Well, I was actually born in Liverpool, not London, but The Big Smoke is near and dear to my heart, and this film is a wonderful tribute to the city and its inhabitants. Set during 1938 and 1939, London Belongs to Me blends elements of film noir, comedy, drama, and even a smidgen of romance into its story of Percy Boon (Richard Attenborough), a young motor mechanic who finds himself embroiled in the death of a fun fair employee (Eleanor Summerfield). When Percy is found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang, the denizens of Dulcimer Street, led by lefty agitator Uncle Henry (the marvelous Stephen Murray), band together to plead for a reprieve. The final stirring scenes of the film follow the disparate band of Londoners--a cross-section of residents reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the great metropolis--as they march to deliver their petition to the Home Office. Without giving away too much, the film is resolved in a fashion utterly alien to Hollywood cinema, as Uncle Henry and his friends--including the ineffectual but loyal Mr. Josser (Wylie Watson) and religious crank Headlam Fynne (Hugh Griffith) head off to the pub for a pint. If you, like me, have ever fallen in love with London, you will recognize many of the reasons for your passion in this marvelous and moving film, which has lost none of its power over the years.
18 Reviews
Grand Hotel In a Boarding House
rube242419 January 2007
Good but not great story of group of characters living in a London boarding house in 1938. The story begins well and then starts to meander all over the place with the ending so weird that it borders on the surreal. Standout performances by Alastair Sim, right around the time of A Christmas CAROL, and Faye Compton as the widow he entrances. Hugh Griffith pops in late in the film to chew the scenery and bring a few chuckles. The cinematography is good and a nightmare sequence reminds one of DEAD OF NIGHT. There is a warmth about the film, one that was made in 1948 and looks back at London ten years earlier, that should appeal to all Londoners as well as Anglophiles around the world. A good film for a rainy afternoon with a"cuppa" and a scone.
Entertaining but eccentric
malcolmgsw4 July 2015
This film seems by turn to be a comedy,a drama,a romantic film,and a horror film.There are so many different styles in this film.Likewise the acting,from the restrained Wylie Watson to the wildly over the top Alistair Sim and Hugh Griffiths.You then add in the nightmare suffered by Richard Attenborough whilst awaiting trial,which seems to have been inspired by Dead Of Night.At times this film feels as if it has been written by such diverse talents as Noel Coward and Terence Ratigan.Attenborough as usual plays a bit of a coward and it is really hard to sympathise with his predicament.A really strange film.Although quite long it nevertheless holds the viewer as you don't know what is going to happen next.
A love letter to "the little people"
UncleBobMartin28 July 2006
As such, and coming from the pen of a well-to-do gentleman who ran both ITV and BBC-TV during their infancy (Norman Collins, who wrote the novel upon which the film is based), it's more than a little patronizing, though its warmth is sincere.
The film concerns the doings of various denizens of the fictional Dulcimer Street, a once-grand neighborhood now considerably frayed at the sleeve.
"All the characters in this novel are imaginary," Collins wrote. "The London of the title is real enough - that's London all right. But Dulcimer Street and the lives of the people in it, like the other lives which cross with theirs, are all fictitious. And so are the various Funlands, cafés, Sprititualist Societies, agencies, hospitals and institutions, with which the story deals." The story concerns the true urban dwellers, Collin informs us: "plenty of real Londoners who sleep the night in London as well as work the day there - some in love, some in debt, some committing murders, some adultery, some trying to get on in the world, some looking forward to a pension, some getting drunk, and some holding up a new baby. This is about a few of them." At the center of the hubbub is a retired gentleman, pensioned off to get "a pound a week for doing nothing," his long-suffering wife who pines for a suburban cottage, and their attractive daughter of marriageable age. The young lady has two suitors, one Percy Boon (Attenborough), a young man of flexible morals (we know he is an "at-risk" youth from his first frame, as he is shown reading a comic book -- a notorious corrupter of the age), the other a police officer. Aside from the police officer, everyone this little family knows is unsavory; the criminal Attenborough, the con-man Sim, the venal, man-hungry widow Joyce Carey, the tramp St. Helier, and their Uncle Henry (Stephen Murray), a communist agitator.
