang of criminals from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

led by Jack Coombes (

) impersonate policemen to carry out robberies. Local gang leader "Pearly" Gates ( Sellers), who operates from the cover of a French

couturier ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

, finds his takings cut severely, and blames rival crook "Nervous" O'Toole (

). When it emerges that they are both being scammed by the same gang, they join forces, along with

' Police Inspector "Nosey" Parker, to bring the so-called "I.P.O. mob" (I.P.O. - Impersonating a Police Officer) to justice.

Nanette Newman Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934) is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes, including ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), ''The Whisperers'' (1967), '' Deadfall'' (1968), ''The Stepfor ...

provides the love interest,

plays a senior policeman, and a young

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

has a small and uncredited role as a young PC. Other uncredited roles include

John Junkin John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English actor and scriptwriter who had a long career in radio, television and film, specialising in comedy. Early life Born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of a policeman, he and hi ...

(Maurice),

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...

(Educated Ernest),

Cardew Robinson Douglas John Cardew Robinson (14 August 1917 – 28 December 1992) was a British comic, whose career was rooted in the music hall and Gang Shows. Early life and career Born in Goodmayes, Essex, Robinson was educated at Harrow County School f ...

(Postman),

Dick Emery Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Life and career Richard Gilbert Emery was ...

(Man in Flat 307),

Mario Fabrizi Mario Edgio Pantaleone Fabrizi (1924 – 5 April 1963) was an English comedian and actor of Italian descent, noted for his luxuriant moustache. He was active in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Life Fabrizi was born to Italian parents in ...

(Van Driver),

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

(Police Station Sergeant), Harold Siddons (PC in Basement Garage), Jack Silk (Police Station PC),

Derek Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and ''Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallas ...

(non-speaking PC at Scotland Yard),

Gerald Sim Gerald Grant Sim (4 June 1925 – 11 December 2014) was an English television and film actor who is perhaps best known for having played the Rector in ''To the Manor Born''. Career Sim was born in Liverpool, Lancashire and made over a hundred ...

(Airfield Official) and

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

(“The bird in the front row” at Gangsters' Meeting).

Cast

Production and reception

Many of the robbery scenes were filmed around Beaconsfield and Uxbridge. Filming locations include; the early Post Office robbery at Burkes Parade/Post Office Lane Beaconsfield, the gang meeting at Havens Court, Ealing, the Bullion Transport robbery at Cowley Mill Road/Waterloo Road Uxbridge combined with Bushy Park Road Teddington, and the escape flight from Denham Airport. The film features an Aston Martin DB4 GT. Peter Sellers loved the 1961 Aston Marton DB4GT so much that he bought the car after shooting the film—contingent on the engine being replaced with a 4.0-litre Lagonda Rapide.

Box office

It was one of the 12 most popular films at the British box office in 1963. According to ''Kine Weekly'' the four most popular films at the British box office in 1963 were ''From Russia With Love'', ''Summer Holiday'', ''Tom Jones'' and ''The Great Escape'', followed by, in alphabetical order, ''Doctor in Distress'', ''The Fast Lady'', ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'', ''Heaven's Above'', ''Jason and the Argonauts'', ''In Search of the Castaways'', ''It Happened at the World's Fair'', ''The Longest Day'', ''On the Beat'', ''Sodom and Gomorrah'', ''The V. I. Ps'', and ''The Wrong Arm of the Law''. In a positive review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

concluded, "Of course, it is strictly lightweight clowning, longer on plot than on wit and wholly dependent on the archness of Mr. Sellers to give it a cachet. Others in the cast are amusing, especially Mr. Jeffries as the cop, but the enterprise stands by the stiffening of Mr. Sellers's cunning roguishness."

References

External links

* *
''The Wrong Arm of the Law''
''a
Memorable TV
' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrong Arm Of The Law, The 1963 films 1960s crime comedy films British black-and-white films British Lion Films films 1960s heist films British crime comedy films Films directed by Cliff Owen Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett Films set in London British heist films 1963 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films