The Blue Lamp (1950) User Reviews

Highly underrated...and an exceptionally realistic thriller.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 August 2009]

It's interesting that the robbery and shooting that is the subject of this movie doesn't even occur until almost 45 minutes into the film. This really isn't a complain, really, but more a statement about how the film was constructed. Instead of a typical linear film with a predictable format, this one is instead a realistic drama that emphasizes the routines and typical police work instead of a single crime. And, once the crime occurs, watching the police work was at times mundane and lacked the pizazz of some films but also made the film excel when it comes to realism. Stylistically, some might call it Noir or Noir Inspired--but the film deliberately avoids the lighting, language and grit of true Noir.

As for the acting, it generally was excellent. The policemen were very good--not overly glamorized or macho--but very believable. So, when the widow receives word that her husband died from his injuries, you feel very touched--he was a "real" person and not just a plot device. In fact, this scene was truly exceptional. The killer, Dirk Bogarde, is in one of his first films and is much better than I would have expected--he was menacing and a truly nasty piece of work! The only negative was Peggy Evans, as Bogarde's girlfriend. First, she was supposed to be 17 but was 25--and looked every bit of 25, if not more. Second, I think the director must have told her to scream incoherently if she didn't know what to do in a particular scene, as she did this a lot--too much, frankly.

Overall, it's a darn good police film. Realism seemed to matter over everything else and it was refreshing to see. In many ways, it reminded me of the American film, NAKED CITY, as the everyday police work and procedure was THE star of the film. Highly underrated and well worth seeing.

The Bobbys of Paddington Station

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 13 November 2012]

For those of us on this side of the pond The Blue Lamp is like the striped pole for barbershops only in the United Kingdom it hangs above the entrance to police stations. The Blue Lamp is a story of a pair of helmeted beat cops working out of Paddington Station in London, one a fairly new recruit, the other an old timer thinking of retirement.

The roles are played by Jimmy Hanley and Jack Warner respectively. Hanley was a favored callow juvenile player, doing those roles way past the age he should have is an earnest young officer trying to do his best to make good on the job. Jack Warner who was a music hall performer as well plays the older officer, a kindly veteran who is married to Gladys Henson who both take a parental interest in young Hanley. Their own son had died, most likely in the recent World War. In fact in the shooting on location in London you can see many unpleasant reminders of the war in bombed out buildings, still not repaired or replaced by 1951.

While Hanley is being mentored by Warner, there are a couple of punks played by Dirk Bogarde and Patric Doonan who are busy themselves. They're not taken terribly seriously by really professional criminals. As the film is narrated in talking about wannabes like Bogarde and Doonan it reminded of what John Wayne said in The Shootist that the ones you have to watch out for are the hotheaded amateurs. That's these two in a nutshell.

The Blue Lamp was Bogarde's breakout role and he's charismatic to the nines. He's every young girl's idea of a bad boy they'd like to have a romp with before settling into respectable married life. Such a girl is Peggy Evans who is fascinated by Bogarde and his disrespect for conventional behavior. Look at the home she comes from and you can see why she wants to escape.

The Blue Lamp won the BAFTA award which is the UK equivalent of the Oscar for Best Picture for 1951. It made Dirk Bogarde an enduring star in British cinema and it's a nice tribute to the London Metropolitan Police Force.

Mustn't grumble.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 8 February 2014]

The Blue Lamp is directed by Basil Dearden and written by T.E.B. Clarke. It stars Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng and Peggy Evans. Music is by Ernest Irving and cinematography by Gordon Dines.

Andy Mitchell is a new recruit to the London police force, old hand George Dixon takes him under his wing and shows him the ropes. When Dixon is gunned down by a hot headed crook, Mitchell, the force, and the close knit community, all rally round to catch the villain.

What chiefly makes The Blue Lamp a fine watch is being able to witness the good old days of the British Bobby. It was a time when the copper was a feared and reassuring presence on the British streets, they walked the beat so everyone could sleep easy in their beds, help was but merely a whistle away.

