A slice of life in a British Borstal reform institution for young criminals.A slice of life in a British Borstal reform institution for young criminals.A slice of life in a British Borstal reform institution for young criminals.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
273
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Reginald Beckwith(play)
- Montgomery Tully(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Reginald Beckwith(play)
- Montgomery Tully(screenplay)
- Stars
Photos
Marten Tiffen
- Dustyas Dusty
- (as Martin Tiffen)
- Director
- Writers
- Reginald Beckwith(play)
- Montgomery Tully(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
During post-war England, a young petty crook, Jackie Knowles (Sir Richard Attenborough), is on probation for committing petty crimes. Jackie wants to marry his girlfriend Kitty (Barbara Murray), but they don't have enough money to live on. Jackie foolishly accepts to be the getaway driver for a robbery job. The robbery goes wrong and Jackie is arrested. Because of his previous probation breach, the judge sentences him to three years in a Borstal institution. In the U.K., the Borstal institutions are trying to rehabilitate rather than punish young offenders. Jackie Knowles arrives at a Borstal institution run by a sympathetic Governor (Jack Warner). Initially, Jackie intends to keep his nose clean, do his time and get out. Unfortunatelly, he falls in with a crowd planning to escape. The wrong crowd is run by scheming Welsh boy Alfie Rawlins (Sir Dirk Bogarde) who senses Jackie's naiveté and innocence. Alfie manipulates Jackie into wanting to join his group by playing on Jackie's anxiety about his girlfriend, Kitty. Alfie lies that Kitty already has forgotten about Jackie, and she is seeing another boy, Bill Foster (Jimmy Hanley), a former Borstal institution inmate. A paranoid Jackie decides to join Alfie's group and escape. During the escape, Jackie hits a Borstal guard, sending him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. This could lead to murder charges, if Jackie is captured. —nufs68
- Taglines
- Can bad boys make good ?
- Genres
- Certificate
- Approved
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaMade using J. Arthur Rank's "Independent Frame" production system (even though it was made by Gainsborough). The system proved to be a costly flop.
- Quotes
Mr. Johnson: [Last lines] Won't they try to escape ?
Governor: Well, of course they'll try to escape, and why not? Aren't we all of us trying to escape from some prison of our own making ?
[Looking out of the window]
Governor: There is it Johnson, the wheat and the chaff.
Mr. Johnson: Yes sir. But the thing is, which is which ?
Governor: No, Johnson, the thing is to find out what is the chaff, and why.
- ConnectionsVersion of Boys in Brown (1947)
Top review
Star-studded cast but dated story.
Some great British actors were building their career foundations in this drama about the pressures of life both inside and outside a Borstal reform institution. In particular, Dirk Bogarde makes an excellent scheming manipulator of his fellow inmates while Richard Attenborough is his naive prey.
The Borstal governor and his staff lament that the young men in their charge won't try harder to become good citizens, while the young inmates themselves can't see beyond peer pressure and adolescent rebellion - that much at least hasn't changed since 1949.
But the passage of time has not served this movie well. Its main interest now is historical, in the very early performances of future superstars and in documenting a vanished way of British life and values. We've all seen a multitude of tough prison movies made in later years and in their light this one seems rather pale.
The Borstal governor and his staff lament that the young men in their charge won't try harder to become good citizens, while the young inmates themselves can't see beyond peer pressure and adolescent rebellion - that much at least hasn't changed since 1949.
But the passage of time has not served this movie well. Its main interest now is historical, in the very early performances of future superstars and in documenting a vanished way of British life and values. We've all seen a multitude of tough prison movies made in later years and in their light this one seems rather pale.
helpful•96
- Neil-117
- Jan 31, 2002
Details
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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