Hue and Cry (film)

Hue and Cry is a 1947 British film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler and Joan Dowling.

It is generally considered to be the first of the Ealing comedies, although it is better characterised as a thriller for children. Shot almost entirely on location, it is now a notable historic document due to its vivid portrait of a London still showing the damage of the Second World War. The city forms the backdrop of a crime-gangster plot which revolves around a working class children's street culture and children's secret clubs.

Plot
In a bombed-out post-World War II London neighbourhood, illustrated adventure stories are a guilty reading pleasure for members of a teen-age clique, the Blood and Thunder Boys. But their leader, Joe Kirby (Harry Fowler), discovers the plotlines of the popular publication are being copied by a crew of local thieves to plan and execute their jobs. Joe notifies C.I.D. Inspector Ford (Jack Lambert), who scoffs at the notion with humour. Then while at work, Joe tells his boss, Mr. Nightingale (Jack Warner), who suggests Joe forget it. Not to be dissuaded, Joe and another boy visit the stories' eccentric author, Wilkinson (Alistair Sim). While there, they note that Wilkinson's wording is being altered somewhere between drafting and actual publication. This leads Joe and his gang on the trail of a female employee of the stories' publishing house. They confront her at a handsome suburban home in Hampstead, but their interrogation gets the boys nowhere. Eventually, however, they pinpoint the drop location for the robbers' stolen loot.

Joe and the gang arrange with the author, Wilkinson, to create a new adventure story, designed to send all the criminals to the drop. Next day, Joe tells his boss, Nightingale, of their plan. Bad move. Joe realizes afterwards that Nightingale is the mastermind behind the local crimes. Later at the warehouse where the stolen loot is kept, Joe comes upon a cache of stolen fur coats. Then Nightingale appears and threatens the boy. But confusion results when other crooks and toughs arrive on the scene. In the ensuing melee, Nightingale is knocked unconscious. The crooks are then overrun by hundreds of city boys who respond to a pre-arranged radio plea for help. Pandemonium and comedy rule the scene. Before long, though, police arrive to restore order. Meanwhile, Joe trails Nightingale to a bombed multi-storied building. A showdown between the two follows. However, Nightingale falls through one of the many holes in the floor. The implication is that he dies as the police and the kids arrive.

Reception
On 23 February 1947, the film opened at the Tivoli cinema on the Strand in London. According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947. The film earned distributor's gross receipts of £96,812 in the UK of which £87,796 went to the producer.

Restoration
The film was digitally restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015.