The Blue Lamp

1950

1h 24m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

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1 Video

17 Images

Crime

Thriller

Action

P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.

Directors

Basil Dearden

Writers

T. E. B. Clarke(screenplay by)

Jan Read(writer by)

Ted Willis(writer by)

Stars

Jack Warner

Jimmy Hanley

Dirk Bogarde

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Videos1

Clip
Watch the blue lamp intro jack warner

Photos17

Top cast

PC George Dixon

PC Andy Mitchell

Tom Riley

Police Sgt. Roberts

Divisional Detective Inspector Cherry

Diana Lewis

Spud

PC 'Jock' Campbell

PC 'Taff' Hughes

Police Sgt. Brooks

Alf Lewis

Maisie

Mrs Em Dixon

Herself - Singer

PC at Darts Match (Uncredited)

Muriel Aked

Mrs Beryl Waterbourne (Uncredited)

Arnold Bell

Hospital Doctor (Uncredited)

Alma Cogan

Girl (Uncredited)

Directors

Basil Dearden

Writers

T. E. B. Clarke(screenplay by)

Jan Read(writer by)

Ted Willis(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews2

Review

Featured review

7.5/10

Mustn't Grumble. The Blue Lamp is directed by Basil Dearden and written by T.E.B. Clarke. It stars Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng and Peggy Evans. Music is by Ernest Irving and cinematography by Gordon Dines. Andy Mitchell is a new recruit to the London police force, old hand George Dixon takes him under his wing and shows him the ropes. When Dixon is gunned down by a hot headed crook, Mitchell, the force, and the close knit community, all rally round to catch the villain. What chiefly makes The Blue Lamp a fine watch is being able to witness the good old days of the British Bobby. It was a time when the copper was a feared and reassuring presence on the British streets, they walked the beat so everyone could sleep easy in their beds, help was but merely a whistle away. In that, this Ealing Studios production does a wonderful job, the essence is perfect, the locale and the dialect used is absolutely spot on, whilst the story is an accomplished piece that brings to notice the sad emergence of trigger happy crooks, a new breed of thug who's discipline quota was zero. It also looks nice, with a film noir sheen presented for the night-time sequences, while Dearden offers up a great action scene and closes the picture down with a tense chase finale at White City Greyhound Stadium. There’s inevitably some staid performances indicative of the time, and it definitely paints the police and surrounding community through rose tinted spectacles, but they are small complaints that ultimately can’t stop The Blue Lamp from being a most engaging viewing experience. 7.5/10

John Chard08 Feb, 2014