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{{Short description|1949 British film y Montgomery Tully}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Boys In Brown
| name = Boys In Brown
| image_size =
| image = Boys in Brown FilmPoster.jpeg
| image = Boys in Brown FilmPoster.jpeg
| caption =
| caption =
| director = [[Montgomery Tully]]
| director = [[Montgomery Tully]]
| producer = Antony Darnborough
| producer = [[Antony Darnborough]]
| writer = Montgomery Tully
| writer = [[Montgomery Tully]]
| based on = play by [[Reginald Beckwith]]
| based_on = {{based on|play ''Boys in Brown''|[[Reginald Beckwith]]}}
| narrator =
| narrator =
| starring = [[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]<br />[[Richard Attenborough]]<br />[[Dirk Bogarde]]
| starring = [[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]<br />[[Richard Attenborough]]<br />[[Dirk Bogarde]]
| music = [[Doreen Carwithen]]
| music = [[Doreen Carwithen]]
Line 14: Line 17:
| editing = [[James Needs]]
| editing = [[James Needs]]
| studio = [[Gainsborough Pictures]]
| studio = [[Gainsborough Pictures]]
| distributor = [[Rank Organisation]]
| distributor = [[General Film Distributors]]
| released = {{Film date|1949}}
| released = {{Film date|1949|12}}
| runtime = 85 minutes
| runtime = 85 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
|gross = £94,000 (by 1953)<ref name="box">[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=sY1LGFNtCOEC&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=sydney+box+film+producer&source=bl&ots=F02E_WOkLo&sig=bTwtFh0NIsHllgPcTGLkovJObNU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmkt78sr_MAhXltIMKHcEYCX0Q6AEILjAD#v=onepage&q=sydney%20box%20film%20producer&f=false Andrew Spicer, ''Sydney Box'' Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211]</ref>
| gross = £94,000 (by 1953)<ref name="box">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sY1LGFNtCOEC&q=sydney+box+film+producer&pg=PA232|title=Sydney Box|first=Andrew|last=Spicer|date=5 September 2006|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9780719059995|via=Google Books}}</ref>
| language = [[English language|English]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
}}
}}


'''''Boys in Brown''''' is a 1949 black and white British [[drama]] film directed by [[Montgomery Tully]] and starring [[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]], [[Richard Attenborough]], [[Dirk Bogarde]] and [[Jimmy Hanley]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Boys in Brown |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150019143 |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/457488/|title=BFI Screenonline: Boys in Brown (1949)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> It was written by Tully based on the 1940 play ''Boys in Brown'' by the actor [[Reginald Beckwith]].<ref name=timeout/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mreCBAAAQBAJ&q=boys+in+brown+gate+theatre+london+stage+1940&pg=PA485|title=The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|first=J. P.|last=Wearing|date=22 August 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810893061|via=Google Books}}</ref>
'''''Boys in Brown''''' is a 1949 British [[drama]] film directed by [[Montgomery Tully]]. Depicting life in a [[borstal]] for young offenders, it starred [[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]], [[Richard Attenborough]], [[Dirk Bogarde]] and [[Jimmy Hanley]].<ref>{{IMDb title|0041204}}</ref>

The film depicts life in a [[borstal]] for young offenders. The title comes from the borstal uniform: brown shirt and shorts and a short brown tie.


==Plot==
==Plot==
Teenager Jackie Knowles ([[Richard Attenborough]]) drives a getaway car in a robbery. He is captured and sentenced to serve three years in a [[borstal]] institution run by a sympathetic governor (Jack Warner). He befriends Alfie ([[Dirk Bogarde]]) and Bill ([[Jimmy Hanley]]).
Teenager Jackie Knowles drives a getaway car in a robbery. He is captured and sentenced to serve three years in a borstal institution run by a sympathetic governor . He befriends Alfie and Bill.

During an in-house concert party Jackie sneaks into one of the staff rooms. He removes the light bulbs when a man enters he is unseen. But he is spotted and a fight ensues in which Jackie knocks the man out with a lamp. He thinks he has killed him. He escapes with half a dozen others including Alfie.

When caught the injured man awaits a critical operation in hospital and there may still be a murder charge. Alfie decides to confess to the crime not realising he might hang.

Jackie eventually confesses. His girl says she is happy to wait three years for him.

==Premise==

As the maximum age one could attend a borstal was 18{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} (i.e. a 19 year old must go to an adult prison), Jackie's three year sentence places him as under 16. His age is not stated. Attenborough was 25/26 at the time of filming, and neither he nor any of the other "boys" pass as teenagers.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} Bogarde was 28.


==Cast==
==Cast==
Line 32: Line 47:
* [[Dirk Bogarde]] as Alfie Rawlins
* [[Dirk Bogarde]] as Alfie Rawlins
* [[Jimmy Hanley]] as Bill Foster
* [[Jimmy Hanley]] as Bill Foster
* [[Barbara Murray]] as Kitty Hurst
* [[Barbara Murray]] as Kitty Hurst, Jackie's girlfriend
* [[Patrick Holt]] as Tigson
* [[Patrick Holt]] as Tigson
* Andrew Crawford as Casey
* [[Andrew Crawford (actor)|Andrew Crawford]] as Casey
* [[Thora Hird]] as Mrs. Knowles
* [[Thora Hird]] as Mrs. Knowles, Jackie's mum
* [[Graham Payn]] as Plato Cartwright
* [[Graham Payn]] as Plato Cartwright
* [[Michael Medwin]] as Alf 'Sparrow' Thompson
* [[Michael Medwin]] as Alf 'Sparrow' Thompson
* John Blythe as 'Bossy' Phillips
* [[John Blythe (actor)|John Blythe]] as 'Bossy' Phillips
* [[Alfie Bass]] as 'Basher' Walker
* [[Alfie Bass]] as 'Basher' Walker
* [[Philip Stainton]] as Principal prison officer
* [[Philip Stainton]] as Principal prison officer
* [[Ben Williams (actor)|Ben Williams]] as Borstal Master
* [[Ben Williams (actor)|Ben Williams]] as Borstal Master
* [[Cyril Chamberlain]] as Mr. Johnson

