BFI

A chase comedy involving a misdirected parcel and, it seems, the entire population of East Dulwich, around which it was filmed. We know almost nothing about the team that made this film but it has all the hallmarks of Alf Collins, who directed many similar films for Gaumont.

The structure of the chase builds in scale and pace, starting when a parcel is left behind and the pursuer attempting to restore the goods follow the wrong hackney carriage. Along the way people are drawn into the chase in much the same way as drunken cowboys erupt into a brawl in a Western saloon when someone throws the first punch. By the time the by now sizeable crowd catches up with the carriage, the situation is out of control and the carriage passenger's attempts to deny ownership of the parcel are not met with much sympathy.

Bryony Dixon

Click titles to see or read more