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IMDb > Sparrows Can't Sing (1963)

Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   43 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Joan Littlewood
Writers:
Stephen Lewis (play)
Stephen Lewis (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Sparrows Can't Sing on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 October 1964 (Finland) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
Sailor, sailor, home from the sea - where little stranger can there one be ?
Plot:
Charlie returns to the East End after two years at sea to find his house demolished and wife Maggie gone... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. more
User Comments:
non stop believable banter and jesting more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
James Booth ... Charlie Gooding
Barbara Windsor ... Maggie Gooding
Roy Kinnear ... Fred Gooding
Avis Bunnage ... Bridgie Gooding
Brian Murphy ... Jack
George Sewell ... Bert
Barbara Ferris ... Nellie Gooding
Griffith Davies ... Chunky
Murray Melvin ... Georgie
Arthur Mullard ... Ted
Peggy Ann Clifford ... Ted's Wife
Wally Patch ... Watchman
Bob Grant ... Perce
Stephen Lewis ... Caretaker
Victor Spinetti ... Arnold
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Additional Details

Runtime:
94 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Finland:S
Company:
Carthage Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Notorious real-life East End gangsters the Kray twins have walk-on parts towards the end of the film. more
Soundtrack:
Sparrows Can't Sing more

FAQ

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non stop believable banter and jesting, 9 July 2009
10/10
Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London

Derived from her own Stratford East stage show, this Joan Littlewood film apparently did no better than its non celluloid counterpart. Now it appears fresh, confident and so evocative but I have never seen it before and like many, I suppose, wouldn't have been the slightest bit interested at age 16 in 1963 with the Beatles and all that was to follow. Seen now, however, with all that location shooting and streets that are gone depicted so well. And what irony! The fabulous extended opening shows our hero/villain returning from sea to find his wife and cannot even find his house. Bulldozed slums, replaced by brand new 18 storey blocks of flats and even they bulldozed in turn in 2000. Back to the film and it is non stop believable banter and jesting. The film does not let up once and only in the final splendid sequence in the pub do we see a trace of the theatrical origins. For anyone who has ever visited or lived in London, absolutely essential. For every one else, well worth seeing to get just a glimpse of the old East End and just an inkling of what it really was once like when everybody seemed to know almost everyone else.

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Related Links

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