In that, this Ealing Studios production does a wonderful job, the essence is perfect, the locale and the dialect used is absolutely spot on, whilst the story is an accomplished piece that brings to notice the sad emergence of trigger happy crooks, a new breed of thug who's discipline quota was zero. It also looks nice, with a film noir sheen presented for the night-time sequences, while Dearden offers up a great action scene and closes the picture down with a tense chase finale at White City Greyhound Stadium.

There's inevitably some staid performances indicative of the time, and it definitely paints the police and surrounding community through rose tinted spectacles, but they are small complaints that ultimately can't stop The Blue Lamp from being a most engaging viewing experience. 7.5/10

Dirk Bogarde's breakthrough role

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 16 August 2009]

"The Blue Lamp" is a British film told in semidocumentary style about the rise of youth crime in Britain after World War II. It follows a seasoned policeman, Dixon (Jack Warner) and a rookie (Jimmy Hanley) and two young thieves, played by Dirk Bogarde and Patric Doonan. When Dixon is shot while trying to stop a robbery, the police search for the perpetrators. The film shows their painstaking grunt work and questioning, and also how the case dovetails another one, the disappearance of a young woman, Diana Lewis (Peggy Evans, quite possibly one of the worst actresses ever to hit movies).

This was the film that made 28-year-old Dirk Bogarde a star - he plays the cold, desperate and volatile Tom Riley with the great intensity that was to set him apart from other actors. There was no one quite like him in film - movie star handsome and emotionally complex, with what can best be described as a glint of madness in his eyes. He could play just about anything and did. Not satisfied with matinée idol status, he took the lead in the controversial film Victim in 1961 and wrote after its release: "Overnight, the 4000 maniacs who were writing to me stopped." That was fine with him! Very good movie, with excellent performances all around, with the exception of the hysterical, annoying performance by Evans. Jack Warner does a wonderful job as kindly, experienced P.C. Dixon - so wonderful, in fact, that he continued to play the role after the film in a television series.

This is sort of the "Naked City" of London. Very good.

A London i remember

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 20 September 2005]

When the Blue Lamp was released i was around 3 years old.I therefore do remember the London that it shows.To me the film is more interesting in what it reveals about the London of 1950 than the actual story.It shows the Metropolitan Music hall in the Edgware Road.It was in the last few years of its life before the A4 cutting a swathe into London meant that it was demolished for "progress".Music Hall by this time was in its last throes and what was left would be rendered extinct by the arrival of ITV.We see the Colloseium in Harlesden.Every High Street had cinemas like this.If you look carefully you will see that they were showing "Granny Get Your Gun" a 1940 "B" feature with May Robson.So it was probably a second run house.There are the bomb sites.I remember that in certain parts of London,particularly the East End there mere were more such sites than actual buildings.The streets do not have a great deal of traffic as there was little traffic at that time.So a film of some sociological interest

British neorealism?

[Tipu · 30 January 2000]

One of the few British efforts to make the kind of 'gritty city' movies that the Americans did so well (Ritt, Cassavates, Kazan). Tibby Clarke wrote this before his (imho) finest work - 'The Lavender Hill Mob' & the climactic chase sequence of TLHM has its more sober counterpart here. This particular chase sequence would definitely rate as one of the best for the '50s. The social commentary in the beginning about old crime vs new crime (old money/ new money) jars the more politically correct '00 ears, but it definitely adds to the charm.

The most interesting performance is definitely the hugely talented Dirk Bogarde's. As the psychotic thief/ killer he sends a shiver down your spine even today. The pathetic slouch with the cold, cruel eyes stands as far apart as possible from the staid & begonia-sprouting policemen of the New Scotland Yard. And the sound of passing trains that overlaps his fits of rage? Brings back (unwelcome) memories of Jean Gabin in 'La Bete Humaine' - hv I spelt that right?

'ello 'ello 'ello...what 'ave we got 'ere then?