Collins seems to grant that crime, suffering and unequal justice are the inescapable lot of the less privileged, but Uncle Henry's political buffoonery is there to let us know that radical politics are not his aim.
This environment, and the film's plot primarily concerning Attenborough's slippery slope to criminality, has the seeds of noir, but what springs from those seeds is half domestic drama, half screwball comedy.
It's clear early on that Collins forgives all of his characters for both their willful sins and their hapless mistakes. If you aren't too annoyed by the patronizing noblesse oblige of the author, you'll find yourself having a good time and perhaps, like myself, sufficiently curious about the characters to seek out the novel (five pounds, used, at Amazon.UK)
The film concerns the doings of various denizens of the fictional Dulcimer Street, a once-grand neighborhood now considerably frayed at the sleeve.
"All the characters in this novel are imaginary," Collins wrote. "The London of the title is real enough - that's London all right. But Dulcimer Street and the lives of the people in it, like the other lives which cross with theirs, are all fictitious. And so are the various Funlands, cafés, Sprititualist Societies, agencies, hospitals and institutions, with which the story deals." The story concerns the true urban dwellers, Collin informs us: "plenty of real Londoners who sleep the night in London as well as work the day there - some in love, some in debt, some committing murders, some adultery, some trying to get on in the world, some looking forward to a pension, some getting drunk, and some holding up a new baby. This is about a few of them." At the center of the hubbub is a retired gentleman, pensioned off to get "a pound a week for doing nothing," his long-suffering wife who pines for a suburban cottage, and their attractive daughter of marriageable age. The young lady has two suitors, one Percy Boon (Attenborough), a young man of flexible morals (we know he is an "at-risk" youth from his first frame, as he is shown reading a comic book -- a notorious corrupter of the age), the other a police officer. Aside from the police officer, everyone this little family knows is unsavory; the criminal Attenborough, the con-man Sim, the venal, man-hungry widow Joyce Carey, the tramp St. Helier, and their Uncle Henry (Stephen Murray), a communist agitator.
Collins seems to grant that crime, suffering and unequal justice are the inescapable lot of the less privileged, but Uncle Henry's political buffoonery is there to let us know that radical politics are not his aim.
This environment, and the film's plot primarily concerning Attenborough's slippery slope to criminality, has the seeds of noir, but what springs from those seeds is half domestic drama, half screwball comedy.
It's clear early on that Collins forgives all of his characters for both their willful sins and their hapless mistakes. If you aren't too annoyed by the patronizing noblesse oblige of the author, you'll find yourself having a good time and perhaps, like myself, sufficiently curious about the characters to seek out the novel (five pounds, used, at Amazon.UK)
Interesting little character piece
miloc12 December 2012
This odd little comedy/drama from Sidney Gilliat doesn't really hold a lot of water, but does hold a fair amount of charm, as the motley occupants of a London boarding house rally in support of one of their own, a young would-be spiv arrested for murder. As the youth in question Attenborough is pop-eyed, guilt-wracked and hapless, eerily resembling a young Peter Lorre-- we feel sorry for him, though we may not empathize much. But the film's emotional shadings come from the older actors like Wylie Watson, Fay Compton, and Joyce Carey (no, not the novelist), who stand by the boy simply because they know it's the right thing to do.
The plot's barely there, but there's a lovely eccentric atmosphere to it all, and also a juicy supporting bit for the great Alastair Sim. Hilariously morose, with a strange and seedy profession, his Mr. Squales would provide inspiration some seven years later for Alec Guinness's great turn in The Ladykillers, down to the overbite and the lank, terrible hair. Sim was a few years away yet from being the UK's most popular film star; he was the weirdest and most watchable of screen idols. He walks away with the film.
