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.

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

Caution: Ending briefly described.

A young teenager and his pals discover that a gang leader is using a "boy's magazine" (called a comic, but seemingly more of a pulp-fiction text magazine) to tell his gang what jobs to pull. At the expense of logic, this allows for a nice scene at the beginning where a boy is reading a story and the events he's reading about are simultaneously happening around him. This is billed as a comedy, and there are many amusing scenes. Sim, in a small part, is delightful as the innocent, swishy, eccentric writer of the magazine stories. And there fine comic touches, such as, when they stop to look in a store window while trailing someone, the seamstress inside sticks out her tongue. But, unexpectedly, it's as a noir film that this shines. Many scenes are filmed on-location in war-torn London. At one point the kids descend into the sewers to avoid arrest, and when it seems that they can't get out, one becomes hysterical. The lobby of Sim's building is a complete noir set. The finale, with the boy entering darkness to follow the villain, and their cat-and-mouse fight on the open floors of a bombed building is noir in every aspect; the setting, the action, the lighting, the whole style of filming. The fight is violent, and ends with the boy jumping from the floor above onto the villain's stomach, killing him. It's a brutal death for a man whose crime is handling hot furs, and who the boy had no "personal" reason to kill. These noir aspects are the most striking part of the film, and it might have been even better if they had been even stronger. As it is, this Ealing film is still one of the best British films of the immediate post-war period.

I SO would have loved this movie as a kid; but being far too young, I'm now only getting into these lesser known Ealings as a middle-aged film lover. Hue & Cry is part of the Ealing Comedy DVD Collection.

From what I've heard from older folk and relatives about the just post- war years, this yarn is plain good old fashioned fun, but one for the boys only, whatever their age. With bombed-out London their playground and comics their fantastical relief, young boys run around pursuing adventure at every turn. This is where I get my Angels with Dirty Faces connection from.

A few disgruntled viewers say that Hue & Cry lacks focus and central characters. This is true - a boy's adventure never runs to plan and if it does, you change it! But, seen as the first Ealing comedy proper, the Studio is still finding its feet and is gathering talented people to direct (Charles Chricton, who directed many BIG Ealings) screenwriters (T.E.B Clarke, who is synonymous with Ealing) and one very accomplished cinematographer, Douglas Slocombe, who here manages some Hitchcockian imagery - such as on a spiral staircase and in a room full of circus dummies. Otherwise, it's brisk, the camera darting about, with a film score every bit as vibrant as the escapades.

No-one ever, though, denies the pull and special attraction of Alistair Sim as the eccentric Comic strip creator, a Scrooge-like hermit living at the top of those scary stairs. That he isn't on screen very much just happens to be one of those things, relish him when he is on, that's all you can do.

The story, now, to an adult takes second fiddle - lots of boyish conspiracies and such, avoiding the police and the occasional fight. Something about a missing page in their favourite comic and they have to use passwords and such, getting caught in gangster Jack Warner's wide- boy gangsterish crook (as far cry from his beloved Dixon of Dock Green!). It is the sights - and sounds - of an almost alien London, only a generation ago that makes it all so watchable - and enjoyable. Unlike today, with our comparatively lazy and health and safety pampered youth, these boy actors literally pour gusto and energy into everything, swarming over a rubbled landscape like herds of buffalo in a western.

The sound is often a bit thin and distorted but the picture quality not as bad as it could be, a little lacking in punch perhaps but surprisingly blemish-free.

An aptly named Ealing Comedy, the very first one of them in fact, this is a fun, energetic children's adventure film set in immediately postwar London. You can tell straight away from the unconventional, irreverent title sequence that something with-it this way comes, something fresh, new and different from before and so it proves. There's an ingenious story, which helps, as a teenage Harry Fowler and his gang of mates, one sparky girl amongst them, uncover a plot to transport stolen goods by a criminal gang whose big boss uses a secret code craftily contained in an adapted popular kids' comic strip. By the way, said comic is called "The Trump" and I suppose I should resist stooping to make a flippant remark about another cartoon character of that name spreading deceit, oops, it looks likes I just did!

Anyway, back to this movie which has lots to commend it besides its witty script. The bomb-damaged locations of London are used to good effect, the young actors, once you get over the unusual sight of the boys running about in suits, shirts and ties, whilst occasionally betraying their inexperience, bring spirit and energy to proceedings plus there's a nice turn by Alastair Sim as the precious old writer whose adventure strips are being hijacked for criminal gain, in fact I wish he had more screen time than that afforded to him. There's also the rare site of a younger Jack Warner than in his Dixon Of Dock Green days playing a cackling baddie.

