Lost

LOST (Guy Green, 1956)
(aka “Tears For Simon”)

David Knight, Julia Arnall, David Farrar, Anthony Oliver, Eleanor Summerfield, Thora Hird, Marjorie Rhodes, Meredith Edwards, Shirley Anne Field, Freda Bamford, Robert Brown, Fanny Carby, Cyril Chamberlain, Peggy Ann Clifford, Guy Deghy, Percy Herbert, Joan Hickson, Glyn Houston, Jack Lambert, Arthur Lovegrove, William Lucas, Charlotte Mitchell, Hugh Morton, Dandy Nichols, Joan Sims, Ewen Solon, Marianne Stone, Mona Washbourne, John Welsh, Barbara Windsor, George Woodbridge.

All things considered, Lost is a highly watchable film, most particularly for those of us who enjoy British character actors because it’s full of them. This tale of an abducted child follows familiar, well-trodden plot lines, but what really brings it to life is its quirky characterisations and interesting and colourful location shooting. The leads (David Knight and Julia Arnall) are somewhat lacklustre but this is more than compensated for by the effectiveness of the supporting players, and Janet Green’s script which manages to inject some humour into the otherwise dramatic proceedings. The police, in the shape of David Farrar, Anthony Oliver and Eleanor Summerfield, are nicely observed and believable characters. There are pre-Carry On turns from Barbara Windsor and Joan Sims – it’s only surprising there’s no Sidney James, as ubiquitous in 1950s films as he was. But if anyone can be said to steal the show it’s Thora Hird as a self-righteous landlady – she’s only on screen for two minutes but she certainly makes the most of it.

I kind of wished that this had been in black and white - it would certainly have helped inject a bit more suspense into this quite quirky tale of the investigation into the kidnap of a young child from his pram outside a chemist's shop. The parents - David Knight and Julia Arnall give reasonable performances as the despairing parents and David Farrar is effective, if not exactly exuberant, as "Insp. Craig" leading the team on the case. It's got a few underlying storylines aside from the obvious ransom theory and we do actually get some sense of just what these (or any) parents might do to recover their child. The ending is actually a little sad adding an extra layer of authenticity to it and we even get a very early glimpse of Shirley Anne Field, too.