The plot's barely there, but there's a lovely eccentric atmosphere to it all, and also a juicy supporting bit for the great Alastair Sim. Hilariously morose, with a strange and seedy profession, his Mr. Squales would provide inspiration some seven years later for Alec Guinness's great turn in The Ladykillers, down to the overbite and the lank, terrible hair. Sim was a few years away yet from being the UK's most popular film star; he was the weirdest and most watchable of screen idols. He walks away with the film.
Snapshot of prewar London
lucyrfisher9 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Made in 1948, about 1938. Well, fashions hadn't changed that much, and landlady Joyce Carey, with her wonderful lace collars, is still living in the basement in 1918. For me, that's part of the appeal of films of this era - spotting the Victorian furniture and decor. Look at the Jossers' elaborate overmantel - and what would those etchings be worth now? At the time, all this Victoriana was a marker for people who couldn't afford anything new, and lived with the furniture provided. Back to the plot - it helps to understand Norman Collins's books. They are all like this: the story of a large cast of characters without an obvious hero or heroine. I have a confession to make: I like Richard Attenborough. He was good at playing criminals, spivs and wide boys. We know he's really middle class, we know he's now titled - but is that a reason to call him "bland", or address him as "Dickie boy"? What's that all about? Myrna (Eleanor Summerfield) went on to a career on the small screen. I agree with other reviewers about the odd way the film ends. The palaver about the petition goes on for too long. I suppose Collins wanted to send up earnest agitators, as well as silly spiritualists. The spiritualists come over as more sympathetic.
Not for everyone-may contain mild spoilers
bagg10ns1 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I admit I was confused as I watched this film, was it a crime story, a black comedy, a political statement? But as the film went on, I realized it is so much more than that. It is about the people who live on Dulcimer Street on the brink of WWII. It is about a misguided, stupid, teenage boy, who loves his mother, a young girl about to become a woman, a man at the end of a dead end career who always thinks of others and has inner happiness. A rogue con man, a hungry middle age woman, an aging agitator, a policeman trapped by his superiors. All the different blends of true people of England, who come together against all odds to fight a battle already one. This is a film that captures the true spirit of being English. And that is what this film is about.
I'm confused
dsewizzrd-116 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Confused postwar drama-come-comedy about an idiotic young man who gets involved in car theft and murder.
Richard Attenborough plays a complete piker as the young man in a way that becomes really grating. Alastair Sim plays a dodgy geezer playing up to the landlady, in his usual creepy way but funny and appealing.
The first part of the film is serious and then a last unnecessary half-hour is filled with a comic petition to reprieve the young man from the gallows (?).
The film seems to be quite well made but the plot seems to look like it was made up of two different stories.
Richard Attenborough plays a complete piker as the young man in a way that becomes really grating. Alastair Sim plays a dodgy geezer playing up to the landlady, in his usual creepy way but funny and appealing.
The first part of the film is serious and then a last unnecessary half-hour is filled with a comic petition to reprieve the young man from the gallows (?).
The film seems to be quite well made but the plot seems to look like it was made up of two different stories.
Heart-warming interior from old London
clanciai15 February 2015
It's all about a house and its tenants of very variable kinds, the last one moving in being a confused spiritualist somehow falling out of everything (Alastair Sim in an unforgettable character, later copied by Alec Guinness in "Ladykillers"), while the main character is Richard Attenborough as a young irresponsible luck-seeker without any luck, courting the daughter of the house while his former mistress won't leave him alone, which leads to the tragedy. The house becomes a web of intrigue and complications, the different destinies interlacing each other, leading to confusions and further tragedies - Alastair Sim is really the unluckiest of them all. A fabulous gallery of colorful actors, Stephen Murray and a young Hugh Griffith making a surprise entrance towards the end is just two of them, the idyll develops into a spectacular drama finally involving all London. It's a wonderful story with great warmth and empathy with its characters, almost like a documentary. Unfortunately I haven't read the novel, which should be even better. This is a must see for grass-root people, environmentalists, humanitarians and all defenders of the small people of narrow circumstances and humble conditions, making out the great majority of the ordinary harmless core of humanity.
