Escapade *** (1955, Alastair Sim, John Mills, Yvonne Mitchell, Peter Asher, Andrew Ray, Jeremy Spenser) – Classic Movie Review 2794

Jeremy Spenser, Andrew Ray and Peter Asher play three young school-children pals (the last two of them brothers), who steal a plane for a peace mission to Vienna. This causes a stink between the brothers’ divorcing pacifist father Mr John Hampden (John Mills) and headmaster Dr Skillingworth (Alastair Sim).

John neglects his wife (Yvonne Mitchell as the boys’ mother, Mrs Stella Hampden) and two sons through over-involvement in his causes. The wife, on the point of divorcing her husband, finds Skillingworth knocking on their door informing them their boys are going to be expelled for fighting, an irony as the father is a pacifist. But, when they three get to the school, the boys have disappeared.

Alastair Sim, John Mills and Yvonne Mitchell in Escapade.

Director Philip Leacock’s 1955 British film is decent, intelligent drama with amusing comedy and a thoughtful message, adapted by Donald Ogden Stewart from Roger MacDougall’s popular stage play, a long-running hit in London’s West End.

John Mills, Alastair Sim and Yvonne Mitchell come up trumps in warm, appealing performances, and the kids are remarkable, under Leacock’s careful, expert guidance. Stewart wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym of Gilbert Holland.

Also in the cast are Colin Gordon, Marie Lohr, Nicky Edmett, Christopher Ridley, Sean Barrett, Sonia Williams, Mark Dignam, Kit Terrington, Colin Frear, Stephen Abbott, Anne Allan and John Rae.

Peter Asher, the older brother of actress Jane Asher, was a member of the Sixties singing duo Peter and Gordon [Waller], whose hit songs included a number one ‘World Without Love’, written for them by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. He is a musician, manager and record producer.

Andrew Ray died at the age of 64 in 2003 from a heart attack.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2794

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com