The Punch and Judy Man

Hancock's finest celluloid hour-and-a-half has the doleful comic as a seaside children's entertainer whose marriage to ambitious Syms is under threat due to his continuing lowly rank in the town's social strata. Written by Hancock and Philip Oakes, it's an understated, melancholy tale with a rather personal tone, and good work from the likes of Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd as Hancock's fellow beach-front artistes.