Paganini Strikes Again

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Paganini Strikes Again
Paganini Strikes Again film Opening titles (1973).jpg
Directed by Gerry O'Hara
Screenplay byMichael Barnes
Produced byCyril Randell
Starring Julie Dawn Cole
Dudley Sutton
Philip Bliss
Andrew Bowen
CinematographyAlfred Hick
Edited byRoy Deverell
Music by Kenneth V. Jones
Production
company
Interfilm
Release date
  • 1973 (1973)
Running time
59 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Paganini Strikes Again is a 1973 British children's film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Julie Dawn Cole, Dudley Sutton, Philip Bliss and Andrew Bowen. [1] It was written by Michael Barnes based on the 1972 book of the same title by Benjamin Lee. [2] It was produced by Interfilm for the Children's Film Foundation. [3]

Contents

Plot

Bill and Mike are schoolboy musicians. They hear gunfire and see a man running off, wearing yellow boots. Learning from the police that a nearby jeweller's shop has been robbed, they set off to catch the thief. When they discover that their school's window cleaner, Mr Raddings, also wears yellow boots, they follow him to a container depot where he meets his accomplices, and hide inside a container. They are rescued and the criminals are caught by the police.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A chase on foot seems to be as de rigueur for children's films these days as the car chase in the adult variety, but the one in Paganini Strikes Again is a rather dull affair, taking its momentum from a speeded-up sequence on the escalators of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. The rest of the film has no need of such gimmicks, for it has an economical and intelligent script ... which exactly catches the casual, jokey relationship of the bright young adolescent detectives, admirably played by Andrew Bowen and Philip Bliss. The boys' interest in music gives plenty of scope for both aural and visual gags – the Inspector's joking entreaty to "Give us a tune" whenever he sees Bill and Mike is finally answered when the boys draw the police to the container in which they are incarcerated by breaking open a box of instruments and playing them all at once. Fittingly, there is an excellent score by Kenneth V. Jones." [4]

The Chicago Tribune described the film as "excellent quality." [5]

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References

  1. "Paganini Strikes Again". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  2. Storr, Catherine (1 July 1970). "Writing to share". New Statesman . 80: 611 via ProQuest.
  3. "CFTF Films Catalogue". The Children's Film and Television Foundation. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  4. "Paganini Strikes Again" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 41, no. 480. 1 January 1974. p. 79 via ProQuest.
  5. "The Kings of Kid Vid". Chicago Tribune . 11 May 1975. pp. o11. Retrieved 25 January 2025 via ProQuest.