The Blue Lamp (1950)
Directed by Basil Dearden

Film Review

Perhaps the most famous crime drama in British cinema, and certainly one of Ealing Studios' best known films, The Blue Lamp introduced a character who would become familiar to the British public for over twenty years.  P.C. George Dixon, played by the avuncular Jack Warner, was killed off halfway through this film but reappeared five years later, in remarkably good health, as the main character of the hugely popular BBC television series Dixon of Dock Green, which ran for 430 episodes between 1955 and 1976.  It was the second most successful resurrection in history.

The Blue Lamp may look dated today but when it was released in 1950 it was a highly innovative and controversial film, trailblazing the social realist phenomenon that would greatly impact on British cinema and television drama in the 1950s.  The film eschews conventional melodrama for a semi-documentary approach, which is achieved by the use of real locations in London - including New Scotland Yard and Paddington Green police station - and the absence of any background music.

The big social issue this film addresses is the explosion of youth crime in Britain after the end of WWII.  In its introduction, the film attributes this to the breakdown of families during and straight after the war, largely as a result of fathers being killed in the war.  The film calls for a new approach to policing to cope with this new social menace.  The old approach - epitomised by the genial P.C. Dixon - is manifestly ineffective against a new breed of criminal that does not respect the codes and moral boundaries of the traditional underworld class.

Although The Blue Lamp has some shocking moments - notably the sudden killing of Dixon - it is ludicrously tame compared with other contemporary crime films - particularly those being churned out in Hollywood.   The film's realism is undermined somewhat by its weak characterisation.  The policemen are portrayed in an idealistic, even stereotypical light - you could be forgiven for thinking that the film was made by the public relations department of the Metropolitan Police.   Meanwhile, the villains are little more than two-dimensional mixed-up psychopaths.  The performances are acceptable, but only Dirk Bogarde excels, in what was one of his first major screen roles.

The film's most famous sequence is the stunningly realised car chase through the streets of West London.  This would be replicated ad nauseum in subsequent British crime thrillers and was even parodied in another Ealing film, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).

In 1951, The Blue lamp won the BAFTA for the Best British Film.  Despite its obvious faults, the film is highly regarded today and is seen as an important milestone in the history of British cinema.

Film Synopsis

With only a few weeks to go before he is due to retire from the Metropolitan Police, P.C. George Dixon wonders whether he should stay on for a few more years.  Whilst he makes up his mind, he takes a young recruit, Andy Mitchell, under his wing, becoming both friend and mentor.  One evening, Dixon is called to a theatre where a robbery has just taken place.  The robber, a thuggish delinquent named Tom Riley, panics when he sees the police constable and shoots him at point-blank range.   When Dixon later dies of his injuries, his colleagues resolve to track down his killer and bring him to justice...