From director Charles Crichton who made the classic A Fish called Wanda in 1988 is this early effort from 1947, Hue and Cry.A crime caper focussed on kids who discover a criminal ring that are using a comic strip to send instructions to plan their jobs.Joe Kirby (Harry Fowler) is a lad who is always in a spot of bother. He is placed by a policeman for a job with a Covent Garden grocer Nightingale (Jack Warner) who listens to his stories of a fur smuggling ring with a filthy laugh.Felix Wilkinson (Alastair Sim) is the scatty comic strip writer who stories are being manipulated by an insider in the publishers. As the police does not believe Joe's fantastical tale, it is up to him and his gang to take on the crooks.I must have first watched this film as a teenager. It rather reminded me of those Enid Blyton adventures I used to read as a kid. The post war setting of a bombed out London make the city look like an adventure playground for kids.It is an enjoyable Ealing comic adventure as the kids take on adult crooks and put themselves in jeopardy. Sim gives an amusing cameo.

Don't allow the images of bombed areas of London to be used to brainwash you into believing the propaganda about W.W. II.The German blitz against London was in retaliation for English attacks against German cities.In July 1940, Churchill ordered Bomber Command to start devastating Berlin as soon as feasible, even though Germany had bombed no English cities.It was the English, not the Germans, who had heavy bombers that were designed for flattening cities. The Germans had only medium and smaller bombers.It was the war-mongering English whose policy it was to start wars in Europe in order to weaken any country that could rival their power.It was the bullies, war-mongers, and war-criminals known as the English, not the Germans, who bragged that they "ruled the waves". It was the English who bragged that the sun never set on their empire. It was the English who were lording it over the people of Ireland before and during W.W. I. It was the English who maintained a blockade of Germany for seven months after W.W. I ended, causing the death by starvation of hundreds of thousands of people. It was the English who were lording it over the people of India before and during W.W. II. It was the English who started W.W. II by declaring war on Germany. It was the English who were the first to commit the war crime of carpet-bombing cities.

The Trump!Forgotten, under seen or not very good? Either way Hue & Cry is a very important film in the pantheon of Ealing Studios. Blending comedy with that of a children's thriller, this would be the launching pad for the long string of Ealing classics that would follow. Nobody at the time would know of its importance, nor did head guru Micahel Balcon have ideas to steer the studio in the direction that it would take, thus practically inventing its own genre of film.In truth, it's a scratchy film, admittedly one with moments of class and social hilarity, nifty set-ups and ever likable young actors, but it's a bit too wrought to fully work, the odd blend of comic book values and crime busting youths is never at one for a fully rounded spectacle. But the hints of greatness are there, an awareness of the times, the half bombed London backdrop, the send-ups of Hollywood conventions, and the irrepressible Alastair Sim a forerunner of many eccentrics to follow.Hue & Cry is a fine and decent viewing experience, and perhaps it's harsh to judge it against "those" bona fide classics coming up along the rails? But really it's more for historical values to seek it out and it's not an Ealing film you would recommend to a newcomer wanting to acquaint themselves with that most brilliant of British studios. 6.5/10

Generally reckoned to be the first 'Ealing' comedy,a fondly-regarded series of gentle,humorous satires of British life in the late 1940's-early 1950's,this is actually more of a rowdy,fast-paced crime caper than what gradually developed to the above familiar style of this famous film studio.However,it is none the worse for that,with an amusing script and speedy direction by Ealing veterans TEB Clarke and Charles Crichton,and efficient performances by a mostly teenage cast.Looking from a 21st Century viewpoint,it is an astonishing fact how UK teens dressed (in dull tweed suits) and behaved (no guns,knives or bad language) in the pre-rock n' roll era;in this more cynical day and age,it would be the adults stopping the kids committing crime rather than vice versa.This actually helps the film in giving it a quaint period charm which will never be recaptured,as is the well-photographed scenes of war-torn London.Alastair Sim is billed first but the real leading man is inimitable cockney actor Harry Fowler,while the usually genial Jack Warner (a little uncomfortably) is the main adult protagonist,a ruthless villain;Sim is enjoyably buffoonish as a cartoonist,but his is basically a minor character and little seen despite his top billing. The highlight is the final battle between the criminal gang and London street urchins who seem to swarm over their prey like soldier ants.The sequence is funny,exhilarating,thrilling and even spectacular.HUE AND CRY isn't the best Ealing comedy,and not necessarily the most typical,but despite dated elements is still largely very enjoyable and pleasantly nostalgic for older film-goers. RATING:7 and a half out of 10.