[shakercoola · 6/10 · 16 March 2019]

A British crime drama; A story about a policeman in 1940s London who gives a new recruit the benefit of his experience but comes under threat by crooks planning a a series of robberies. It falls to the protege to bring the criminals to justice. This is a BAFTA award winning social-realist police drama. The plot follows local constables as ordinary heroes and honest guardians of a decent society battling crime in and around the areas of the Edgware Road and Paddington. Its focuses on two officers, one near to retirement and another learning the ropes, and a shocking capital offence has a film noir feel, and it also has a documentary style approach to the day-to-day life of a police station which also produces some light relief at times. The film indulges on a tradition of a model policeman archetype but it was a very plausible and realistic look at youth and villainy at the dawn of a new decade. As a footnote, such was the success of the film for its distinct verisimilitude, which figured highly in the public consciousness, it went on to become a very successful TV series called "Dixon of Dock Green" on British television in the 1950s.

Very realistic

[loza-1 · 10/10 · 9 June 2005]

This was made just five years after the end of the second world war. Some old folk I spoke to as a kid told me that when they were kids there were no gangs of youths on the streets: there were gangs of men. After the second world war, we began to see the emergence of youth crime. It has grown since then, practically spiralling out of control.

When we look at this film from the frame of reference of the early twenty-first century, this film where the London underworld joins with the police to track down the killer of a policeman looks unreal. If you have read any of the reminiscences of police officers of the period (such as Robert Fabian's "Fabian of the Yard") you will see that this sort of relationship between the police and the underworld is right on the button. This is the sort of thing that would have happened.

The type of policing that this film portrays belongs to a bygone era, when criminals often didn't have cars to make their getaways. It also shows the advantage of the beat copper, who knows his beat so well that if there is anything unusual he notes it down, and if there is any trouble, he has a fair idea of who is causing it. And the pair played by Jimmy Hanley and Jack Warner showed perfectly the inexperienced learning from the experienced. The situations, such as the costermonger being continually told to "move along there" are real for then but not for now, when police work, once done using discretion, is now, like everything else, done by bureaucracy.

The film is shot in north London, in the Paddington, Maida Vale and Westbourne Park areas. P C Dixon's beat is round by the Grand Union Canal in an area known as Little Venice. The police station is the old Paddington Green station, which has since been knocked down and replaced by a new one on the Edgware Road.

What you must not do is watch this film and judge it by today's standards. I am old enough to know that the social conditions portrayed in this film are as realistic as it gets; and so is the way the police operate.

An excellent film.

Strange Watching It Today

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 21 September 2005]

THE BLUE LAMP is a very famous and popular British film , so popular that it paved the way for an equally famous TV show called DIXON OF DOCK GREEN but it's also a film that hasn't stood the test of time , in fact it's so dated it was satarized in an excellent post modernist teleplay called THE BLACK AND BLUE LAMP in 1988 and after recently seeing this movie I realise that it's a very easy target

First of all is the portrayal of the police . Policemen in the 1950s spent their time taking home lost children , looking for dogs that had run away from their owners and practicing their baritone in the station choir ! Good job the crime rate was so low back then because - just like today - they'd never be able to catch criminals . At least watching THE BLUE LAMP you realise why the cops would never be able to catch crims because they seem to smoke over 100 cigarettes a day , no seriously they do and it's pointed out that PC Mitchell doesn't smoke and that's probably why he's able to sprint after Riley at the end with all the other cops at the station destined to die from lung cancer due to the amount of ciggies they smoke . If you've just given up the weed it's a bad idea to watch this movie

As in so many other movies from this period the " adolescent " characters are played by actors far too old for the roles . Diana Lewis is quoted as being 17 years old on screen but Peggy Evans who plays her is in fact 25 years old and she looks it , and while the ages of Riley and Spud are never mentioned it's inferred they're not older than 21 , but Patric Doonan and Dirk Bogarde are both in their late 20's while the " twenty five year old Pc Mitchell " is played by Jimmy Hanley who was in his early 30s . It's strange but people in those days all look considerably older than the real ages

To give the film its due the climax where Riley finds himself at the stadium being hunted is rather exciting , and " exciting " is not something British films of that era were renowned for . Some people may criticise the idea of dodgy characters going out of their way to help the police but this is logical since the police may return the favour at a later date in not asking too many questions about things falling off the back of lorries .