While the film has something of the feel of a Children's Film Foundation production about it, there's nothing wrong with that in my book and its gentle mix of youth, humour and excitement makes it a diverting entertainment with added historical value for its glimpses of a great city and its people getting back on their feet after the ravages of war.

It is very difficult to dislike the Ealing Studios films, and even their lesser efforts are still worth watching. Have liked to loved all seen, which of now is most, especially 'The Ladykillers', 'The Lavender Hill Job' and my favourite 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'. They are hugely enjoyable and their gentle charm, fun comic situations and interesting choices of actors further add to the appeal.

'Hue and Cry' is a very early film for Ealing Studios, their first in fact, and with a sense of still finding their feet and style it is not one of their best. Is it a great film? No. Is it perfect? No. Is it good and enjoyable? Yes. Is it worth watching? Of course. Cannot imagine saying to someone to avoid anything from Ealing, that cannot be said for some other studios around (have actually come across studios where none of their output rises above average and mostly are weak at best and downright terrible at worst).

Admittedly, 'Hue and Cry' is very slight and story-wise it is somewhat disjointed. The balance of comic-oriented comedy and noir crime caper is not quite harmonious together and doesn't always feel focused.

Other Ealing films, once their style settled, were funnier and wittier, as well as more focused. Others have held up a little better too, with a little more secure pacing and wittier writing. Jack Warner doesn't always look comfortable.

With all being said, 'Hue and Cry' is still very amusing, if never quite hilarious, with some well-engineered, if not always ingenious, situations. There is evidence too of the trademark gentility and the distinctive charm that makes Ealing's films memorable. It's all nicely directed, rousingly scored and doesn't come over as dull.

The crime caper elements fare better, it is nifty storytelling with some nice suspense and surprises and a handsomely rendered noir atmosphere in the production values. The characters are not completely memorable but engage still and the dialogue is amiable and evokes a number of chuckles. Cannot fault the cast either. As likeable the younger cast members are, it is Alastair Sim on finely eccentric form who comes over most memorably.

Summarising, enjoyable and worth the watch. It says a lot when one says that 'Hue and Cry' is a lesser Ealing effort, yet it still manages to be good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

First of the Ealing comedies, this film has excellent music by Auric and is well directed by Charles Crichton. Filmed in 1946 it shows invaluable images of the bomb sites of London after WW2 and is fast moving and exciting to watch. A group of ' boys ' ( most well beyond boyhood ) and a token ' girl 'cause a lot of comic fighting in their pursuit of a group of criminals. The lead young actor played by Harry Fowler is too old for the role, and Alastair Sim is not given much to do which is sad as he is the best actor of all of them. Jack Warner is not good in this, and his villainous laughter becomes tedious. The climax is good but overall the film is badly cast and 80 minutes of it becomes tedious, despite the short length of the film. A must see for the expert direction, and there is a rather surreal shot with shadows in the beginning introducing Sim which is sheer genius, and makes a cliched staircase a place of unease and suspense. I also recommend the details of life mainly set on location, and years in advance of the French New Wave. But for my taste it all overstayed its welcome.

I found a copy of this movie in my local (Phoenix, Arizona) used book store. Ah, bliss! The sights of old London, albeit somewhat bomb-damaged, before the developers started to build ugly tower blocks. The movie itself is excellent, with good characterization for the 'kids', although Jack Warner's role as the villain seems a little overblown. Alistair Sim's role as the nervous author of comic books is an excellent vignette, showing his trademark nervous twitchy smile. The final chase and confrontation, at "Ballard's Wharf", reputedly in Wapping, was actually filmed on the opposite side of the river, as can be scene in the long shots, where St. Paul's cathedral can be seen.

Alastair Sim has but a small part in this British comedy caper, "Hue & Cry." The film was supposedly the first comedy by the Ealing Studios, but it's more of an adventure and mystery, with a bunch of London teenagers solving a crime. The cast and story remind one of the bowery boys films of the 1940s in Hollywood. The East Side Kids starred in those films. The best known of them had decent acting careers - Leo Gorcey as Muggs and Huntz Hall as Glimpy.

