Kurt at 04:25, 8 February 2023

2023-02-08T04:25:09Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:25, 7 February 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = The Wrong Arm of the Law~~
	\| image = The Wrong Arm of the Law poster.jpg		\| image = The Wrong Arm of the Law poster.jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-11-10T04:40:33Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 23:40, 9 November 2022
(No difference)

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films

2022-09-04T17:18:23Z

External links: add Category:1960s British films

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Wrong Arm of the Law
| image = The Wrong Arm of the Law poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Cliff Owen]]
| producer = E.M. Smedley Aston [[Aubrey Baring]]
| writer = [[John Antrobus]] [[Ray Galton]] Alan Simpson John Warren Len Heath
| starring = [[Peter Sellers]] [[Lionel Jeffries]] [[Bernard Cribbins]] [[John Le Mesurier]] [[Bill Kerr]]
| music = [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[Ernest Steward]]
| editing = Tristam Cones
| studio = [[John and James Woolf|Romulus Films]]
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]] (UK)
| released = {{film date|df=y|1963|3|14|UK}}
| runtime = 94 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''The Wrong Arm of the Law''''' is a 1963 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Cliff Owen]] and starring [[Peter Sellers]], [[Bernard Cribbins]], [[Lionel Jeffries]], [[John Le Mesurier]] and [[Bill Kerr]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-wrong-arm-of-the-law-v55625/cast-crew|title=The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) - Cliff Owen - Cast and Crew - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> It was partly written by [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton and Alan Simpson]] and made by [[John and James Woolf|Romulus Films]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bb3d137|title=The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)}}</ref>

The film opened at the [[Vue West End|Warner Theatre]] in London's West End on 14 March 1963.<ref>The Times, 14 March 1963, Page 2</ref>

==Plot==
In [[London]], a gang of criminals from [[Australia]] led by Jack Coombes ([[Bill Kerr]]) impersonate policemen to carry out robberies. Local gang leader "Pearly" Gates ([[Peter Sellers|Sellers]]), who operates from the cover of a French [[couturier]], finds his takings cut severely, and blames rival crook "Nervous" O'Toole ([[Bernard Cribbins]]). When it emerges that they are both being scammed by the same gang, they join forces, along with [[Lionel Jeffries]]' Police Inspector "Nosey" Parker, to bring the so-called "I.P.O. mob" (I.P.O. - Impersonating a Police Officer) to justice. [[Nanette Newman]] provides the love interest, [[John Le Mesurier]] plays a senior policeman, and a young [[Michael Caine]] has a small and uncredited role as a young PC. Other uncredited roles include [[John Junkin]] (Maurice), [[Dennis Price]] (Educated Ernest), [[Cardew Robinson]] (Postman), [[Dick Emery]] (Man in Flat 307), [[Mario Fabrizi]] (Van Driver), [[John Harvey (actor)|John Harvey]] (Police Station Sergeant), [[Harold Siddons]] (PC in Basement Garage), Jack Silk (Police Station PC), [[Derek Guyler]] (non-speaking PC at Scotland Yard), [[Gerald Sim]] (Airfield Official) and [[Marianne Stone]] (“The bird in the front row” at Gangsters' Meeting).

==Cast==
{{castlist|
* [[Peter Sellers]] as "Pearly" Gates
* [[Lionel Jeffries]] as Inspector Fred "Nosey" Parker
* [[Bernard Cribbins]] as "Nervous" O'Toole
* [[Davy Kaye]] as Trainer King
* [[Nanette Newman]] as Valerie
* [[Bill Kerr]] as Jack Coombes
* [[Ed Devereaux]] as "Bluey" May
* [[Reg Lye]] as Reg Denton
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Assistant Commissioner
* [[Graham Stark]] as Sid Cooper
* [[Martin Boddey]] as Superintendent J.S. Forest
* [[Irene Browne]] as Dowager
* [[Arthur Mullard]] as "Brassknuckles"
* [[Dermot Kelly (actor)|Dermot Kelly]] as Misery Martin
* [[Vanda Godsell]] as Annette
* [[Tutte Lemkow]] as "Siggy" Schmoltz
* Barry Keegan as Mr. Pointer
* [[Michael Caine]] as Extra In Battersea Park Funfair Scene (uncredited)
* [[Dick Emery]] as Man In flat 307 (uncredited)
* [[John Junkin]] as Maurice (uncredited)
* [[Cardew Robinson]] as Mailman (uncredited)
}}

