I suppose this is now a forgotten episode of a forgotten series but I saw it re-run on UK TV many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
James Hayter plays Henry Popple, one of life's underdogs who has struggled to make ends meet. One evening as his wife is repairing the torn pocket of his only pair of trousers he says he wishes there was more than a hole in the pocket. Wistfully his wife says she wishes he always had a pound in his pocket. He puts on the mended trousers, slips his hand in the pocket and finds a pound note! He does it again and finds another. Bearing in mind this is the early 1950's we're talking about £20 today (2006).
The magic pocket continues to produce endless pound notes. Popple is able to settle his debts and live more comfortably, but he also treats his friends and helps the poor (he gives a pound note to a beggar in the street, then impulsively puts his hand back in the pocket and gives him *another* pound note).
Soon, of course, he comes to the attention of the authorities. At first they think he may be a forger (but the notes are genuine) then a master criminal (but he is obviously an innocent). Finally he is brought for questioning to the Treasury itself in London. Feeling foolish he tells the truth. To prove his story he is forced to keep putting his hand in his pocket for hours at at a time, producing a pile of hundreds of pounds in the process.
The man from the Treasury explains that simply producing all that money could damage the country's economy. He is given new clothes and his old trousers are taken to the basement to be burned in a furnace. As Popple leaves the building he puts his hand in the pocket of his new trousers: "Oh, no!" he murmurs. "Not again!"
This is a simple little story, well told, and very entertaining.
James Hayter plays Henry Popple, one of life's underdogs who has struggled to make ends meet. One evening as his wife is repairing the torn pocket of his only pair of trousers he says he wishes there was more than a hole in the pocket. Wistfully his wife says she wishes he always had a pound in his pocket. He puts on the mended trousers, slips his hand in the pocket and finds a pound note! He does it again and finds another. Bearing in mind this is the early 1950's we're talking about £20 today (2006).
The magic pocket continues to produce endless pound notes. Popple is able to settle his debts and live more comfortably, but he also treats his friends and helps the poor (he gives a pound note to a beggar in the street, then impulsively puts his hand back in the pocket and gives him *another* pound note).
Soon, of course, he comes to the attention of the authorities. At first they think he may be a forger (but the notes are genuine) then a master criminal (but he is obviously an innocent). Finally he is brought for questioning to the Treasury itself in London. Feeling foolish he tells the truth. To prove his story he is forced to keep putting his hand in his pocket for hours at at a time, producing a pile of hundreds of pounds in the process.
The man from the Treasury explains that simply producing all that money could damage the country's economy. He is given new clothes and his old trousers are taken to the basement to be burned in a furnace. As Popple leaves the building he puts his hand in the pocket of his new trousers: "Oh, no!" he murmurs. "Not again!"
This is a simple little story, well told, and very entertaining.