Not only a man on trial, but a house.
mark.waltz21 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The performances by future legendary director Richard Attenborough and character actor Alastair Sim makes this British drama stand out in a slow moving but often intriguing story of accidental death which leads to a murder trial. Young Attenborough is the accused, having unintentionally killed the troublesome Eleanor Summerfield whom he claims struck him while he was driving at a high speed, and his reaction of hitting her back caused her to fall out of the car to her death.
Attenborough lives in the boarding house run by the lonely Joyce Carey with his aging mother (Gladys Benson), and when the odd acting Sims moves in, he has a vision of one of the tenants committing murder. Sims runs into Attenborough among his return home after the killing, has a sense of disaster having occurred, and his strange behavior causes friction between him and Carey whom he has quickly proposed to. Of course when the body is found, Attenborough is put on trial, and this leads to debate between the various tenants in Carey's boarding house, as well as the community.
This film is memorable for its intelligent dialog as well as a dream sequence that Attenborough has while awaiting his trial, harassed by the deceased as well as the police, and waking up in a sweat. The tension grows after the trial is complete with the jury questioning their responsibility before withdrawing. That creates even more conflict among the tenants, particularly with the sudden arrival of a religious extremist (Hugh Griffith) and how the neighborhood sets up camp in front of the house for a march in Attenborough's defense. An interesting British drama with good performances all round aided greatly by excellent direction and photography.
Attenborough lives in the boarding house run by the lonely Joyce Carey with his aging mother (Gladys Benson), and when the odd acting Sims moves in, he has a vision of one of the tenants committing murder. Sims runs into Attenborough among his return home after the killing, has a sense of disaster having occurred, and his strange behavior causes friction between him and Carey whom he has quickly proposed to. Of course when the body is found, Attenborough is put on trial, and this leads to debate between the various tenants in Carey's boarding house, as well as the community.
This film is memorable for its intelligent dialog as well as a dream sequence that Attenborough has while awaiting his trial, harassed by the deceased as well as the police, and waking up in a sweat. The tension grows after the trial is complete with the jury questioning their responsibility before withdrawing. That creates even more conflict among the tenants, particularly with the sudden arrival of a religious extremist (Hugh Griffith) and how the neighborhood sets up camp in front of the house for a march in Attenborough's defense. An interesting British drama with good performances all round aided greatly by excellent direction and photography.
Sir Wylie
fraegle6657 January 2004
A brilliant performance from Wylie Watson,with fine back-up from Alistar Sim and Faye Compton. The only downside to the film is the poker faced performances from Dickie boy and the other younger actors.Wylie Watson should have been knighted for his services in bringing tears to a glass eye.
The 25 Year Old Richard Attenborough
Single-Black-Male17 November 2003
Having achieved success in 'Brighton Rock', Dickie Attenborough now carved out a career for himself as a bland English actor with the aid of John Mills. I'm not sure what exactly audiences saw in what he brought to the screen but he certainly didn't have cross over appeal.
London Belongs to Me
CinemaSerf5 January 2023
Richard Attenborough leads a somewhat disjointed cast in this rather lengthy drama. He is "Percy", a rather impressionable young man who lives with his beloved mother (Gladys Henson) in a boarding house amidst a host of interesting lodgers. Sadly for him, he is soon mixed up with the wrong sort - some small time hoodlums - and becomes a murder suspect. I suppose the house to be a metaphor for the broader United Kingdom following the end of WWII - a collection of the aspirational, the optimistic, and the resigned - but there are too many characters for us to keep tabs on, and though the efforts from Alastair Sim as the Dickensianly titled "Mr. Squales"; Stephen Murray, the lovely Fay Compton ("Mrs. Josser") and a superb series of scenes, rather late in the day, from Hugh Griffith all stand up fine on their own, the film as a combination piece is pretty much all over the place. Attenborough tries hard, and at times he does fire on all cylinders, but he isn't quite good enough to pull all the strands together, nor is the Sidney Gilliat direction/screenplay, so it can come across as just a little too much of an episodic compendium of loosely connected stories rather than a cohesive feature. Still, it does provide us with quite an interesting observation of post war London and of a way of communal life now (mercifully) long gone for most of us.
