The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)

The Wrong Arm of the Law is a British crime film first released in 1963, directed by Cliff Owen.  The film stars Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye and Nanette Newman.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


London gang leader Pearly Gates is none too pleased when a rival gang, disguised as police officers, thwart his brilliantly contrived robberies and run off with the ill-gotten gains.  To Gates’s mind, impersonating a police office is not something that your honest, self-respecting felon would ever contemplate, so he gathers together London’s criminal fraternity to form a syndicate in a bid to flush out the maverick crooks.  Out of desperation, Gates offers the police a truce if they will help him capture the rogue criminals and thereby restore the status quo.  Inspector Parker of the Yard is enthusiastic about the idea, until he learns that he must join Gates’s gang...

One of the most memorable crime comedies of the 1960s, The Wrong Arm of the Law calls to mind that earlier Ealing comedy classic, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), although the humour is somewhat more sophisticated and characters a tad more convincing.  What both films have in common is that they provide an insight into the Britain of their day – the post-war austerity and entrenched class system in the earlier film and improved living standards, coupled with the growing power of the trades unions, in the latter.  The screenplay was written by a formidable team consisting of Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and John Antrobus – the latter wrote some episodes of the hit radio series The Goon Show whilst the former two scripted some of Britain’s most successful radio and television series, including Hancock’s Half-Hour and Steptoe and Son.

Peter Sellers heads a terrific ensemble cast comprising some very familiar British actors – Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Nanette Newman, John Le Mesurier and Arthur Mullard.  Watch very closely and you may catch a glimpse of Michael Caine, who would later feature in the best British crime comedy of them all, The Italian Job (1969).  Sellers is perfect for the part of the cockney king of crime who has a sideline as a high class couturier, allowing him to perfect the French accent that he would put to good use as Inspector Clouseau in his subsequent Pink Panther films.  Brisk, witty and quintessentially British in the way it lampoons authority whilst championing the little man, The Wrong Arm of the Law is one of the most enjoyable British comedies of the 1960s.

© Alex Sullivan 2009

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