The Rainbow Jacket

The Rainbow Jacket is a 1954 British Ealing Studios drama film, produced by Michael Relph, directed by Basil Dearden, and featuring Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Bill Owen, Honor Blackman and Sid James.[2][3]

The Rainbow Jacket
Original UK quad format poster
Directed byBasil Dearden
Produced byMichael Relph
Written byT.E.B. Clarke
StarringKay Walsh
Bill Owen
Edward Underdown
Robert Morley
Honor Blackman
Music byWilliam Alwyn
CinematographyOtto Heller
Edited byJack Harris
Production
company
Distributed byGFD (UK)
Release date
  • 27 May 1954 (1954-05-27) (UK[1])
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Premise

A champion jockey, having forfeited his own career by taking a bribe, takes a young rider under his wing.[4]

At a racetrack meeting Sam is checking the perimeter for illicit means of entry and a cheeky young boy, Georgie, shows him how to get in. They become friends and Sam encourages him to train as a jockey.

He is placed in the stables of Lord Logan at Newmarket. He shows much promise and Sam bets £100 on him to win. Georgie is impressive but a photo finish shows he comes second. On his second race his mother borrows £50 from her employer's safe and bets £50 for him to win. He does, but a stewards inquiry wrongly concludes that he used a whip and interfered with the next horse. His mum loses the money.

On the third race Sam persuades him to take a fall to throw the race and at last wins some money. Georgie is taken to the first aid area and Lord Logan spots Sam and orders him off the track. He later questions Georgie about his relationship with Sam.

Sam gets his racing licence back and ends racing against Georgie. They are in joint lead when Sam clearly whips Georgies horse to urge it on and to win. The stewards inquiry bans him from racing again.

Main cast

Reception

The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 27 May 1954,[1] and the reviewer for The Times wrote that, "It is, then, an entertaining film, a film in love with racing and yet not quite so devotedly so as to refrain from suggesting that in the running of the St. Leger there can be some very queer goings-on indeed."[5]

Sixty years after the premiere, TV Guide felt that "a trite outcome mars this fairly entertaining film, which features real-life British racing figures Raymond Glendenning and Gordon Richards,"[6] while Time Out noted that the film was "the first collaboration between Dearden and TEB Clarke after The Blue Lamp...Despite its intriguing subject, the film offers little but the cosy, sentimental view of life that is typical of late Ealing films."[4]

References
  1. The Times, 27 May 1954, page 2: Classified - Picture Theatres - Odeon Leic. Sq. - The Rainbow Jacket Linked 2015-07-06
  2. Barr, Charles (1998). Ealing Studios. University of California Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-520-21554-2.
  3. "The Rainbow Jacket". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  4. "The Rainbow Jacket | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  5. The Times, 27 May 1954, page 4: Odeon Ceinama - "The Rainbow Jacket" Linked 2015-07-06
  6. "The Rainbow Jacket Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 3 April 2014.


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