All in all THE BLUE LAMP is a strange film when watched today . It's certainly not a film for cynics and comes across as being very mawkish and sentimental with almost a fairy tale like air . But it should be remembered that in those days a person being murdered during a crime would make national news headlines while a policeman killed in the line of duty would lead to several days national mourning , and of course in those days the police were - If not popular - certainly far more respected than policeman today could ever hope to be so you have to view this film in the context of when it was made . Ironically enough it's also the first movie to use the word " bastard "

Post-war classic of British cinema

[James_Byrne · 9/10 · 15 October 2005]

THE BLUE LAMP, voted Best Film of the Year in 1950 by the British Film Academy, is a semi-documentary homage to the post-war Bobby on the beat. PC Dixon shows a young rookie, Andy Mitchell, the ropes and offers him lodgings under his own roof. Two young hoodlums rob a cinema, and one of them, Tom Riley, shoots Dixon, who later dies in hospital. After his accomplice Spud is killed in a car crash, Riley is finally apprehended in the White City Stadium; the police are helped by the criminal underworld, and the bookies using their tic-tac code. THE BLUE LAMP is famous for two reasons, it made a star of Dirk Bogarde, and introduced Jack Warner to the character of PC George Dixon, who later appeared in 430 episodes, (1955-1976) in the BBC favourite "Dixon of Dock Green". The location shots are a breath of fresh air, real policemen were drafted in to control the crowds during the shooting of these scenes. The cast are excellent, particularly Bogarde and Warner, with three exceptions. Peggy Evans goes way over the top as Diana Lewis, the hysterical moll of Bogarde. She screams, and screams and screams her lines. The young couple who witness Dixon's shooting at the cinema, and disagree with each other on every subject, are just plain ridiculous. If only Bogarde had shot them instead of good old Jack Warner. Also, the little girl, Queenie, who finds the discarded revolver, and answers 'no' to every single question of Jimmy Hanley, is quite obviously not a child prodigy. It was great to see Sam Kydd pop up at the exciting White City climax as the bookies assistant. Basil Radford appeared in the movie by accident. Scenes were being filmed in a billiard hall near Piccadilly Circus when Basil went in looking for a game, and ended up in a scene with a background group of extras. THE BLUE LAMP is always a pure joy to watch, and is justifiably regarded as a post-war classic of British cinema.

Dearden's crime drama harks back to a bygone era when the two sides of the law are still distinctively black or white

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 23 November 2017]

A non-comedy Ealing Studio production dedicated to the men and women in the police service of Britain, Basil Dearden's THE BLUE LAMP, whose title is a metonymy of police station, vehemently blends its realism milieu, the increase of post-war crime, with defiantly positive vibes around a virtuous constabulary, the constituents of their vocation runs the gamut from a nattering lady's lost dog to a deadly gun-point encounter with a reckless misfit Tom Riley (Bogarde).

PC George Dixon (Warner) is a veteran copper on the verge of retirement, but accepts to stay on his beat for an additional 5 more years with alacrity. In spite of Ms. Dixon's (Henson) initial reluctance, he offers lodging to a newly recruited PC Andy Mitchell (Hanley), who is exactly the same age of his son they lost in the war, and the trio actually gets along pleasantly and forms an ersatz family. On the same beat, Tom Riley and his partner-in-crime Spud (Doonan) are the peace- disturbing pests, from home-invasion, jewelry robbery to a stick-up in a cinema's wicket goes terribly wrong, George, a foolhardy hero who doesn't even bat an eyelid in the face of a loaded revolver, is shot by Tom and later dead in the hospital. There is an affecting naiveté in George's attempt of talking Tom out of his transgression, which we couldn't bear thinking about nowadays, that is how far our society have been degraded since then.

The rest of the story is to track down the perpetrator unbeknownst to the police through an assiduous and judicious procedural, mostly predicated on the lead of Tom's girlfriend Diana Lewis (a 29-year-old Peggy Evans in a full-on victim mode of cluelessness, trepidation and hysteria, but she simply cannot pass off as a 17-year-older, no matter how much silver-screen glamour is vamped up on her), and galvanized by Tom's unexpectedly bold move, walking into the police station in broad daylight and feigning innocence through his wiles, the film pumps up its tension in a blistering car-chasing money shot in a suspiciously empty London, and slates its spectacular finale inside a jam-packed stadium where a dog race is in full swing and semaphore is signaled on the strength of a collective sense poetic justice, the film is rounded off with a slam-dunk fulfillment.

