Review of Wrong Arm Of The Law, The

Introduction

This one-time favourite of Sunday afternoon tv planners is one of the most underrated comedies in Peter Sellers` cinema legacy. It is certainly among Lionel Jeffries` finest performances and boasts a Who`s Who cast of British comedy actors.

The movie is a charming, old-fashioned comedy in the Ealing vein of cops and robbers and counterfeit coppers. A group of Australian criminals encroaches on the patch of a Syndicate of London crooks, disguised as policemen. Intercepting local criminals in flagrante, they relieve them of their ill-gotten gains and then take off in their own police car. Of course, this being 1962, the crooks all come along quietly and there`s none of the thick-ear brutality one would get in a modern picture. When Graham Stark and Davy Kaye resist arrest when the real police turn up, Lionel Jeffries` Inspector "Nosy" Parker is horrified. "A bit of breaking and entering is one thing, but sloshing a bogey in the execution of his duty!"

From the way the Australians (dubbed the IPO mob - Impersonating a Police Officer) know about every job the Syndicate crooks are planning, it is obvious there is a leak in the organisation. Peter Sellers stars as "Pearly" Gates, leader of one of the London gangs who wants to see the IPO mob caught. He suggests a temporary truce between the London criminal fraternity and the police while the interlopers are caught. Unfortunately the leak in the organisation is right under his nose.

Video

Presented in 1.33:1 (possibly the original aspect ratio or at least close enough to the 1.66:1 it might be otherwise), the picture is in crisp black and white. Some scenes are a little washed out, and for some reason the titles are shown within a black border but still at a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The grey background of the titles also causes the only real picture problem on the disc - green banding on the titles - but this disappears when the movie proper starts.

Audio

The sound is in its original mono.

Features

There are eight chapter breaks in the movie, which comes with hard of hearing subtitles but no other extras.

Conclusion

For me, the delight of this picture is Lionel Jeffries at his lugubrious best. He has all the best lines and - in my opinion - steals the picture from Sellers (not a mean feat). With Nanette Newman as Pearly`s girlfriend, and terrific support from Bernard Cribbins the film is a real treat. The original screenplay was doctored up by comedy geniuses John Antrobus and Galton & Simpson. Watch out for Skippy`s Ed Deveraux as the leader of the IPO mob. A classic.