A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) - film review

Joe is an 8-year old boy who lives with his mother, Joanna, in the East End of London.  His father is away trying to make his fortune in Africa, and Joanna is anxiously awaiting news so that she and Joe can go and join him.  In the meantime, Joe and his mother live with Kandinsky, a solitary old Jewish tailor, who delights in telling the boy extravagant stories.  One day, when Joe discovers that the chick he had been rearing has died, Kandinsky tells him that if he had a unicorn, all his wishes would come true.  A short while later, Joe comes across an old man with a young goat.  Believing the goat is a unicorn, Joe buys it from the man and takes it home, convinced that it will grant all of his wishes...

A Kid for Two Farthings is a surprising departure for director Carol Reed, from the tough dramas and stylish thrillers that had earned him his reputation to what may be considered a piece of gratuitous whimsy.  Certainly, in both artistic and technical terms, this is one of Reed’s lesser works, but that doesn’t mean that it is not without charm and impact.  On the contrary, the subtle weaving of a boy’s fantasy world with the grim reality of life in the East End of London makes this a poignant and highly engaging film which appeals to both children and adults.

As in his previous The Fallen Idol (1948) and his later Oliver! (1968), Reed shows a rare talent for engaging with a child’s view of the world and using this in his films in a way that never feels contrived or overly sentimental.  The main strength of A Kid for Two Farthings is its convincing child’s-eye perspective of life in the East End of London in the mid-1950s.  Much of the film was filmed on location, in Petticoat Lane, which contributes both realism and colour.

The film has a respectable cast, although many of the actors are clearly wasted – Celia Johnson being a case in point.  The supporting cast includes some notable British actors of the period, including Sid James, the future star of the Carry On films. Diana Dors – Britain’s answer to Marilyn Monroe – is at the height of her powers and would undoubtedly have stolen the film had her character been more substantial.  Instead, the film’s dramatic and emotional focus is taken by David Kossoff and Jonathan Ashmore, who play the Jewish tailor and infant Joe respectively.  The sublime innocence of the latter is effectively contrasted with the world-weary wisdom of the former, who is driven to weave optimistic fantasies so he can forget the tragedy of his recent past.  The film does not mention the H word explicitly, but subtle references to the Holocaust abound, most noticeably in the final sequence.

The heart-warming relationship of the boy Joe and the old tailor, his friend and mentor, is endearing but there is a darker side.  The perverse nature of their friendship is immediately apparent when we see the comically ample graveyard of pets in the tailor’s back yard – the last resting place for the dozens of cuddly little creatures that Joe has adopted and inadvertently killed.  There is a similiar sequence in the French film Jeux interdits (1952) – both provide a grim metaphor for the transience and futility of childhood dreams.  Kandinsky’s attempts to shield Joe from the evils of the world are bound to fail, but should he be condemned for trying?

© James Travers 2009

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