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names Sammy. To the boy, the bridge is a living character with a personality of its own and the catwalks, staircases, engine rooms and bascule chambers are a magic world in which he is king. Although he takes care not to be seen, the maintenance staff become aware of a strange “presence” and their fears are confirmed when one night, Tommy saves the life of a suicidal woman who is about to jump off the bridge into the river. "DON'T", he yells down to her, "DON'T JUMP OFF MY BRIDGE!" The woman is so startled by this voice from somewhere up there, that she changes her mind, believing the voice to be of a supernatural origin. The next day, the newspapers follow up with the story that a protective spirit presides over the bridge. Searching ceaselessly for his son, his father is suddenly confronted by Tommy on the bridge. Following the boy to the top of the tower, he realises that the building has become father, mother and home to the boy, all the things that he should have been. He explains to Tommy that the bridge was built to bring people together and has brought them together too and, as Sammy flies away to join his own kind, Tommy agrees to come home.
368:, is remarkable for its naiveté and its pretensions. Elaborately angled views of Tower Bridge, shots of a willing but not outstandingly talented small boy trotting up and down the bridge and the streets, occasional interludes with whimsical East End characters, are presented at a length that nothing in their content can justify; and the final reconciliation is as sentimentally moralistic as a Victorian nursery tale. Occasionally, notably in the child's resourceful attitude to his housekeeping problems, the picture stumbles into a mild charm. But childhood fantasy needs more than a few winning smiles and a pet seagull to keep it going."
461:, London, he won the part of Tommy Doyle after an exhaustive search which saw the production team interview some 3,000 local boys. He had a brother, Keith, who was two years older than him and who had a small part in the film as a boy Tommy's father momentarily mistakes for Tommy while he is out looking for him at night. "The Boy and The Bridge" was given a royal premiere at the Curzon cinema, London, on Wednesday, July 22, 1959, where Ian was presented to HRH Princess Margaret and it was shown at the
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lodgings and seeks sanctuary within the confines of his dream castle, Tower Bridge. He makes his home in a room at the top of the north tower, coming and going without being seen and, bit by bit, furnishing it with all the ingenuity of a nine-year-old boy. Here, he makes one friend, a seagull he
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said: "This tiny fable adds up to very weak entertainment, despite inventive photography, because it has virtually no plot development."
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611:Films with screenplays by Kevin McClory
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325:Andreas Malandrinos
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265:Ian Maclaine
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95:James Hayter
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443:John Huston
366:John Huston
345:as landlady
333:as publican
313:Arthur Lowe
247:cockney boy
231:Arthur Lowe
73:Produced by
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586:1959 films
580:Categories
547:0586088946
497:6 February
474:References
307:Bill Shine
301:Royal Dano
251:Bermondsey
211:drama film
182:91 minutes
165:1959-07-28
130:Production
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77:David Eady
362:Mike Todd
343:Rita Webb
111:Edited by
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198:English
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