==Production and reception==
Many of the robbery scenes were filmed around [[Uxbridge|Beaconsfield and Uxbridge]]. Filming locations include; the early Post Office robbery at Burkes Parade/Post Office Lane Beaconsfield, the gang meeting at Havens Court, Ealing, the Bullion Transport robbery at Cowley Mill Road/Waterloo Road Uxbridge combined with Bushy Park Road Teddington, and the escape flight from Denham Airport.

The film features an [[Aston Martin DB4#DB4 GT|Aston Martin DB4 GT]].

Peter Sellers loved the 1961 Aston Marton DB4GT so much that he bought the car after shooting the film—contingent on the engine being replaced with a 4.0-litre Lagonda Rapide.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Edsall |first1=Larry |title=Movie star, movie car: Sellers' DB4GT heading to auction |url=https://journal.classiccars.com/2018/05/13/movie-star-movie-car-sellers-db4gt-heading-to-auction/ |website=The ClassicCars.com Journal |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>

==Box office==
It was one of the 12 most popular films at the British box office in 1963.<ref>"Most Popular Films Of 1963." Times [London, England] 3 Jan. 1964: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.</ref> According to ''Kine Weekly'' the four most popular films at the British box office in 1963 were ''From Russia With Love'', ''Summer Holiday'', ''Tom Jones'' and ''The Great Escape'', followed by, in alphabetical order, ''Doctor in Distress'', ''The Fast Lady'', ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'', ''Heaven's Above'', ''Jason and the Argonauts'', ''In Search of the Castaways'', ''It Happened at the World's Fair'', ''The Longest Day'', ''On the Beat'', ''Sodom and Gomorrah'', ''The V. I. Ps'', and ''The Wrong Arm of the Law''.<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/42604873.pdf| page=288|year=1985|publisher=University of York|title=CLASS, SEXUALITY AND THE*BRITISH CINEMA 1956-63|first=William John|last=Hill}}</ref>

In a positive review in ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Bosley Crowther]] concluded, "Of course, it is strictly lightweight clowning, longer on plot than on wit and wholly dependent on the archness of Mr. Sellers to give it a cachet. Others in the cast are amusing, especially Mr. Jeffries as the cop, but the enterprise stands by the stiffening of Mr. Sellers's cunning roguishness."<ref>{{cite news|last=Crowtherr|first=Bosley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/04/03/archives/screen-sellers-keeps-crime-rate-upwrong-arm-of-law-opens-at-coronet.html|title=Sellers Keeps Crime Rate Up:'Wrong Arm of Law' Opens at Coronet|work=The New York Times|date=3 April 1963|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0056704}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|wrong_arm_of_the_law}}
* [http://www.memorabletv.com/movies/wrong-arm-of-the-law-romulus-1962-with-peter-sellers-lionel-jeffries-and-bernard-cribbins/ ''The Wrong Arm of the Law''] ''at [http://www.memorabletv.com/ Memorable TV]''
* {{Amg movie|55625}}
* {{Screenonline title|1144191}}

{{Galton and Simpson}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrong Arm Of The Law, The}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:1960s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British Lion Films films]]
[[Category:1960s heist films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Cliff Owen]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:British heist films]]
[[Category:1963 comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

The Wrong Arm of the Law - Revision history

Kurt at 04:25, 8 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films