The Pot Carriers

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The Pot Carriers
The Pot Carriers (1962 film).jpg
British quad poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by Peter Graham Scott
Screenplay byT.J Morrison
Mike Watts
Produced byGordon Scott
Starring Ronald Fraser
Paul Massie
Carole Lesley
Cinematography Erwin Hillier
Music by Stanley Black
Release date
  • 18 May 1962 (1962-05-18)(UK)
Running time
84 minutes
LanguageEnglish

The Pot Carriers is a 1962 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Graham Scott and produced by Gordon Scott for ABPC. [1] [2] It stars Ronald Fraser, Paul Massie, Carole Lesley and Dennis Price. [3] The film is largely set in Wandsworth prison and is a remake of the ITV Play of the Week: The Pot Carriers (1960), which writer Mike Watts based on his own prison experiences. [4] [5] The film centres around a young prisoner called Rainbow as he struggles to adjust to his first stretch behind bars. [6]

Contents

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A nouvelle vague-influenced opening of Paul Massie striding along London streets to a pounding jazzy score (in shakily matched exterior shots) and the sharply observed prison routines and settings, lead one to hope for more than the conventional comedy-drama which emerges. The comedy scenes are brisk, however, and engagingly played by Ronald Fraser and Davy Kaye; uneasily hitched to some superficial social moralising about the degradation of prison life and the difficulty of going straight, they keep the interest and amusement going over the more embarrassing moments of self-sacrifice and home-spun philosophising." [7]

TV Guide gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing "Script and direction take a personable view of prison life, showing the prisoners as individuals. Though the picture is filled with humorous moments, underneath is the continual feeling of the degradation and humiliation the prisoners must endure." [8]

David McGillivray in the Radio Times also rated the film 3/5 stars, describing it as "Part social drama, part knockabout comedy, this is an odd but entertaining account of British prison life in the 1950s," and concluded that "the depiction of repetitive prison routine (the title refers to the detested practice of 'slopping out') still has an impact." [5]

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References

  1. "The Pot Carriers". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  2. "The Pot Carriers (1962)". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019.
  3. "The Pot Carriers (1962) - Peter Graham Scott - Cast and Crew". AllMovie.
  4. "The Pot Carriers (1960)". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The Pot Carriers – review - cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
  6. "The Pot Carriers (1962) - Peter Graham Scott - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  7. "The Pot Carriers". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 29 (336): 95. 1 January 1962 via ProQuest.
  8. "The Pot Carriers - TV Guide". TVGuide.com.