Jack Warner and Jimmy Hanley both give straight-up appearances of ordinary coppers with a heart, Robert Flemyng as Police Sgt. Roberts and Bernard Lee as Inspector Cherry are the brains in the work, both can actualize a glint of reactionary cognizance with nicety, but indeed, it is Dirk Bogarde's dodgy villain gets the biggest canvas to run away with all our attention and admiration through his insidious beguilement. For what it is worth, THE BLUE LAMP is a solid testimony of Dearden's cinematic aptitude and craftsmanship and harks back to a bygone era when the two sides of the law are still distinctively black or white.

A post-war British classic

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 19 August 2017]

Classic film, mystery thrillers/crime dramas, the cast in general and seeing Dirk Bogarde pre-stardom was a recipe for greatness. 'The Blue Lamp' is more than great, more like an excellent film.

It is easy to see why 'The Blue Lamp' was considered a classic of the post-war Era, of British cinema and film in general at the time and by those who remember it fondly now. Just as much it was easy to see why it was the most popular British film of its year. Sadly, it is a film that is deserving of more credit nowadays. Despite being as great as it is, 'The Blue Lamp' isn't perfect (but comes close). It is undermined only by two performances that don't make the grade and stick out like a sore thumb compared to the sterling work from the rest of the cast.

One is Jimmy Hanley, who is rather lightweight in his role which is a somewhat dull one to begin with. The other, and more problematic, is Peggy Evans, who is far too histrionic in hers and it becomes irritating, some of it is amateur hour too.

However, nothing can be faulted with everything else. It looks great still, the use of locations are gritty and have a real sense of dread while also being beautifully designed. The lighting is suitably ominous and the cinematography is stylish and every bit as rich in atmosphere. The film is hauntingly scored too and Basil Deardon's direction is taut from the start and never lets go, letting the tension really speak and keeping things at a cracking pace.

'The Blue Lamp' has a tightly structured and thoughtful script, and is interesting for its realistic portrayal of the austere times that pushed people into crime. As well as portraying the police in a way that is of the time but never over-glamourized, trivialised or made to look like fools. The story is always compelling with a clever, if not the most surprising, mystery that delivers on the suspense and tension. The confrontation between Dixon and Riley being unforgettable in its shock value, one of British film history's most shocking.

Evans and Hanley aside, the rest of the cast do sterling work. As good as Jack Warner and Bernard Lee are the film is stolen by an outstanding Dirk Bogarde, it's hard to believe that Riley was a pre-stardom role that put him on the map and to this day it's one of his best, he's never been more chilling than here.

Overall, a post-war British classic, notable for its atmosphere, realism and Bogarde's performance. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Old Bill, Young Kill

[Lejink · 7/10 · 10 May 2021]

The number one British box-office movie of its year was this Ealing drama (they weren't all comedies) set in post-war London and centring on the killing of a popular policeman by a spivvy young hoodlum. The film however is more than that, combining close observation of police operations especially in pursuit of a cop-killer but also the general public going about their everyday lives.

For the first half of the film we're introduced to the two strands of the narrative which will intertwine at the turning point, which is obviously the shooting of Jack Warner's in-with-the-bricks policeman, P. C. Dixon, here of Paddington Green but later resurrected and stationed at Dock Green in the long-running BBC TV Show, Firstly, we get to know the experienced Dixon, happily married to his matronly wife, a regular bobby on the beat, liked and respected by his colleagues. He's paired with young new boy P. C. Andy Mitchell, played by Jimmy Hanley and even offers him digs with him and his missus. We see the police going about their everyday duties, not always respected by the public they serve but in the main dispensing common sense as they go. Behind the scenes, we see the coppers off-duty, even conducting choir-practice, the point being to show they're not much different from the men and women on the street.