Interesting but deeply flawed
The_Secretive_Bus14 June 2007
A nicely evoked 1930s setting provides much interest for a viewer in the early 21st century; unfortunately, "London Belongs to Me" has little else to recommend it besides lashings of quaint English charm. All of the problems rest with the deeply unfocused story. The main plot concerns the actions of young lad Richard Attenborough, the problems he gets into and how the community in which he lives bands together to save him from society's laws. Or something. The main issue here is that Attenborough's character brings everything upon himself and, quite frankly, is guilty of almost every accusation brought against him, so it's baffling why the film (and all the characters) have so much sympathy for him. He's treated as a victim of circumstance when he really, really isn't; and what's more he isn't shown to have very much remorse for his actions, only caring about getting away with things he didn't mean to do. Alastair Sim gets a lot of screen time in a subplot that has absolutely nothing to do with the main plot line and you wonder what he's doing there (though Sim is, as always, superb). You know there's a problem with the structure when the main plot impacts constantly against the subplot but not vice-versa. And, following a sedate pace and a careful build up, the plot completely falls apart in the last 20 minutes with a deeply unsatisfying and unexplained conclusion which doesn't even show us if Attenborough's character has developed at all from the previous proceedings. The film doesn't end, it just stops.
The acting, direction and the general feel of the film can all be commended but unfortunately the story and structure of the piece jars constantly. A last point of trivia: Alec Guinness based his performance in the vastly superior film "The Ladykillers" on Alastair Sim's performance in this film, right down to both the characters having almost identical first scenes.
The acting, direction and the general feel of the film can all be commended but unfortunately the story and structure of the piece jars constantly. A last point of trivia: Alec Guinness based his performance in the vastly superior film "The Ladykillers" on Alastair Sim's performance in this film, right down to both the characters having almost identical first scenes.
Dulcimer Street is Right Up My Alley.
davidallen-8412214 August 2023
The quaint, dated elements of old British, black and white, post-war films are just my cup of tea.
Intimate insights into the lives of a disparate group of characters, forced to tolerate each other, is the sort of thing only the British do expertly.
Numerous familiar players all excel in their respective roles with stand-outs being Alistair Sim, Joyce Carey, Fay Compton and Richard Attenborough whose convincing portrayal of a terrified good boy gone wrong is palpable.
Great atmospheric music, photography and narration, along with the acting, make this a priceless gem of a film.
If , like me, you love the plays of Terence Rattigan then "London Belongs to Me" belongs to you too.
Intimate insights into the lives of a disparate group of characters, forced to tolerate each other, is the sort of thing only the British do expertly.
Numerous familiar players all excel in their respective roles with stand-outs being Alistair Sim, Joyce Carey, Fay Compton and Richard Attenborough whose convincing portrayal of a terrified good boy gone wrong is palpable.
Great atmospheric music, photography and narration, along with the acting, make this a priceless gem of a film.
If , like me, you love the plays of Terence Rattigan then "London Belongs to Me" belongs to you too.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making plans
malcp2 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
An interesting narrative voyage, which truly defies a neat categorisation. The film points us in several different directions, but is constructed chiefly around the lives of Mr and Mrs Josser and their daughter Doris who live in the ground floor of No 10 Dulcimer Street in London in 1938 -39. Retiring after many years of loyal service at the same company, Mr Josser is looking forward to settling down with his wife in a small cottage in the country. With war on the horizon, convention might dictate that this would become a primary theme, however, like life, this film isn't like that - war does come, but to these ordinary folk, it's only a small part of the scenery. Instead we are given a wonderful tapestry of richly played intertwined vignettes. Some humorous, some dramatic but all of which serve to draw us in. Mr Josser and his family are often incidental to the main point of focus, but isn't that often just how life is!
