London Belongs to Me | |
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Main title card from film
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Directed by | Sidney Gilliat |
Produced by | Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder J. Arthur Rank (Executive Producer) |
Written by | Sidney Gilliat J. B. Williams Norman Collins (novel) |
Starring |
Richard Attenborough Alastair Sim Wylie Watson Joyce Carey Fay Compton Stephen Murray Susan Shaw |
Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Cinematography | Wilkie Cooper |
Edited by | Thelma Myers |
Release date
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12 August 1948 (London) 13 August 1948 (UK-wide) |
Running time
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112 mins |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
12 August 1948 (London)
London Belongs to Me (also known as Dulcimer Street) is a British film released in 1948, directed by Sidney Gilliat, and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, which was also the basis for a seven-part series made by Thames Television and shown in 1977.
The film concerns the residents of a large terrace house in London between Christmas 1938 and September 1939. Among them are the landlady, Mrs Vizzard (played by Joyce Carey), who is a widow and a believer in spiritualism; Mrs Josser (Fay Compton), Mr Josser (Wylie Watson) and their teenage daughter (Susan Shaw); the eccentric spiritualist medium Mr Squales (Sim); the colourful Connie Coke (Ivy St. Helier); and the young motor mechanic Percy Boon (Attenborough) and his mother (Gladys Henson).
Percy is in love with the Jossers' daughter and turns to crime to raise money to impress her with, but he bungles a car theft and finds himself accused of murder. Mr Josser digs into his retirement fund to hire the boy a lawyer. Mr Squales testifies against Percy, but in the process exposes to his fiancée Mrs Vizzard the fakeness of his claims to be able to contact the dead and to predict the future.
Percy is found guilty, but his neighbours rally to his defence. With the assistance of Mr Josser's staunchly socialist Uncle Henry (Stephen Murray) they gather thousands of signatures on a petition to gain him a reprieve. At the end of the film Percy's supporters march through the rain to Parliament, only to discover just before their arrival that clemency has already been granted.