This is contrasted with the entry of Dirk Bogarde as Tom Riley, a good-looking but nasty young hoodlum, who with his mate Patric Doonan as Spud, carries out robberies in the neighbourhood. Also in tow with him is Riley's new girlfriend, runaway teenager Diana, played by Peggy Evans.

The film dramatically changes the second Riley shoots down Dixon as the police go through their paces to track down the cop-killer and soon end up on Riley's trail, leading to a surprisingly exciting car-chase and indeed car-crash through the streets of London.

The film stops short of explaining why Bogarde's character is the way he is and also doesn't show his subsequent trial and inevitable death by hanging, the director's intent no doubt being to focus on the human drama rather than run deeper into either social commentary or courtroom drama. While some of the situations and characters depicted might seem parochial looking back over seventy years ago, director Deardon does a very good job mixing documentary-like technique with dramatic action in creating a film which clearly resonated with its contemporary audience.

Bogarde shines as the nasty piece of work Riley in his breakthrough role while you can already see Warner stepping into the slippers of the role which would define his career. Evans' acting, on the other hand is overly histrionic, but the ill-fated Doonan is better as Bogarde's unwilling accomplice. Bernard Lee, later M in the Connery-era Bond movies, demonstrates his facility in playing authority figures as Inspector Cherry.

Whilst in the shadow of say, "Brighton Rock" in its portrayal of petty crime and the wider poor working class folk (notice how distrusting the young children are of the police), with its use of real-life locations, notably the climactic scenes at White City Stadium and recognisable characters in believable situations, "The Blue Lamp" is a commendable, skilfully made, very British, crime thriller, still worth watching today.

The Blue Lamp

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 3 July 2006]

I can't remember which part of the film has someone saying what "The Blue Lamp" means, but I stuck with this quite good film, and I was thinking of switching off. Basically Jack Warner as PC George Dixon and Jimmy Hanley as PC Andy Mitchell are on the lookout for two criminals who have murdered an officer, and stolen a couple of things. That is pretty much all I can think of to say about the film, because that is all I remember. I think one main reason I wanted to see this film was because of James Bond's Bernard Lee as Insp. Cherry, he wasn't on often though. Also starring Dirk Bogarde as Tom Riley, Robert Flemyng as Sgt. Roberts, Peggy Evans as Diana Lewis, Patric Doonan as Spud, Bruce Seton as PC Campbell and Meredith Edwards as PC Hughes. Considered to many as a classic, for me, only worth seeing once. It won the BAFTA for Best British Film. Okay!

Benign & grandfatherly - or just complacent?

[vaughan.birbeck · 20 November 2001]

Most crits of The Blue Lamp take the view that it shows the good old British copper as the embodiment of all society's virtues: honest, loyal, and imposing a firm but fair discipline. The major threat to social order comes from undisciplined youth. When order is disrupted, all social elements join forces to enforce discipline and restore order.

I believe a closer look at the film reveals something rather more disturbing. I actually find George Dixon a rather unattractive character! He isn't above using strong-arm tactics on a prisoner (Alf Lewis) and tells Andy Mitchell to finish his tea before rushing to investigate a case of wife-beating ("'E don't kill 'is missus off that quick!"). He is also sarcastic to his colleagues: when a member of the police choir complains about having a frog in his throat, Dixon says sourly he should let the frog do the singing.

More seriously, Dixon fails to appreciate what the modern police are up against. When another officer is coshed during a jewel robbery young Andy Mitchell is rightly concerned, seeing it as an escalation in violence towards the police. Dixon waves the incident aside, the officer "has a good hard head" so no harm was done.

As a result, when faced with Tom Riley wielding a pistol, Dixon thinks traditional respect for police officers and his personal air of authority will win through. The look on his face after being shot isn't pain, it's stunned disbelief.

For me, The Blue Lamp stands as a warning about the turmoil lurking beneath an apparently placid, orderly society and the methods that will be needed to keep things under control. The old ways are no longer enough.