The Blood and Thunder Boys are the main gang in this film, and they are a more presentable bunch than the New York crowd. Here the boys, and an occasional girl, hang out in much of the ruins still left from the war. This film was made just two years after the end of World War II and clean up and rebuilding was just getting well underway. The scenes of large areas of bombed out buildings gives this movie an added touch of historical value.

Harry Fowler plays the main character, Joe Kirby. All of the young actors do a good job. They uncover a huge ring of robbers, and have some adventurous and exciting scenes. Besides the crime story and adventure themes, this film is an interesting picture of the remaining devastation in London two years after the war; and of the English youth who banded together as they looked for work during the summers as the country was recovering.

Eccentric boys' adventure writer Felix H Wilkinson (Sim) has his copy - "The Enthralling Adventures of Selwyn Pike and his Youthful Assistant Smiler" - altered by master crooks, using a special code through the pages of kids' comic 'Trump'. Only sharp-eyed schoolboy Joe Kirby (Fowler) seems to have noticed, but fails to convince a sceptical Detective Inspector Ford (Lambert).

Undeterred, Kirby enlists the help of a gang of bombsite-dwelling little cockneys, the self-styled 'Blood and Thunder Boys' to up-end the criminals' dastardly plans. Wilkinson is persuaded to alter his copy and catch the robbers, headed by Kirby's boss Nightingale (Warner, cast against type as a baddie), and Trump secretary Rhona Watson (White).

Originally billed with the slogan, "The Ealing film that begs to differ", Hue And Cry is less a comedy (actually, it's Ealing Studios' first acknowledged 'comedy') than a thrilling adventure story for older kids; the occasional punch-up scenes are peculiarly realistic. Director Crichton weaves a fantastic, but bizarrely believable yarn, helped no end by his unsentimental, dedicated cast.

The standout performer is Sim, whose potty writer, despite limited screen time, pretty much waltzes off with the entire picture - whether he's castigating the crooks ("The insolent scoundrels, they've purloined one of my codes - the very code I invented for the 'Case of the Limping Skeleton!'") or tremulously backing out of the deal ("Remember what happened to Nicky the Narc in the 'Case of the Creeping Death'?").

Acclaimed cinematographer Dougie Slocombe makes great use of post-Blitz London locations, including Holborn Viaduct, Docklands, and Covent Garden - particularly for the climactic scenes of hundreds of boys teeming Battleship Potemkin-fashion down the capital's steps toward the scene of the crime. While an almost incidental scene of a small boy re-enacting an aerial dogfight on a bombsite leaves viewers in no doubt about the psychological impact of the World War II on a new generation.

HUE AND CRY is the first of the classic comedies made by Ealing Studios although the comedy is in short supply here as this becomes more of a juvenile detective/adventure story involving a group of kids thwarting a gang of crooks who plan their next jobs using a serialised story in a comic. It sounds far-fetched and it is, but at the same time it's a lot of riotous fun.

Overall, HUE AND CRY feels much like one of the classic Enid Blyton detective stories, except done with a harder edge. Indeed, there's quite a bit of action here in the form of fisticuffs and chase scenes and it's quite hard-hitting despite the protagonists being kids. The plot is fast-paced and engaging and the film evokes a wonderful sense of place as we see the kids playing in the post-war bombed out ruins that littered British cities during the era. As ever, Alastair Sim contributes a memorable supporting role.

A gang of London youths look to solve crime using clues found in a comic book.

Hue and Cry is hit and miss effort from Ealing studios with great cinematography that captures war ravaged London, but has a largely forgettable story and no performances of real note.

The story would be okay as a children's movie, but makes for fairly uninspired cinema aside from that. For me there isn't enough intrigue to keep my interest from slipping.

That is until we see the beautifully captured shots of bombed out sections of London used to wonderfully cinematic effect. The piles of rubble amongst the crumbling buildings are a playground and hiding place for the featured gang and gives an authentic feel to these scenes.

The protagonists are played as an East-End version of the Dead End Kids and have a similar dynamic. There are no bad performances, just nobody with any real charisma that demands attention. The same goes for the adult performers. Alistair Sim, unfortunately, has a very short amount of screen time.

Visually it is all excellent with a superb opening title sequence, atmospheric cinematography, lighting and sharp editing throughout.

If you have an interest in the era and filmmaking, you will likely enjoy.