Alastair Sim as Mr. Squales saves a movie from disaster...
steven_torrey8 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The premise starts out strong. In the process of stealing a car, Breen's friend--who happens to be a girl--gets in. Breen speeds in an attempt to evade a police road block in search of the stolen car. The passenger side door opens, the girl falls out and dies as a result. Breen appears to get away with it. A police inspector falls for one of the girls in the boarding house Breen lives in; through some clever snooping and sleuthing, the police inspector nails Breen as the girl's murderer.
So far so good.
A trial scene in which Breen is convicted of willful murder. So far so good.
The inhabitants of the boarding house decide to hold a march to the Home Office to reprieve Breen; misguided and perhaps character development for the lunacy, the idiosyncrasy of the boarding house tenants. Still OK--even if a bit much for a stretch.
The Police Inspector decides to join the march! OK--that's where lunacy descended to idiocy and silliness and perverse. By then--the move was just too silly. The only appropriate ending was to see Breen's sentence commuted form hanging to life in prison without parole.
The highlight of the movie--the performance of Alastair Sim as Mr. Henry Squales--a more vile and despicable creature one should ever find on film. (A character Dickens himself would have been proud to create.) "Oleaginous"--and not in the good sense--is the best way to describe Mr. Squales. And Alastair Sim plays the role to perfection. Think Mornau's Nosferatu--the long fingers, the long solitary string of hair descending from a bald pate to a long face attached to a long body. Squales pretending to be some kind of medium so he can get free board and room--oiling his way into the heart of the owner of the boarding house. That performance alone made the move worth seeing despite the descend to silliness.
So far so good.
A trial scene in which Breen is convicted of willful murder. So far so good.
The inhabitants of the boarding house decide to hold a march to the Home Office to reprieve Breen; misguided and perhaps character development for the lunacy, the idiosyncrasy of the boarding house tenants. Still OK--even if a bit much for a stretch.
The Police Inspector decides to join the march! OK--that's where lunacy descended to idiocy and silliness and perverse. By then--the move was just too silly. The only appropriate ending was to see Breen's sentence commuted form hanging to life in prison without parole.
The highlight of the movie--the performance of Alastair Sim as Mr. Henry Squales--a more vile and despicable creature one should ever find on film. (A character Dickens himself would have been proud to create.) "Oleaginous"--and not in the good sense--is the best way to describe Mr. Squales. And Alastair Sim plays the role to perfection. Think Mornau's Nosferatu--the long fingers, the long solitary string of hair descending from a bald pate to a long face attached to a long body. Squales pretending to be some kind of medium so he can get free board and room--oiling his way into the heart of the owner of the boarding house. That performance alone made the move worth seeing despite the descend to silliness.
Good acting, but.....
planktonrules18 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This slice of life film is set in a boarding house in a neighborhood in London just before WWII. Sprinkled throughout the home and the film are a wide variety of strange and interesting characters. So why do I only give the film a 5? Well, despite some clever writing and characters, the movie hinges on one character--a young idiot car thief (Richard Attenborough) who accidentally kills a lady. He clearly might not have meant to kill her but he was responsible for her death and he is no angel. Yet, inexplicably, the last portion of the film is all about a petition to obtain clemency for him. My feelings about this big portion of the film is who cares?! Had he been more likable or innocent, then it would have worked. As it is, the film is seeking empathy for someone simply not deserving it...and it weakens the entire film as a result. Not a terrible film and it is interesting, but ultimately it fails due to so much in the movie resting on this criminal case.
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