Gritty Britsh crime drama.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 9 January 2013]

THE BLUE LAMP is a police story that some say is the future template for the genre. This drama is about the Paddington Green police station with a focus on two Bobbies; one the veteran George Dixon(Jack Wagner)and rookie on the beat, Andy Mitchell(Jimmy Hanley). A mundane routine has Dixon ready to retire and Mitchell eager to make himself a career. A quiet London neighborhood gets a buzz on when two lowlife hoodlums(Dirk Bogard and Patric Doonan)commit murder. The plot and acting are impressive and a fine dedication to the policemen that walk the beat and earn the respect of the people they protect. Other players: Bruce Seaton, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee and Peggy Lewis. Filmed entirely in London and directed by Basil Dearden.

It's a Fair Cop

[Rob Fox · 7/10 · 19 February 1999]

A classic British drama depicting an unfeasibly decent police force getting to grips with the emerging post war phenomena of teenage delinquency. The main character Sergeant George Dixon and actor Jack Warner later featured in a long running British TV series, Dixon of Dock Green.

Interesting today more for its documentary-style sequences of an austere and bomb damaged London rather than the moralistic tone of the plot. A young Dirk Bogard features as a restless young thief, finding himself out of his depth and in possession of a gun. With girl in tow, his path inevitably crosses that of the benign and grandfatherly figure of PC Dixon with disastrous consequences. Naïve by modern standards, but the gunning down of an unarmed police officer doubtless shocked audiences of the day.

The disgust of police colleagues and the Cockney underworld are clumsily overstated to add spice to the pursuit, but the final scenes where Bogard is cornered in a greyhound track generate tension of the highest order.

What the later, Crime Wave (1954) does for Los Angeles, Blue Lamp does for London

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 29 August 2007]

Not the most exciting of police thrillers, but it has some good performances, a great car chase and the most amazing 50s London location shooting. What the later, Crime Wave (1954) does for Los Angeles, Blue Lamp does for London. City streets, canal side shots, bomb sites, trolley buses, cobbled streets and more. The film also showcases, Jack Warner, whose role would be reprieved for TV's Dixon of Dock Green shown from the late 50s onward and Dirk Bogarde who would become a matinée idol before becoming an even bigger star. Jimmy Hanley should also be mentioned as he too became something of an institution, in my house anyway, when in the late 50s again, he hosted Jim's Inn. This was little more than an excuse to bring products to the attention of the viewing public without actually advertising them. ' What are these, Jim, any good are they?' Yes, just 15 minutes or so of b/w TV promotion and we sat glued! Ah memories

Unpretentious

[krishkmenon · 10/10 · 9 October 2014]

Now here's an unpretentious film with no glamour or glitz but keeps you hooked. Move over Hollywood, and give the "Bulldog" his due. The film moves at a pace that would seem a little slow focussing on trivial duties and lifestyles of the London bobby but don't go away the action and human drama starts halfway through and my word does it start moving! Dirk Bogarde is excellent and his portrayal of a petty hoodlum with a psychopathic streak which masks his fear is unforgettable. The bombed out East End of London and the Cockney accent takes one to post-War England. The coppers of yesteryear England did not wear guns and so do most present coppers in the sub-continent today but the director narrates by his tale that this is no walkover for criminals. Watch it.

Decent film noir is the British version of "The Naked City"...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 10 August 2009]

There are plenty of good reasons to watch THE BLUE LAMP, but let's face it. Nobody does crime stories of this type better than the film noirs Hollywood was churning out during the '40s, such as THE NAKED CITY. Furthermore, DIRK BOGARDE's brash and cocky punk seems like an effort to make him look like a James Cagney thug with a British accent. It's almost disconcerting to watch him in this sort of tough guy role.

He does have that menacing presence and overall it's a good, crisp performance as the hood who, during a hasty and ill prepared robbery, shoots a copper and spends the rest of the film running away from the law. The sequence that has him turning up at the police station is rather puzzling in way of motivation when he becomes an immediate suspect.

Excellent support from BERNARD LEE, JACK WARNER and PEGGY EVANS helps a good deal, except that Evans' hysterics seem a bit over-the-top at times. Bogarde's restraint plays against her hysterics in an effective way.

