The Blue Parrot
The Blue Parrot is a low budget 1953 British crime film directed by John Harlow and starring Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, Richard Pearson, and John Le Mesurier. The film was produced by Stanley Haynes for Act Films Ltd.[1] Jacqueline Hill later became well known for playing Barbara, one of the original companions of BBC TV's Doctor Who.[2]. Ballard Berkeley found fame in later life playing Major Gowen in Fawlty Towers.
| The Blue Parrot | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | John Harlow |
| Produced by | Stanley Haynes |
| Written by | Allan MacKinnon, story by Percy Hoskins |
| Starring | Dermot Walsh Jacqueline Hill |
| Music by | Eric Jupp |
| Cinematography | Robert Navarro |
| Edited by | Robert Jordan Hill |
Production company | Act Films Ltd |
| Distributed by | Monarch Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date | October 1953 (UK) |
Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
British crime reporter Percy Hoskins provided the story.
Premise
Soho night club the Blue Parrot is at the centre of murder and racketeering investigations, and the police go undercover.[3]
Cast
- Dermot Walsh as Bob Herrick
- Jacqueline Hill as Maureen Maguire
- Ballard Berkeley as Superintendent Chester
- June Ashley as Gloria
- Richard Pearson as "Quinny"
- Ferdy Mayne as Stevens
- Victor Lucas as Rocks Owen
- Edwin Richfield as Taps Campelli
- John Le Mesurier as Henry Carson
- Arthur Rigby as Charlie
- Valerie White as Eva West
- Diane Watts as Carla
Critical reception
- Radio Times wrote, "Dermot Walsh does his best with some lacklustre material, and John Le Mesurier turns up in a supporting slot, but there's little else here to recommend."[4]
- Britmovie wrote, "The Blue Parrot is a middling b-movie thriller set against the post-war backdrop of spivs, black-marketeers, pawnbrokers and raincoat detectives."[5]
- Sky Movies noted, "a real treat for connoisseurs of British B-movies of the post-war decade...Complete with such familiar elements of the genre as the raincoated detective (Dermot Walsh in a part that sounds as though it may have originally been written for a visiting American star) and settings at a nightclub and at Scotland Yard. Ferdy Mayne is on hand, as he was so often in these films, to supply smooth Continental villainy, and the film's major surprise lies in the casting of John Le Mesurier as the nightclub's shady owner."[6]
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References
- Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. ISBN 0 9508993 0 5. ACT Films Limited - Ralph Bond p81 (producer listed as Stanley Haynes)
- "Doctor Who - the top ten female assistants". Telegraph. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- "The Blue Parrot / Burnt Evidence [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, John Le Mesurier, Jane Hylton, Duncan Lamont, Irene Handl, Meredith Edwards, John Harlow, Daniel Birt: DVD & Blu-ray". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- "The Blue Parrot | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- "The Blue Parrot 1953 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Britmovie. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- "The Blue Parrot - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 7 May 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
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