Review of Hue and Cry (1947) by Paul D — 06 Jul 2013

The plot is a little silly - teenagers vs crooks in postwar London, but Alastair Sim is in it and he's always worth watching. And the sets are phenomenal -- the streets of bombed out London immediately after the war (released 1947, probably shot in '46).

I had to think of Germany Year Zero, made at the same time in bombed out Berlin and also starring a gang of young boys. But instead of a lighthearted comedy, it's a dire tragedy. There's a kid in the British film that speaks only in sound effects, and the sounds he makes are sirens, bombs falling, doodlebugs, more sirens - chilling.