Boys in Brown
Boys in Brown
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Boys in Brown

Boys in Brown is a 1949 black and white British drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jimmy Hanley. It was written by Tully based on the 1940 play Boys in Brown by the actor Reginald Beckwith.

The film depicts life in a borstal for young offenders. The title comes from the borstal uniform: brown shirt and shorts and a short brown tie.

Teenager Jackie Knowles drives a getaway car in a robbery. He is captured and sentenced to serve three years in a borstal institution run by a sympathetic governor. He befriends Alfie and Bill.

During an in-house concert party Jackie sneaks into one of the staff rooms. He removes the light bulbs when a man enters he is unseen. But he is spotted and a fight ensues in which Jackie knocks the man out with a lamp. He thinks he has killed him. He escapes with half a dozen others including Alfie.

When caught the injured man awaits a critical operation in hospital and there may still be a murder charge. Alfie decides to confess to the crime not realising he might hang.

Jackie eventually confesses. His girl says she is happy to wait three years for him.

The film was shot at Pinewood. Associate producer Alfred Roome called it a "near disaster".

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "the film creditably abstains from exploiting its serious subject in a sensational way," and from the "excellent cast" the critic singled out "Richard Attenborough and Thora Hird, a compelling appearance by Jack Warner as the Governor marred only by a tendency to hang out flags when he is about to deliver a message; and the "boys" (surely a little old for Borstal?) include Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde and Michael Medwin."

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