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The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962)

Director: Cliff Owen

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From Time Out Film Guide

On the face of it, a TV-style comedy inspired by Ealing Studios, most notably The Lavender Hill Mob. But somehow Owen, the cast, and a large team of writers turn it into a very superior piece of work, with both an eye and an ear for dialogue and the absurd situation. Sellers, a smooth Bond Street couturier, is also the rough-diamond leader of a bunch of inept criminals. He keeps them happy with luncheon vouchers, home movies, and paid holidays in Spain. But their welfare state criminality is undermined by the arrival of a gang of Australians, forcing Scotland Yard to get its act together. Not only is it genuinely funny, it's also a sly portrait of Britain slowly emerging from the 'Never Had It So Good' days into the Wilson era.

Author: ATu 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


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