Although featuring stars of British cinema such as Alastair Sim, in an all too brief cameo, and Jack Warner, the true star of this film is the character actor Harry Fowler in arguably his best role. The young Fowler realises a crime story in a boys' comic is being re-enacted in real life and leads a group of children in trying to foil and capture the gang.

Regarded as the first Ealing Comedy, whilst entertaining, it doesn't reach the standards of later Ealing classics but is still worth a watch.

Though I don't think this film is particularly well regarded, or even known; this is a splendid little tale of youth as the adult world would prefer it and a rather kindly mentor in the lugubrious shape of Alastair Sim. The plot hinges on the now unknown pursuits of comic strips and collecting vehicle registration (licence) plate numbers.

The humour is more subtle and understated than in the later films, indeed one can feel the transition with the years through films such as The Magnet and The Maggie before we reach the true classics of the genre.

Finally, though many will link the name of the great Alastair Sim with Ealing Comedies, am I right in thinking that this, the first of the Ealing Comedies is the only one to feature him?

Alastair is better known working with other studios I believe.

This is one of the lesser known Ealing comedies and it has something of the Children's Film Foundation output to it too, as the youngsters cotton on to a dastardly plan to use the narrative bubbles in a children's comic to convey messages that unwittingly to the publisher and animator facilitate daring robberies. It's only when the young "Joe" (Harry Fowler) and his mates start to put two and two together, and with the help of "Felix" (Alastair Sim) they start to hone in on the kingpin - safe in the knowledge that he is close amongst them and will not go quietly if he is discovered. The humour is dark, subtle and personable, as are the efforts from Jack Warner ("Nightingale") and it is set in a wonderfully gritty post war, bombed-out London full of craters and ruins in which to set the increasingly enjoyable scenario. The youngsters gel well together too, a team effort with the odd red herring and plenty of fisticuffs that compensate for the nor terribly high production standards (especially the tinny audio). Remembering the environment in which it was made, it's a remarkably enjoyable and light-hearted indication that war was over and that the sunlit uplands were again on the horizon. Good fun.

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.

This was the first of the Ealing comedies and after fifty years it is still entertaining.The only thing that hasn't stood the test of time is the overacting of Alistair Sim as a writer of boy's adventure stories. The kids in the film are wonderfully natural.

Pictorially it is an interesting look at a London still suffering from the war. Most of the film was shot on location and the kids playgrounds were the bomb damaged buildings. During the climatic scenes there are some magnificent shots, taken from above, where it appears as though every kid in London is rushing through the streets to help capture the criminals.

Oddly enough, although very different, the movie had somewhat the same scenic look as THE THIRD MAN. Both were set in bomb damaged cities and in HUE AND CRY there is even a scene where the kids escape through the sewers of London, predating Harry Lime's famous scene in the sewers of Vienna.

North Americans may find the accents rather a deterrent but I think the film is well worth the effort.

I particularly enjoyed seeing London in its derelict state after WW2, I remember my parents taking me there in those days and seeing piles of bricks everywhere. It was amusing to read a review by an American academic whose main complaint was that the children were all white and there should have been a better balance with black children. I wonder where he thought Ealing Studios might have found such people in 1946/7 - the Empire Windrush did not arrive at Tilbury until June 1948. Indeed looking at the devastation in London in the film it is amazing that Ealing could make anything. This is something that i watched as a kid and have seen many, many times again.

When I was a 'nippah', I used to go to the cinema on a Saturday Morning, this was one of the films that they showed. It made an impact on me that I always watch it again and again.

A film made in the bombed out post-war east London. It was a proto brat-pack movie (watch out for a very adolescent Anthony Newley). This film is a treasure and a classic that transcends time and generations. The plot is around a bank robbery, but around this are the bombed out scenes of the East End of London, in which the kids made their playground. These scenes are contrasted with the bright, sparkling and summery photography. There are many memorable scenes. Such as the boy re-enacting an aerial dogfight on a bombsite. He makes noises of aircraft, machines-guns, flak and bombs. These are complemented by his gestures. This scene has a genuine intensity to it, the war had obviously made an impact on him, and this intensity is shared. The other scene is that when the group of youth have to negotiate the sewer, we are shown into a subterraenean world. This had to be filmed on location, how could you build a sewer in the studio on a limited budget?. There is also the other scene where the gang manage to trap one of the female villains, they extract the necessary information from her by one of the boys threatening to unleash one of his pet white mice on her.