Worth seeing, but not the sort of film that one would think deserves a Best Film award from BAFTA. Times have certainly changed and altered perception of crime films such as this one.

Vanished London

[lucyrfisher · 9/10 · 26 December 2018]

London just post-war was still a Victorian city. As the police cars chase the villains along mainly traffic-free roads there is a strange void in the sky - the council estates with their tower blocks are ten years or so in the future. I'd like a closer look at Gladys Henson's kitchen. She's got rid of the old range and cooks on a gas stove in the scullery, but still has a mantelpiece stuffed with nicknacks. Her scenes at home are so touching. At first she can't bear the thought of a lodger in "Bert's old room", but she quickly comes round to Jimmy Hanley as a guest. Another sign that we are in a vanished world: everybody is so THIN! Rationing was still going in 1950.

An enjoyable film of a time gone by.

[jerbar2004 · 7/10 · 9 April 2009]

This film is well made and tells the story well. Of course it is dated now but does have a bases of fact especially in police procedure and the fact that there was young men gangsters about because don't forget this was just after the war. All the policeman are like able and as the film goes by you find yourself caring what happens to them. What PC Dixon gets shot it is truly upsetting although most people know that the character when on to be one of the most watched 60's BBC television shows in the form of Dixon of Dock Green. The London shown in the film is a London that I remember lots of war damage and open spaces. I like the old road signs and shop sign which places in its time and space. London just after the war, and was soon to change. Worth a look just for this.

Excellent police drama

[chris_gaskin123 · 9/10 · 27 June 2005]

I taped The Blue Lamp when Channel 4 screened it one afternoon and found it very good.

It is about the normal life of Paddington Green Police station in London and the police have more work on when a murderer strikes. Worse still, one of the murderer's victims is PC George Dixon. These murders turn out to be connected with a series of robberies on shops and the search for the killer is stepped up. He is caught at the end in a greyhound stadium.

The Blue Lamp gives you an idea on what life was like at this time (1950) and it is great to see the old buses, trolleybuses, cars and other vehicles in the background. Very atmospheric at times too.

The cast is lead by Jack Warner as PC Dixon and is joined by Dirk Bogarde (Doctor In the House), Jimmy Hanley, Robert Flemyng (The Blood Beast Terror), Bernard Lee (long before he appeared as M in the James Bond movies), Gladys Henson and Dora Bryan (who can now be seen in comedy Last of the Summer Wine). Great parts from all.

Despite him being killed off in this, Jack Warner went on to star as PC Dixon in the long running and successful TV series Dixon of Dock Green.

The Blue Lamp is British drama at its best. Excellent.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Paddington Bare

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 11 May 2008]

This entry has far more value as social history than as a sentimental melodrama. It was just one of many made shortly after the Second World War that showed London as it was, punctuated by bomb craters and debris and it wouldn't be exaggerating too much to state that the 'human' stories grafted onto this background pre-dated the 'kitchen-sink' movement which took hold - at least under that banner - in the mid-fifties. Here it's very much the mixture as before; the police are all knights in shining armour loving nothing more than setting a trearaway straight with a clip on the ear and some fatherly advice and the villains arrogant and disrespectful, full of themselves. Somewhere along the way Dirk Bogarde robs a jewellers and a cinema, kills a policeman and pays the price. Life goes on. If only it were still that simple. Nostalgia value only.

A must for all those interested in early post-war Britain.

[Andy-140 · 6/10 · 13 October 1998]

This film rode on the back of moral panics about youth crime in post-war Britain. The narration at the beginning of the film states that there had been a sharp increase in crime after the war. However statistics show that the crime rate had actually fallen between 1945-50.

The plot is unilinear with a simple moral message. Eventually Dirk Bogarde gets caught and will learn the cruel lesson of not following the 'code' of the experienced 'professional' thief. Bogarde's performance stands out in an otherwise average film. In the words of critic Andy Medhurst, Bogarde is 'erotic and compelling' while his counterpart Jimmy Hanley (PC Andy Mitchell) playing the rookie policeman is 'bland and neutered'.

Overall the film is pro-establishment and set out to give a moral message to the supposedly displaced youth of post-war Britain.