Hand in Hand – 1960 | 78 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Intelligent and sympathetic children’s film told inflashback that makes a gentle plea for religious tolerance and love. PhilipLeacock, renowned for his handling of child actors, does another excellent job evenlydirecting this family-oriented story of two children whose friendship overcomesbarriers of religion and prejudice. The twoyoung stars are ably supported by a cast of veteran character actors, andespecially impressive is the young Loretta Parry as the charmingly innocent littleJewish girl.

Two seven-year-old children, the Jewish Rachel Mathias(Loretta Parry) and the Catholic Michael O’Malley (Philip Needs) becomefriends. Their parents and school friends draw attention to religious biases,but the children resist the bigotry and manage to maintain their close bond. Totest the strength of their friendship, each attends the religious servicesobserved by the other, and each is frightened by the strange rituals witnessed.Together they venture around St Albans, fantasising of becoming blood brothersas in the popular b&w films, meeting a member of royalty – sweet hearted LadyCaroline (Sybil Thorndike), and of travelling to Africa together. They subsequentlyset sail for Africa in a dinghy, buttragedy appears to curtail their fantasy voyage, and Michael runs to FatherTimothy (John Gregson) for comfort.