The Lost People * (1949, Dennis Price, Mai Zetterling, Richard Attenborough, Siobhan McKenna, Maxwell Reed, William Hartnell) – Classic Movie Review 11,679

Directors Bernard Knowles and Muriel Box’s 1949 British drama film The Lost People stars with a vintage cast of Dennis Price, Mai Zetterling, Richard Attenborough, Siobhan McKenna, Maxwell Reed and William Hartnell.

But Bridget Boland’s play Cockpit about refugees in an abandoned theatre in Germany just after World War Two makes a static, stagey and unsatisfactory film. While British soldiers are guarding them, the displaced people fall into their ancient feuds after having united against fascism for five years. Then one of the refugees is diagnosed with bubonic plague.

The excellent cast goes conscientiously through it paces, and the film is extraordinarily well meaning, but it is hard now to relate to poetic pieces about The Lost, which were much in vogue at that time.

Dennis Price leads the cast as Captain Ridley and tries to keep peace among the squabblers. Charles Hawtrey and Herbert Lom are both uncredited Prisoner and Guest.

The cast are Dennis Price as Ridley, Mai Zetterling as Lily, Richard Attenborough as Jan, Siobhán McKenna as Marie, Maxwell Reed as Peter, William Hartnell as Barnes, Gerard Heinz as Professor, Zena Marshall as Anna, Olaf Pooley as Milosh, Harcourt Williams as Priest, Philo Hauser as Draja, Jill Balcon as Rebecca, Grey Blake as Saunders, Marcel Poncin as Duval, Nelly Arno as Old Woman in Box, George Benson as Driver, Peter Bull as Wolf, Paul Hardtmuth as Jiri, Tutte Lemkow as Jaroslav, Pamela Stirling as Young Woman in Box, Mila Parély as Displaced Person, Charles Hawtrey (uncredited) as Prisoner, and Herbert Lom (uncredited) as Guest.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,679

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