Wrong Arm of the Law (Owen, 1962): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 6pm
This very rarely seen comedy film is part of the Peter Sellers season at BFI Southbank. The film also screens on August 12th. Details here.
Time Out review:
On the face of it, a TV-style comedy inspired by Ealing Studios, most notably The Lavender Hill Mob.
But somehow Cliff Owen, the cast, and a large team of writers turn it into a
very superior piece of work, with both an eye and an ear for dialogue
and the absurd situation. Peter Sellers, a smooth Bond Street couturier, is
also the rough-diamond leader of a bunch of inept criminals. He keeps
them happy with luncheon vouchers, home movies, and paid holidays in
Spain. But their welfare state criminality is undermined by the arrival
of a gang of Australians, forcing Scotland Yard to get its act together.
Not only is it genuinely funny, it's also a sly portrait of Britain
slowly emerging from the 'Never Had It So Good' days into the Wilson
era.
Adrian Turner
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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