The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963)

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Fantastic

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW is an ensemble British comedy courtesy of writers Galton and Simpson, the duo most famously responsible for STEPTOE AND SON. It features Peter Sellers as the leader of a gang of robbers who are being driven to distraction by the arrival of some newcomers who have been dressing up as policemen in order to carry off their too-successful raids.This is a farcical black-and-white comedy in which everybody is a rival and even your own gang members can't be trusted. Sellers holds the thing together but the one who really shines here is Lionel Jeffries as the stuffy copper who becomes an unlikely ally during an uneasy alliance. The film is chock full of famous faces like Bernard Cribbins, Nanette Newman, John Le Mesurier, Arthur Mullard and Graham Stark, and they all seem to be having a good time. You will too.

"The Wrong Arm of the Law" is a sort of comic British take on the famous German crime film, "M". In that Fritz Lang classic, the criminals and the police are both out to stop a murderer whose activities are making things difficult for both of them. However, where "M" was a serious crime thriller, "The Wrong Arm of the Law" is pure comedy. And what a comedy it is, with a clever script and a first-rate cast, headed up by the superlative Peter Sellers. Known for the astounding range of the characters he could play, in this film Sellers slips effortlessly between portraying effete French couturier Charles Jules and cockney crime-boss "Pearly" Gates. In fact, Sellars slips between the two characters so effortlessly that it is easy to take for granted just how brilliant an actor he actually was. Sellers is an absolute treat to watch, and his performance should be required viewing by all aspiring actors as a lesson in how it should be done.

Peter Sellers is, unusually, the quiet at the center of the storm that makes up the plot of this wonderfully funny film. He plays Pearly Gates, a criminal (and women's wear salesman), who learns that an Australian gang is dressing up as policemen, intercepting Pearly's mob in mid-theft and making off with the goods. He joins forces not only with the leader of a rival gang, who are also suffering from the Australian competition, but also with the police, who don't want their reputation besmirched.Sellers is very good, but top acting honors go to Lionel Jefferies as the hopelessly idiotic policeman trying to prove himself by catching the criminals. Jefferies and Bernard Cribbins, as Nervous (the rival gang's leader), give expertly larger-than-life performances while getting their biggest laughs with throwaway lines and subtle bits of business (like Nervous finishing up his negotiations with Pearly by pulling out some family snaps). Cliff Owen's direction is very sharp and very fast, and allows a cast of experienced character actors to do their best work. Dennis Price displays flawless timing and delivery in a small, unbilled cameo. This film might just be a hidden classic.

Pearly Gates and Nervous O'Toole, the two biggest villains in London, suddenly start finding their blags are being rumbled by a trio of Australian con-artists posing as coppers. Unable to stop this gang, they team up with Inspector "Nosey" Parker of Scotland Yard to see if their combined forces can restore much-needed order to the criminal way of life.One of the funniest British movies of all time, written by no fewer than seven men, including two of the best comedy writing duos; Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and John Warren and Len Heath. The great charm of this picture is the way it presents London gangland as a bunch of lovable clods who don't mean any harm but who take their jobs and their workers' rights very seriously. Pearly is one of Sellers' greatest creations, who tries to encourage professionalism amongst his men (he's showing Rififi, The Day They Robbed The Bank of England and The League of Gentlemen as "training" films) and there's a wonderful sequence where he chairs a villains' union meeting, complete with agenda, motions and procedural points of order ("The Chair recognises the bird on the front row."). The real star for me though is the wonderful Cribbins as befuddled, eye-twitching Nervous, complete with brothel creepers, pork pie hat and too-small suit, chastising both his men and his kleptomaniac nephew Kevin ("Ya teeving little nit !"). Jeffries, saucy Newman and gifted Aussie actor Kerr are all terrific as well, and the whole shebang rattles along at a terrific pace with buckets of funny dialogue and inventively daft situations. Don't miss an unbilled cameo by Dennis Price, as Educated Earnest of Leamington Spa. Sadly, they really don't make them like this anymore.