Cosh Boy [The Slasher] *** (1953, James Kenney, Joan Collins, Betty Ann Davies, Robert Ayres, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Gingold) – Classic Movie Review 11,116

Lewis Gilbert’s 1953 black and white noir drama film Cosh Boy [The Slasher] is fascinating as an early British look at teen culture and as a reflection of how London was just after World War Two.

‘Call me a gangster or a mobster… but not a delinquent!’

Director Lewis Gilbert’s 1953 British black and white noir drama film Cosh Boy [The Slasher] is quite bad – but with a really good cast, and it is very interesting as an early British look at teen culture and as a reflection of how Britain was just after the World War Two war.

It is based on the play Master Crook by Bruce Walker and was made at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. It is reckoned to be the first British film to get the new X certificate. The film was retitled The Slasher for release by Lippert Pictures in the US because the Americans were unfamiliar with the word ‘cosh’.

A controversary arose when the media linked the film to Derek Bentley’s crimes after the film’s release coincided with his trial. It was banned in Birmingham, Australia and Sweden. Lewis Gilbert commented in 2000: ‘Today you’d show it to 10-year-olds.’ Even so, it performed strongly at the box office, taking £112,918 (UK) against a budget of £38,537.

In war-torn, bombed-out post-war South London, 16-year-old delinquent ‘Cosh Boy’ Roy Walsh (James Kenney) and his band of thugs mug old ladies in Battersea, south-west London. With no father figure in the house, Kenney’s doting mum Elsie Walsh (Betty Ann Davies) and Gran (Nancy Roberts) just can’t take care of him as he is on probation and gets into more serious offences. It also stars Joan Collins as Rene Collins, Robert Ayres as Bob Stevens, Hermione Baddeley as motherly Mrs Collins, and Hermione Gingold as friendly prostitute Queenie.

Elsie is involved with Canadian Bob Stevens, hated by Roy, who becomes infatuated with Rene, a gang member’s sister, but she already has a boyfriend in Brian (Michael McKeag), whom the gang beats up.

This well-meaning road-to-ruin moral saga is very badly dated and foolishly sensationalist. The scare-mongering script is weighed down with controlling, paranoid views about ‘young people today’ and old-fashioned ideas about the place of women. However, the performances are good, especially by Kenney, Collins, Davies, Baddeley and Gingold, and it is a fascinating snapshot of the time and insight into the era, with location work in Battersea and Hammersmith, London. The studio work was at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London.

Writers: Bruce Walker (play), Lewis Gilbert (screenplay), Vernon Harris (screenplay). The play Master Crook by Bruce Walker, originally titled Cosh Boy, debuted at the Embassy Theatre in 1951 starring James Kenney.

Joan Collins recalled it as ‘a shop girl’s melodrama and the public loved it. I enjoyed working with Jimmy [Kenney] and all the other young actors. The director, Lewis Gilbert, was adorable to me, and good to work with.’

Also in the cast are Stanley Escane, Sean Lynch, Johnny Briggs as Skinny Johnson, Michael McKeag, Edward Evans, Laurence Naismith, Frederick Piper, Walter Hudd, Sidney James [Sid James] as Police Sergeant, Cameron Hall, Arthur Howard, Ian Whittaker and Peter Swanwick.

Cosh Boy [The Slasher] is directed by Lewis Gilbert, runs 75 minutes, is made by Romulus Films and Daniel Angel Films [Angel Productions], is released by Independent Film Distributors (UK) and Lippert Pictures (US), is written by Lewis Gilbert and Vernon Harris, based on the play Master Crook by Bruce Walker, is shot in black and white by Jack Asher, is produced by Daniel M Angel, and is scored by Lambert Williamson.

Release date: 4 March 1953.

This is how the film starts, setting the tone: ‘Cosh Boy portrays starkly the development of a young criminal, an enemy of society at sixteen. Our Judges and Magistrates, and the Police, whose stern duty it is to resolve the problem, agree that its origins lie mainly in the lack of parental control and early discipline. The problem exists – and we cannot escape it by closing our eyes. This film is presented in the hope that it will contribute towards stamping out this social evil.’

Boys in early 1950s British gangs adopted Edwardian-era fashions and were known as Cosh Boys, but they later became known as Teddy Boys after a 1953 Daily Express newspaper headline shortened Edwardian to Teddy.

James Kenney

James Kenney (1930–1987) committed suicide, age 56.

Lewis Gilbert

Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018)

Johnny Briggs

Johnny Briggs died on 28 February 2021, age 85. He was famous as Mike Baldwin in the ITV soap Coronation Street from 1976 to 2006, appearing in 2,348 episodes. He was born in Battersea, south-west London, on 5 September 1935. 

The cast 

The cast are James Kenney as Roy Walsh, Joan Collins as Rene Collins, Betty Ann Davies as Elsie Walsh, Robert Ayres as Bob Stevens, Hermione Baddeley as Mrs Collins, Hermione Gingold as Queenie, Nancy Roberts as Gran Walsh, Laurence Naismith as Inspector Donaldson, Ian Whittaker as Alfie Collins, Stanley Escane as Pete, Michael McKeag as Brian, Sean Lynch as Darky, Johnny Briggs as Skinny Johnson, Edward Evans as Sergeant Woods, Cameron Hall as Mr Beverley, Sid James as Police Sergeant, Frederick Piper as Mr Easter, Anthony Oliver as Doctor, Arthur Howard as Registrar, Toke Townley as Mr Smith, Walter Hudd as Magistrate.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,116

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