Two Way Stretch

Two Way Stretch - 1960 | 87 mins | Comedy | B&W

The Production Team

Director: Robert Day.
Producer: E.M. Smedley-Aston.
Script: Len Heath and John Warren.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Faithfull.
Editing: Bert Rule.
Make-up Department: Jimmy Evans.
Original Music: Ken E. Jones.

The Cast

Peter Sellers - Dodger Lane
David Lodge - Jelly Knight
Bernard Cribbins - Lennie Price
Wilfrid Hyde-White - Soapy Stevens
Lionel Jeffries - Chief P.O. Crout
Irene Handl - Mrs. Price
Liz Fraser - Ethel
Maurice Denham - The Governor
Beryl Reid - Miss Pringle

Plot Synopsis

Convicts Dodger Lane (Peter Sellers), Lennie Price (Bernard Cribbins) and Jelly Knight (David Lodge), aided and abetted by crooked clergyman Soapy Stevens (Wilfrid Hyde White), escape from prison in a Black Mariah, pull off a diamond heist and nip back into the prison for the perfect alibi. The liberal governor (Maurice Denham) of Huntleigh directs a lax prison regime but crime didn't pay in those days – and when authoritarian warder Sidney Crout (Lionel Jeffries) arrives from Rockhampton he is determined to make life behind bars uncomfortable for Dodger, Lennie and Jelly.

Robert Day’s fast-moving comedy is a worthy instalment into the annals of wonderful British black-and-white crime capers of the 1950s and 60s alongside The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The League of Gentlemen (1960) and The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962). Peter Sellers performance is a joy as the wily Cockney convict and he’s ably supported by an excellent cast of familiar comedic actors, there are also delightful cameos from Irene Handl, Liz Fraser and Beryl Reid.