BY LEE PFEIFFER

The British Film Institute (BFI) deserves praise for continuing to invest in restorations of worthy, but largely forgotten, British films from bygone eras. Case in point: the 1953 crime drama "Cosh Boy" (absurdly re-titled "The Slasher" for American release in order to make it appear to be a "B" horror movie.) Incidentally, a "cosh" is old British slang for a blackjack used by thugs to strike victims over the head. The low-budget B&W production is typical of the film output in post-WWII Britain. Britain was on the winning side but after initial jubilation the reality of living in an almost bankrupt nation set in. Rationing was strict, much of the country was in ruins and crime and juvenile delinquency began to rise. "The Slasher", co-written and directed by Lewis Gilbert, touches on these problems by examining how the delinquency problem was exacerbated in part by the loss of so many fathers during the war. This left suddenly single mothers having to cope with raising families on their own and facing severe financial hardships. The screenplay centers on these challenges through a micro-view of how it affects one family and one neighborhood. Roy (James Kenny) is a bad apple. He looks like Leslie Howard but has the personality of James Cagney's "The Public Enemy". The 16 year-old is the ringleader of a local group of delinquents who prey on the elderly and commit petty crimes to keep their wallets full. Roy is ostensibly being raised by his widowed mother Elsie (Betty Ann Davies) and her live-in mother (Hermione Baddely) but it's really Roy who is running the show. He is cruel and dismissive to his mother and grandmother but can turn on the charm when he needs to because he senses that his mom is actually an enabler who wills herself to believe every ridiculous explanation he gives for his run-ins with the law.

Roy's best mate is Alfie (Ian Whittaker), a dim-witted, wimpy character who seems to have a good heart but who is nonetheless unable to resist following Roy's demands that he join him in committing crimes. Roy makes sure that, to the extent possible, his gang members assume disproportionate risks compared to himself. He is a true sociopath: ruthless, selfish but at able to appear to be likable and sympathetic when it suits his needs. When Roy sets eyes on Alfie's 16 year-old sister, Rene (Joan Collins), he has his gang beat and hospitalize her boyfriend, leaving him free to seduce her, an act that will come back to haunt him later. When Roy is arrested for a crime, the judge goes lenient on him and sentences him to probation and tells him he should frequent the neighborhood youth center to ensure he stays out of trouble. Roy follows the advice, but uses the center as a meeting place to plan future crimes with his fellow thugs. It is there that he is intrigued by the possibility to pull off a big score by planning to rob the boxoffice receipts from a local major wrestling event. (The script takes a decidedly conservative "spare the rod and spoil the child" viewpoint in terms of dispensing justice to juvenile offenders.) 

The movie caused some controversy in the UK and is said to be the first film released with an "X" certificate. It certainly is bitingly realistic compared to many other films from the era. The main character has no redeeming qualities and there are frank depictions of vicious crimes and the consequences of unplanned pregnancies in an era in which that would make for devastating personal and social consequences. As director, Lewis Gilbert's work is quite admirable, with nary a wasted frame of film. The seeds of his future success as a major director are sown here and he derives an outstanding performance from James Kenny in the lead role. Kenny is quite remarkable, his disarming angelic looks alternating with his character's vicious and unpredictable tendencies. In viewing the film, I couldn't help but wonder why fortune didn't smile on his career in the way that it did for Richard Attenborough, who vaulted to stardom during the same era also playing a teenage thug in "Brighton Rock". Everyone else in the film is also impressive, with Betty Ann Davies and Hermione Beddedly especially good as the women who have the misfortune of trying to raise young Roy. Baddely's character is not the enabler her daughter is and is wise to Roy's true nature. Joan Collins is very effective as the vulnerable teenage girl who Roy uses and abuses. Robert Ayres appears late in the film as Elsie's new beau, which causes Roy to rebel even further, as he is understandably threatened by having a streetwise older man in the house who could exact some discipline on him.

"Cosh Boy" is a depressing film, to be sure, but a very worthy one. Kino Lorber has imported the BFI restoration for their Blu-ray release the transfer is literally stunning, making the stark B&W cinematography Jack Asher look very impressive indeed. The only extras are trailers of other KL releases (though not for the main feature) and an alternate title sequence from the American release of "The Slasher". (The film has no slashing at all other than a brief scene in which Roy threatens someone with a razor.) This is British "B" filmmaking at its best. Highly recommended.

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