Boys in Brown
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| Boys In Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Montgomery Tully |
| Written by | Montgomery Tully |
| Based on | play Boys in Brown by Reginald Beckwith |
| Produced by | Antony Darnborough |
| Starring | Jack Warner Richard Attenborough Dirk Bogarde |
| Cinematography | Cyril Bristow Gordon Lang |
| Edited by | James Needs |
| Music by | Doreen Carwithen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date | December 1949 |
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £94,000 (by 1953)[1] |
Boys in Brown is a 1949 black and white British drama film directed by Montgomery Tully, which depicts life in a borstal for young offenders. It stars Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jimmy Hanley.[2] It is based on a 1940 play by the actor Reginald Beckwith.[3][4]
The title comes from the borstal uniform: brown shirt and shorts and a short brown tie.
Plot[edit]
Teenager Jackie Knowles (Richard Attenborough) drives a getaway car in a robbery. He is captured and sentenced to serve three years in a borstal institution run by a sympathetic governor (Jack Warner). He befriends Alfie (Dirk Bogarde) and Bill (Jimmy Hanley).
During an in-house concert party Jackie sneaks into one of the staff rooms. He removes the light bulbs when a man enters he is unseen. But he is spotted and a fight ensues in which Jackie knocks the man out with a lamp. He thinks he has killed him. He escapes with half a dozen others including Alfie.
When caught the injured man awaits a critical operation in hospital and there may still be a murder charge. Alfie decides to confess to the crime not realising he might hang.
Jackie eventually confesses. His girl says she is happy to wait three years for him.
Premise[edit]
As the maximum age one could attend a borstal was 18 (i.e. a 19 year old must go to an adult prison), Jackie's three year sentence places him as under 16. His age is not stated. Attenborough was 25/26 at the time of filming, neither he nor any of the other "boys" pass as teenagers. Bogarde was 28.
Cast[edit]
- Jack Warner as Governor
- Richard Attenborough as Jackie Knowles
- Dirk Bogarde as Alfie Rawlins
- Jimmy Hanley as Bill Foster
- Barbara Murray as Kitty Hurst, Jackie's girlfriend
- Patrick Holt as Tigson
- Andrew Crawford as Casey
- Thora Hird as Mrs. Knowles, Jackie's mum
- Graham Payn as Plato Cartwright
- Michael Medwin as Alf 'Sparrow' Thompson
- John Blythe as 'Bossy' Phillips
- Alfie Bass as 'Basher' Walker
- Philip Stainton as Principal prison officer
- Ben Williams as Borstal Master
- Cyril Chamberlain as Mr. Johnson
Production[edit]
The film was shot at Pinewood. Associate producer Alfred Roome called it a "near disaster".[5]
Critical reception[edit]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "the film creditably abstains from exploiting its serious subject in a sensational way," and from the "excellent cast" the critic singled out "Richard Attenborough and Thora Hird, a compelling appearance by Jack Warner as the Governor marred only by a tendency to hang out flags when he is about to deliver a Message; and the "boys" (surely a little old for Borstal?) include Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde and Michael Medwin";[6] while Time Out wrote "The fairly outspoken (for 1949) script criticises a system portrayed as suffering from cash starvation (echoed by the film's own rock-bottom budget) yet required to cope with hordes of incorrigibles: a recidivism rate of 75 per cent is indicated. It's a blend of cosy stereotypes, reforming zeal and post-war disillusion amounting to a gloomy admonition not to expect very much from life. A British noir, in that sense."[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Spicer, Andrew (5 September 2006). Sydney Box. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719059995 – via Google Books.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Boys in Brown (1949)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ a b "Boys in Brown". Time Out London.
- ^ Wearing, J. P. (22 August 2014). The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893061 – via Google Books.
- ^ McFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. p. 499. ISBN 9780413705204.
- ^ "Monthly Film Bulletin review". www.screenonline.org.uk.
