Sky West and Crooked [Gypsy Girl] *** (1966, Hayley Mills, Ian McShane, Annette Crosbie, Laurence Naismith) – Classic Movie Review 8242

Love blossoms between backward and troublesome teenage country girl Brydie White (played by Hayley Mills) and gypsy lad Roibin (Ian McShane), in the 1966 British romantic drama Sky West and Crooked [Gypsy Girl], a pretty and touching tale directed by Hayley Mills’s father John Mills.

To ensure that it is a family affair, Sir John Mills’s wife Lady Mills (aka Mary Hayley Bell) is the original story-writer and co-scriptwriter (with John Prebble) and she pulls all the stops out to squeeze tears from all but the most cynical viewers.

There is a mature performance by the young Hayley, McShane’s dark-eyed Lothario is her equal, and they are well backed by the reliable Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Bayldon, Annette Crosbie, Norman Bird, Pauline Jameson and June Ellis.

But John Mills was disappointed: ‘I was under contract, they had a gap in the schedule and I was persuaded against my better judgement to start filming eight weeks before I was ready. And inevitably it showed in the final picture.’

Also in the cast are Hamilton Dyce, Judith Furse, Anne Blake, Jack Bligh, Michael Nightingale, George Selway, Fred Ferris, Grace Arnold, Kay Lyell, Rachel Thomas, Gerald Lawson, Jacqueline Pearce, Irene Bradshaw, Talfryn Thomas, Hira Talfrey, Len Jones, Cyril Chamberlain, Susan Chatham, Robin Crewe, Jessica Hobbs, Alan Lake, Joyce Mayhead, Lola Payne, Stephen Salt, Roland Starling and Nicola Street.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8242

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