==Production==
The film was shot at Pinewood. Associate producer [[Alfred Roome]] called it a "near disaster".<ref>{{cite book|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|year=1997|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofb0000unse_i5w8/page/499/mode/1up?q=%22slapstick+action%22|title=An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it|page=499|isbn=9780413705204 }}</ref>

==Critical reception==
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "the film creditably abstains from exploiting its serious subject in a sensational way," and from the "excellent cast" the critic singled out "Richard Attenborough and Thora Hird, a compelling appearance by Jack Warner as the Governor marred only by a tendency to hang out flags when he is about to deliver a Message; and the "boys" (surely a little old for Borstal?) include Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde and Michael Medwin."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/mfb/1000110/index.html|title=Monthly Film Bulletin review|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' wrote: "The fairly outspoken (for 1949) script criticises a system portrayed as suffering from cash starvation (echoed by the film's own rock-bottom budget) yet required to cope with hordes of incorrigibles: a recidivism rate of 75 per cent is indicated. It's a blend of cosy stereotypes, reforming zeal and post-war disillusion amounting to a gloomy admonition not to expect very much from life. A [[Film noir|British noir]], in that sense."<ref name="timeout">{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/boys-in-brown|title=Boys in Brown|website=Time Out London}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0041204}}
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/457488/ ''Boys in Brown''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/457488/ ''Boys in Brown''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys In Brown}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys In Brown}}
[[Category:1949 films]]
[[Category:1949 films]]
[[Category:1940s drama films]]
[[Category:1949 drama films]]
⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Montgomery Tully]]
[[Category:Films directed by Montgomery Tully]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Pinewood Studios films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British prison drama films]]
[[Category:British prison films]]
[[Category:1940s prison films]]
⚫
[[Category:1940s British films]]

[[Category:Films scored by Doreen Carwithen]]

{{1940s-UK-film-stub}}

Latest revision as of 19:25, 19 September 2024

Boys In Brown
Directed byMontgomery Tully
Written byMontgomery Tully
Based onplay Boys in Brown
by Reginald Beckwith
Produced byAntony Darnborough
StarringJack Warner
Richard Attenborough
Dirk Bogarde
CinematographyCyril Bristow
Gordon Lang
Edited byJames Needs
Music byDoreen Carwithen
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
  • December 1949 (1949-12)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£94,000 (by 1953)[1]

Boys in Brown is a 1949 black and white British drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jimmy Hanley.[2][3] It was written by Tully based on the 1940 play Boys in Brown by the actor Reginald Beckwith.[4][5]

The film depicts life in a borstal for young offenders. The title comes from the borstal uniform: brown shirt and shorts and a short brown tie.

Plot

[edit]

Teenager Jackie Knowles drives a getaway car in a robbery. He is captured and sentenced to serve three years in a borstal institution run by a sympathetic governor . He befriends Alfie and Bill.

During an in-house concert party Jackie sneaks into one of the staff rooms. He removes the light bulbs when a man enters he is unseen. But he is spotted and a fight ensues in which Jackie knocks the man out with a lamp. He thinks he has killed him. He escapes with half a dozen others including Alfie.

When caught the injured man awaits a critical operation in hospital and there may still be a murder charge. Alfie decides to confess to the crime not realising he might hang.

Jackie eventually confesses. His girl says she is happy to wait three years for him.

Premise

[edit]

As the maximum age one could attend a borstal was 18[citation needed] (i.e. a 19 year old must go to an adult prison), Jackie's three year sentence places him as under 16. His age is not stated. Attenborough was 25/26 at the time of filming, and neither he nor any of the other "boys" pass as teenagers.[citation needed] Bogarde was 28.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The film was shot at Pinewood. Associate producer Alfred Roome called it a "near disaster".[6]

Critical reception

[edit]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "the film creditably abstains from exploiting its serious subject in a sensational way," and from the "excellent cast" the critic singled out "Richard Attenborough and Thora Hird, a compelling appearance by Jack Warner as the Governor marred only by a tendency to hang out flags when he is about to deliver a Message; and the "boys" (surely a little old for Borstal?) include Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde and Michael Medwin."[7]

Time Out wrote: "The fairly outspoken (for 1949) script criticises a system portrayed as suffering from cash starvation (echoed by the film's own rock-bottom budget) yet required to cope with hordes of incorrigibles: a recidivism rate of 75 per cent is indicated. It's a blend of cosy stereotypes, reforming zeal and post-war disillusion amounting to a gloomy admonition not to expect very much from life. A British noir, in that sense."[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Spicer, Andrew (5 September 2006). Sydney Box. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719059995 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Boys in Brown". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  3. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Boys in Brown (1949)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  4. ^ a b "Boys in Brown". Time Out London.
  5. ^ Wearing, J. P. (22 August 2014). The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893061 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ McFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. p. 499. ISBN 9780413705204.
  7. ^ "Monthly Film Bulletin review". www.screenonline.org.uk.
[edit]
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