Spikeopath The Blue Lamp is directed by Basil Dearden and written by T.E.B. Clarke. It stars Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng and Peggy Evans. Music is by Ernest Irving and cinematography by Gordon Dines.Andy Mitchell is a new recruit to the London police force, old hand George Dixon takes him under his wing and shows him the ropes. When Dixon is gunned down by a hot headed crook, Mitchell, the force, and the close knit community, all rally round to catch the villain.What chiefly makes The Blue Lamp a fine watch is being able to witness the good old days of the British Bobby. It was a time when the copper was a feared and reassuring presence on the British streets, they walked the beat so everyone could sleep easy in their beds, help was but merely a whistle away.In that, this Ealing Studios production does a wonderful job, the essence is perfect, the locale and the dialect used is absolutely spot on, whilst the story is an accomplished piece that brings to notice the sad emergence of trigger happy crooks, a new breed of thug who's discipline quota was zero. It also looks nice, with a film noir sheen presented for the night-time sequences, while Dearden offers up a great action scene and closes the picture down with a tense chase finale at White City Greyhound Stadium.There's inevitably some staid performances indicative of the time, and it definitely paints the police and surrounding community through rose tinted spectacles, but they are small complaints that ultimately can't stop The Blue Lamp from being a most engaging viewing experience. 7.5/10

Michael O'Keefe THE BLUE LAMP is a police story that some say is the future template for the genre. This drama is about the Paddington Green police station with a focus on two Bobbies; one the veteran George Dixon(Jack Wagner)and rookie on the beat, Andy Mitchell(Jimmy Hanley). A mundane routine has Dixon ready to retire and Mitchell eager to make himself a career. A quiet London neighborhood gets a buzz on when two lowlife hoodlums(Dirk Bogard and Patric Doonan)commit murder. The plot and acting are impressive and a fine dedication to the policemen that walk the beat and earn the respect of the people they protect. Other players: Bruce Seaton, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee and Peggy Lewis. Filmed entirely in London and directed by Basil Dearden.

kidboots After the War and during the 50s British cinema attempted to bring a realism to the screen. I think the aim of "The Blue Lamp" was to show the police force as a cohesive group that would look after you and take care of things after the chaos of the war. Starting with a thrilling car chase and just a police siren over the credits, it heralded a new era in British drama.After playing Joe Huggett in a series of working class comedies, Jack Warner was probably pleased to play P.C. Dixon in "The Blue Lamp". He didn't realize that the character would haunt him to his death. "Dixon of Dock Green" TV series ran from 1955 to 1976. Even though Dixon's death was the pivotal part in "The Blue Lamp" the character was bought back for his own TV show. Dirk Bogarde hit the jackpot with his role as the punk Tommy and really captured the public's fancy.Tommy (Bogarde) and Spud rob a jewelry store. They are young punks, fuelled by the gangster films they see at the cinemas. They are helped by Diana Lewis (Peggy Evans) a young girl who has run away from home to escape the drudgery of poverty. The boys rob the local cinema, where she works and when Dixon (Jack Warner) confronts them he is shot and later dies of his wounds. The whole of New Scotland Yard are out in force to get the "cop killer".The last half of the film is about the mental disintegration of Tommy. The chase which starts in a car, follows on foot across wasteground and railway tracks, and finishes at a grey hound meet is exciting. The way they catch Tommy using police tactics and bookie sign language is very interesting.Highly recommended.

writers_reign This entry has far more value as social history than as a sentimental melodrama. It was just one of many made shortly after the Second World War that showed London as it was, punctuated by bomb craters and debris and it wouldn't be exaggerating too much to state that the 'human' stories grafted onto this background pre-dated the 'kitchen-sink' movement which took hold - at least under that banner - in the mid-fifties. Here it's very much the mixture as before; the police are all knights in shining armour loving nothing more than setting a trearaway straight with a clip on the ear and some fatherly advice and the villains arrogant and disrespectful, full of themselves. Somewhere along the way Dirk Bogarde robs a jewellers and a cinema, kills a policeman and pays the price. Life goes on. If only it were still that simple. Nostalgia value only.