The Boys (1962 British film)

Four youths, described frequently but incorrectly as teddy boys, are on trial for the murder of a garage night watchman in the course of a burglary on the night of January 15.

Witnesses and the accused give differing accounts of the lead-up to the crime, a dispiriting and frustrating evening out in London. Flashbacks of the teenagers' insecure and sometimes alienated lives contrast strongly with the austere legality of the courtroom as, by degrees, the truth emerges.

The film acts as a series of vignettes, relating to the evidence of each witness, who saw the boys on the evening in question. Each story helps to build an overall picture of their character. The overall ambience is that adults presumed they were bad without basing this on any actual observation.

Most witnesses admit they prejudged the boys' character based on appearance.

The boys admit to their defence that they are hooligans and badly behaved but deny murder.

After seeing a series of views representing the witnesses we then see a boy-by-boy insight into their home lives. We see Stan first, whose mum is very ill and they are trying to get rehoused. Stan has a habit of constantly cleaning his fingernails with a flick-knife: a knife identical to the murder weapon.

Barney is questioned next. He is the most clean-cut of the group.

Ginger is the only one working (on a building site). Despite being the one with the most money he is the most reserved.

Much of the storyline revolves around the Three Aces public house which was opposite the Lantern Garage where the murder occurred.

A lot of the plot explains the suspicious words witnesses heard them say.

However, the prosecution spot a flaw in the overall logic of their stories: Stan says he bought a packet of cigarettes for his mum after a point where he did not even have the bus fare home. The sad truth is revealed: Stan did indeed instigate the robbery, and was joined by Billy and Barney. Ginger was unaware of any of this.

Ginger is acquitted. Billy and Barney are under 18 and are to be held indefinitely at her Majesty's pleasure. Stan, being 18, is sentenced to death.

• Richard Todd - Victor Webster, prosecuting counsel
• Robert Morley - Montgomery, defence counsel
• Dudley Sutton - Stan Coulter
• Ronald Lacey - William (Billy) Herne
• Tony Garnett - Jim (Ginger) Thompson
• Jess Conrad - Barney Lee
• Felix Aylmer - The Judge
• Wilfrid Brambell - Robert Brewer (as Wilfred Bramble)
• Roy Kinnear - Mark Samuel (bus conductor)
• Allan Cuthbertson - Randolph St. John (as Alan Cuthbertson)
• Colin Gordon - Gordon Lonsdale
• Wensley Pithey - Mr. Coulter (as Wensley Athey)
• Kenneth J. Warren - George Tanner
• Patrick Magee - Mr. Lee
• David Lodge - Mr. Herne
• Mavis Villiers - Celia Barker
• Betty Marsden - Mrs. Herne
• Laurence Hardy - Patmore
• Charles Morgan - Samuel Wallace
• Carol White - Evelyn May
• Patrick Newell - Crowhurst
• Rita Webb - Mrs. Lee
• Tom Chatto - Morris
• Harold Scott - Caldwell
• George Moon - Mr. Champneys
• Hilda Fenemore - Mrs. Thompson (as Hilda Fennemore)
• Lloyd Lamble - Inspector Larner

The Shadows composed four songs for the film that were released as an EP.

• bbc.co.uk called it an "innovative kitchen-sink drama charting the rise of teenage gang culture." [2]
• TV Guide noted "good performances all around, but the effect is muddled by a complicated flashback structure." [3]
• AllMovie wrote "The Boys benefits from Furie's dextrous use of flashbacks during the testimony scenes." [4]

On 17 September 2017, the 55th anniversary of the film's release, the three surviving "boys", Conrad, Garnett and Sutton, met for a reunion showing of the film at Elstree Studios where the courtroom scenes were filmed. It was explained at the Q&A section of the event that this was the first time any of the four had met since the film was made.[5]

• The Boys at IMDb
• The Boys at Rotten Tomatoes