Rent Hue and Cry (1947)
3.5 of 5 from 84 ratings
1h 19min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- 'Hue and Cry' has since become known as the first of the Ealing comedies proper, and was also the first to make brilliant use of post-war London's exterior locations. The story follows a boy who becomes convinced that a major heist is being planned and executed through the pages of boys' weekly serial The Trump. Having been laughed out of the police station, be and the rest of bis friends set about entrapping the culprits and exposing the plot.
- Actors:
- Alastair Sim, Frederick Piper, Harry Fowler, Vida Hope, Heather Delaine, Douglas Barr, Stanley Escane, Ian Dawson, Gerald Fox, David Simpson, Albert Hughes, John Hudson, David Knox, Jeffrey Sirett, James Crabbe, Joan Dowling
- Directors:
- Charles Crichton
- Producers:
- Michael Balcon
- Writers:
- T.E.B. Clarke
- Aka:
- Hue & Cry
- Studio:
- Optimum
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Comedy
- Collections:
- Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Nicole Kidman, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Charles Crichton, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top 10 Films Set in Department Stores, Top Films, What to Watch Next If You Liked Scrooge
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 29/06/2015
- Run Time:
- 82 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Introduction by Sieve Chibnall, Professor of British Cinema, De Montfort University
- Location Featurette
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Reviews (3) of Hue and Cry
Ealing Whimsy. - Hue and Cry review by Steve
Usually called the first Ealing comedy and mostly aimed at children (I think), there is a characteristic anarchy about this film as a group of children take on a gang of crooks who use their favourite comic (Trump!) to pass on messages about gang activity. The film ends in a big punch up...
Written by TEB Clarke, this is droll rather than laugh out loud funny (which I think is typical of the Ealing comedies) but it is a satisfying and diverting story, enhanced by an ultra-anxious and indecisive Alastair Sim as the comic artist whose work has been commandeered by the criminal element.
One of the most striking facets of the film is the location. London is a bombsite, devastated by the blitz and turned into a playground for the free to roam kids. The past is a foreign country: no one has anything of any value, there is no parental supervision, the sexes are entirely segregated by their own choice, and the kids can play entirely when and where they like.
It is an eccentric and cheerful period piece and my favourite Ealing comedy.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Past its sell-by date - Hue and Cry review by Maureen
It's always worth taking a chance on old films, particularly from Ealing or Elstree and that often works, but not in this case. The start is extremely boring, so we went into fast forward mode. The middle wasn't any better, so we gave up. This poor old film should have been pensioned off.
George Roby.
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Entertaining Early Ealing Comedy Derring-Do Adventure Filmed on London's bombsites - Hue and Cry review by PV
I loved this film, an early Ealing comedy, written by TEB White who wrote The Lavender Hill Mob, and directed by Charles Crichton. Alistair Sim is here in a role 4 years before his classic Scrooge too. A treat. Paul Demel as a fur shop owner, sadly died 4 years later under 50, originally from Brno Slovakia. Harry Fowler stars - he lived into his 8-s after a 60 year acting career. I always wonder what happened to all the other kids in these films
The bombsites of London are real, this being just post war - and no pc mollycoddling of kids then either, the 'stay safe mantra' and paranoid parents keeping their kids cooped up in bedroom prisons for fear of imaginary monsters on the streets neither! A PROPER childhood these kids lives. Happy days. These were the days when many kids still left school aged 14 or 15 then got work easily and here we see them - the telegram boys, the ice cream carts, the apprentices and helpers in shops and markets.
It is a bit Children's Film Foundation at times BUT no matter, it is derring-do hokum, a real boy's own adventure, of the sort that never gets made these days with all movies and TV drama so issue-laden they can barely float. As for children's books - woke pc issue-led lectures the lot of em. THANK GOODNESS we have the archive.
I somehow missed this Ealing comedy and have never seen it before, I am so glad I have now.
4.5 stars rounded up.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.