Powerful

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Now here's an unpretentious film with no glamour or glitz but keeps you hooked. Move over Hollywood, and give the "Bulldog" his due. The film moves at a pace that would seem a little slow focussing on trivial duties and lifestyles of the London bobby but don't go away the action and human drama starts halfway through and my word does it start moving! Dirk Bogarde is excellent and his portrayal of a petty hoodlum with a psychopathic streak which masks his fear is unforgettable. The bombed out East End of London and the Cockney accent takes one to post-War England. The coppers of yesteryear England did not wear guns and so do most present coppers in the sub-continent today but the director narrates by his tale that this is no walkover for criminals. Watch it.

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.

There are plenty of good reasons to watch THE BLUE LAMP, but let's face it. Nobody does crime stories of this type better than the film noirs Hollywood was churning out during the '40s, such as THE NAKED CITY. Furthermore, DIRK BOGARDE's brash and cocky punk seems like an effort to make him look like a James Cagney thug with a British accent. It's almost disconcerting to watch him in this sort of tough guy role.He does have that menacing presence and overall it's a good, crisp performance as the hood who, during a hasty and ill prepared robbery, shoots a copper and spends the rest of the film running away from the law. The sequence that has him turning up at the police station is rather puzzling in way of motivation when he becomes an immediate suspect.Excellent support from BERNARD LEE, JACK WARNER and PEGGY EVANS helps a good deal, except that Evans' hysterics seem a bit over-the-top at times. Bogarde's restraint plays against her hysterics in an effective way.Worth seeing, but not the sort of film that one would think deserves a Best Film award from BAFTA. Times have certainly changed and altered perception of crime films such as this one.

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.