The Cracksman

Slapstick comedy that attempted to transfer comedian Charlie Drake’s style of humour to the big screen. Despite being co-writer Drake’s finest screen appearance, The Cracksman mixes slapstick and pathos and is merely funny in parts; the overlong crime comedy might have benefited from some more astute cutting by editor Richard Best. One bonus is the films collection of popular character actors including George Sanders, Dennis Price and Finlay Currie.

Ernest Wright (Charlie Drake), an honest East End locksmith that cannot resist the challenge of a lock, is tricked by debonair confidence man Grantley (Grantley) into opening a locked car and a safe. Later he gets tricked again by a damsel in distress, in his innocence, and this time gets three years in jail. In prison he picks locks easily to get seed for a fellow prisoner’s budgerigars, and as a result of his exploits, two rival gangs, the Guv’nor (George Sanders) and American crook Domino (Eddie Byrne), seek his services and finally agree to employ him jointly. The two rival gangs plan to steal the Stamford Collection of Fine Gems from the Prince Edward Museum, but Drake and an undercover policewoman trip up the crooks and bring them to justice. —Britmovie.co.uk