The Yellow Balloon **** (1953, Andrew Ray, Kenneth More, William Sylvester, Kathleen Ryan) – Classic Movie Review 12,117

The Yellow Balloon (1953) was one of the first films to be passed with an X certificate by the British Board of Film Censors, which judged the chase through the London Underground station too frightening for children. But the BBFC later relented.

Director J Lee Thompson’s 1953 British thriller film The Yellow Balloon stars Andrew Ray, Kenneth More, William Sylvester, and Kathleen Ryan. ‘It takes you step by step… fear by fear… to the shattering heights of suspense!’

Andrew Ray (son of film and radio star Ted Ray) is perfectly cast in this exciting Fifties suspense thriller and gives a mature performance at the age of just 12 as Frankie Palmer, a young lad whose friend, young Ronnie Williams (Stephen Fenemore), is accidentally killed in a frantic chase after he snatches his yellow balloon. Ray’s horror is compounded when he is terrorised by criminal on the run Len Turner (William Sylvester), who forces him to take part in a robbery that ends in murder.

The Yellow Balloon is tense all the way through, and topped off with a nail-biting finish with the chase through the London Underground station. It is well played by Kenneth More and Kathleen Ryan as the parents and William Sylvester as the bad guy, though the film rightly belongs to the admirable Andrew Ray.

It is Thompson’s second feature as director, following Murder Without Crime (1950).

The film is based on an original story by Anne Burnaby, who planned Mary (Hy Hazell) as a prostitute but that was not allowed because of censorship. There was further censorship. It was one of the first films to be passed with the new adults only X certificate by the British Board of Film Censors, which excluded anyone under 16. The BBFC judged the chase through the London Underground station would be too frightening for children.

This of course meant Andrew Ray could not go into a cinema to see his own film when it was released on 10 February 1953 in the UK. But the BBFC later relented after complaints from cinema exhibitors and in October 1953 re-classified the film with an A certificate so children under 16 could see the film with an adult.

However, the creative UK exhibitors made the best of a bad job with their original unwanted X certificate on the poster: ‘X certificate ADULTS ONLY, The Yellow Balloon is Xceptional’.

Filming began in May 1952, and it was shot at Elstree Studios and on location around London.

While making the film, Andrew Ray celebrated his 13th birthday on May 31 at Elstree Studios, with his parents and other children from the film watching him blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.

Frankie’s father (Kenneth More) is named Ted, the name of Andrew Ray’s real father, Ted Ray.

The cast are Andrew Ray as Frankie Palmer, Kathleen Ryan as Emily Palmer, Kenneth More as Ted Palmer, Bernard Lee as PC Chapman, Stephen Fenemore as Ron Williams, William Sylvester as Len, Marjorie Rhodes as Jessie Stokes, Peter Jones as Sid, Eliot Makeham as Pawnbroker, Sid James as Barrow Boy, Veronica Hurst as Sunday School Teacher, Sandra Dorne as Iris, Campbell Singer as Potter, Laurie Main as Bibulous Customer, Hy Hazell as Mary.

The Yellow Balloon is directed by J Lee Thompson, runs 80 minutes, is made by Marble Arch Productions, is released by Associated British Picture Corporation (UK) and Allied Artists (US), is written by Anne Burnaby (original story) and J Lee Thompson (screenplay), is shot by Gilbert Taylor, is produced by Victor Skutezky, is scored by Philip Green, and designed by Robert Jones.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,117

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