The Magnet (1950) - film review

10-year-old Johnny Brent has an over-active imagination and an inquisitive nature that often get him into trouble.  His father is a professional psychologist who encourages what he sees as normal behaviour for a boy of his age.  One day, whilst playing on the beach, Johnny sees another, younger boy playing with a large magnet.  Determined to get the magnet at any cost, Johnny coerces the other boy into swapping it for a pretend invisible watch.  No sooner has he acquired the magnet than Johnny becomes wracked with guilt for the cruel deception he played on the youngster.   When he imagines that the other boy died from distress caused by losing his precious toy, Johnny gives the magnet away to the inventor of an iron lung.  Impressed by the boy’s generosity, the latter auctions the magnet off to raise money so that a hospital can purchase one of the iron lungs.  This makes Johnny a local hero and the town’s dignitaries are eager to present him with a medal for civic duty.  Unaware of this, Johnny goes into hiding, convinced that he will be punished for killing another boy through his selfish act...

Although it is clearly not one of Ealing’s better efforts, The Magnet is a film with considerable charm, offering a depiction of childhood that is both true to life and poignant, despite being somewhat mired in middle class morality.  The film was an unusual departure for director Charles Frend, who is better known for his realist wartime dramas – notably San Demetrio London (1943) and The Cruel Sea (1953) – and the classic biopic Scott of the Antarctic (1948).  The script was written by T.E.B. Clarke, who worked on some of Ealing’s best comedies, including Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).  James Robertson Justice makes a brief appearance in the film, playing a tramp.  He is credited with a Gaelic pseudonym since he was standing for Parliament as a Labour candidate in the 1950 General Election.

The Magnet would be pretty lightweight stuff, a bland children’s morality film, were it not for the arresting screen presence of its star, 11-year old James Fox (known at the time as William Fox) in his second film appearance and first leading role.  Fox gives an admirable performance that renders what could be an unsympathetic character (a smart arse kid who torments his parents, plays cruel jokes on homeless people and swindles younger children) very likeable.  More than anything, it is the vulnerability and innocence that Fox brings to his character that makes the film’s slightly contrived denouement so exquisitely heart-rending and memorable.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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