Cosh Boy (1953)

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Lewis Gilbert (writer)
Vernon Harris (writer)

Release Date:

29 May 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

WILD... WAYWARD... HELL-BENT!

Plot:

Amongst the bomb-sites and dark alleys of postwar London Roy Walsh and his gang of juvenile delinquents waylay and rob old ladies...

Plot Keywords:

British Noir | Beautiful Woman | Based On Play

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Kenney	...	Roy Walsh
Joan Collins	...	Rene Collins
Betty Ann Davies	...	Elsie Walsh
Robert Ayres	...	Bob Stevens
Hermione Baddeley	...	Mrs. Collins
Hermione Gingold	...	Queenie
Nancy Roberts	...	Gran Walsh
Laurence Naismith	...	Inspector Donaldson
Ian Whittaker	...	Alfie Collins
Stanley Escane	...	Pete
Michael McKeag	...	Brian
Sean Lynch	...	Darky
Johnny Briggs	...	Skinny (as John Briggs)
Edward Evans	...	Sgt. Woods
Cameron Hall	...	Mr. Beverley

Also Known As:

The Slasher (USA)
The Tough Guy

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1953) | UK:X (original rating) | Sweden:(Banned) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Company:

Angel Productions

Trivia:

Usually reckoned to be the first British film to get an "X" certificate. There were other films before this one that had similar levels of content, and some of those were passed for general viewing. But Cosh Boy was presented for certification just as they introduced the new "X" certificate in 1951. The "X" certificate has since been replaced by the "18" certificate.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Walshy and one of his gang go to play draughts (checkers), the positions of the different coloured pieces seem to swap sides from when they approach the board (black on the left) to when they are seated (red on the left) to when they leave (black on the left).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mike Baldwin & Me (2001) (TV)

An amusing cod thriller.

'Cosh Boy' has dreadful scripts and abysmal acting. The only attractive feature of the film is the pretty 18 year old actress Joan Collins (whatever became of her?). The storyline is condescending and moralistic. It suggests that manly discipline is needed to help in the rebuilding of the post-war family, otherwise working-class youths will turn into vicious, nasty 'cosh boys' or poor hapless single mothers. Crime had actually fallen after the war. Black market crime, and other offences, was rife in wartime Britain

What makes this film funny, apart from the atrocious acting, is that in hindsight we can see how ridiculous some 'moral panics' are. The people that might laugh at the caricatures in this film might still go along with existing panics in Britain today - such as 'mad cow' disease, 'road rage', chlamydia teenage alcoholism etc. The total ridiculousness of this film is clear because it is so dated. However panics still grip the popular imagination today, only that they are filtered through far more sophisticated channels such as so-called public health campaigns and the media.

Returning to the film. The characters are one-dimensional, it is purely an exercise in moral tub-thumping concerned with the reconsolidation of law and order in post-war society. The acting is so bad it is hilarious and I'm sure this is one film that Lewis Gilbert would not want to be reminded of.