The Blue Parrot Explained

The Blue Parrot
Director:John Harlow
Producer:Stanley Haynes
Starring:Dermot Walsh
Jacqueline Hill
Music:Eric Jupp
Cinematography:Robert Navarro
Editing:Robert Jordan Hill
Studio:Act Films Ltd
Distributor:Monarch Film Corporation (UK)
Runtime:69 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English

The Blue Parrot is a low budget 1953 British "B" crime film directed by John Harlow and starring Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, Richard Pearson, and John Le Mesurier.[1] The film was produced by Stanley Haynes for Act Films Ltd.[2] The screenplay is by Alan MacKinnon from a story by British crime reporter Percy Hoskins.

Plot

Small-time crook Rocks Owen receives a mysterious phone call at the Blue Parrot Soho night club and is later found murdered. Bob Herrick, a New York detective in London to learn about Scotland Yard's methods, investigates, and policewoman Maureen Maguire goes undercover at the club posing as a hostess.

Cast

Critical reception

In a contemporary review Kine Weekly wrote: "Pleasantly intriguing, if modest, whodunnit. It illustrates the big part played by a young American detective in the apprehension of a Soho killer, and ends with a bang. The red herrings are neatly handled by the competent cast. The comedy relief is apt and the dénouement suspenseful. Feminine appeal slight yet piquant."[3]

The Radio Times said: "Dermot Walsh does his best with lacklustre material, and John Le Mesurier turns up in a supporting slot, but there's little else to recommend it."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan wrote: ''Efficient thriller with a bit more sting in the action than usual.''[5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film write: "There is little to distinguish this from numerous other urban-set thrillers, but its pacey editing (Robert Hill) and cast of reliable character players carries one over the less probable plot maneuvers."[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Blue Parrot . 8 November 2023 . British Film Institute Collections Search.
  2. Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. . ACT Films Limited - Ralph Bond p81 (producer listed as Stanley Haynes)
  3. 15 April 1948 . The Blue Parrot . . 439 . 2417 . 18.
  4. Book: Radio Times Guide to Films . . 2017 . 9780992936440 . 18th . London . 113.
  5. Book: Quinlan, David . British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 . . 1984 . 0-7134-1874-5 . London . 286.
  6. Book: Chibnall, Steve . The British 'B' Film . McFarlane . Brian . . 2009 . 978-1-8445-7319-6 . London . 106.