Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Tobias Arnold | ... | Young Graham |
Ruth Sheen | ... | Molly | |
Roger Lloyd Pack | ... | Fred | |
Hugh O'Conor | ... | Graham Young | |
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Norman Caro | ... | Mr. Goez |
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Dorothea Alexander | ... | Mrs. Goez |
Charlotte Coleman | ... | Winnie | |
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Paul Stacey | ... | Dennis |
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Samantha Edmonds | ... | Sue |
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Robert Demeger | ... | Mr. Dexter |
Jack Deam | ... | Mick | |
Peter Pacey | ... | Dickie Boone | |
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Joost Siedhoff | ... | Dr. Scott |
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Vilma Hollingbery | ... | Aunty Panty |
Frank Mills | ... | Uncle Jack |
This film is based on a true story about a British teenager who allegedly poisoned family, friends, and co-workers. Graham is highly intelligent, but completely amoral. He becomes interested in science, especially chemistry, and begins to read avidly. Something of a social misfit, he is fascinated by morbid subjects such as poisons and murder. His family environment is intolerable to him and, in particular, his stepmother torments him. He decides to poison those who annoy him, first with antimony and later with thallium. He smugly thinks himself cleverer than all those around him, but nevertheless he is caught and sentenced to 'rehabilitation' at a psychiatric institution. Once there, he undertakes to deceive the new eminent psychiatrist sent there to 'cure' him, thereby securing his release. Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
I truly love this film. The look on young Graham's face when he got his first chemistry set was probably like the one on my own when I got mine. Because I loved my family, I chose other areas of research and never experimented on them. That said, I found the humor in this black comedy right on target and I actually felt sorry for the young poisoner. If he had worked for Q branch he most likely would have received a knighthood rather than a prison sentence. I have no idea how close to the truth this movie is but it is on my top 20 films of all time.