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12-year-old
Frankie Palmer (Andrew Ray) loses the sixpence his father has given him to buy a large yellow balloon from a street seller which the boy has set his heart on. He sees that a friend of his, young Ronnie Williams (Stephen Fenemore), has already bought one and Frankie snatches it off him and
534:
wrote: "it is a leisurely sort of chiller that trades intriguingly upon a youngster's far-fetched fears...The moral is, of course, that children should speak up rather than harbor their fears. But they don't. So probably the
British will be able to go right on making these variably fascinating films
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Although
Frankie and Len agree it was an accident, Len is adamant that the police will not see it that way and Frankie goes off with him. Len blackmails Frankie into stealing money from his parents (Kenneth More and Kathleen Ryan) to help fund Len's escape and then uses the boy as a decoy in a pub
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Ronnie chases
Frankie into a large, bombed-out house and they are running about in the ruins when Ronnie slips and falls 30 ft (9 m) to his death. Frankie scrambles down to help, but realises that there is nothing he can do. Hiding in the shadows and seeing it all, Len Turner (William
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However, after complaints from cinema exhibitors that the "X" certificate wasn't really necessary for the film and it was losing them the family audience they had relied on up until that time, the BBFC eventually relented and in
October 1953 they re-classified the film with an "A" certificate
318:
A tube driver passing at speed through the station sees the pursuit as he speeds past the platform. He reports it at the next station and the police are alerted. They rescue
Frankie. In a poetic-justice ending Len walks over a beam over a long drop before falling to his death.
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station in the last reel would be very frightening for young children. Andrew Ray, 13 years old when the film was shot in 1952 and when it was released in 1953, was disappointed that he wasn't allowed to go into a cinema to see his own film because he was under the age of 16.
304:
Sylvester), a criminal on the run and using the ruins as a hideout from the police, convinces
Frankie that the police will arrest the boy and charge him with the murder of his friend for pushing him to his death and that they must both make their getaway.
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Realising that
Frankie is the only witness to his crime, Len knows he must kill the boy, too. This develops into a terrifying hide-and-seek chase through a bomb-damaged, abandoned and highly-perilous
499:(children under 16 allowed in to see the film if accompanied by an adult). (NOTE: the distributor requested it be reclassified in April 1953, which was rejected and it retained its 'X' certificate).
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Filming had definitely begun by May, 1952, as there is an on set photograph available of Andrew Ray celebrating his 13th birthday on May 31 of that year at
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blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, surrounded by his parents and other children from the film. The film was shot at
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called it "a forceful and far from stupid
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745:"Movie Review - The Yellow Balloon - The Screen in Review; 'The Yellow Balloon' at Normandie Theatre"
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690:. Vol. 42, no. 2, 115. South Australia. 20 December 1952. p. 6 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE)
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was one of the first films to be passed with the then new Adults Only "X" certificate by the
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LAND OF HOPE Lejeune, C A. The Observer (1901- 2003); London (UK) 11 Jan 1953: 6.
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The YELLOW BALLOON Picture Show; London Vol. 60, Iss. 1568, (Apr 18, 1953): 9.
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and produced by the company's Marble Arch Productions. It was made at
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robbery that goes horribly wrong when Len murders the pub owner.
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British Cinema of The 1950s The Decline of Deference
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288:The film is set in the immediate aftermath of the
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632:. Manchester University Press. pp. 40–50.
300:runs off with it, with Ronnie in hot pursuit.
816:
8:
551:Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account',
823:
809:
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698:– via National Library of Australia.
670:– via National Library of Australia.
615:. Oxford University Press USA. p. 80.
521:said it "should chalk up modest grosses."
29:
20:
1444:Films with screenplays by J. Lee Thompson
577:"The Yellow Balloon | BFI |"
1419:Films shot at Associated British Studios
544:
144:Associated British Picture Corporation
611:Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003).
565:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046561/
7:
743:Crowther, Bosley (13 October 1954).
1414:Films set on the London Underground
708:BOY ACTOR MAY NOT SEE HIS OWN FILM
1109:Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
14:
1409:Films directed by J. Lee Thompson
1129:Battle for the Planet of the Apes
454:The film was based on an idea of
1149:The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
1039:John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
433:Hilda Barry as Newspaper Seller
352:Stephen Fenemore as Ron Williams
475:and on location around London.
424:as Boy Singing at Sunday School
1:
1439:British black-and-white films
488:British Board of Film Censors
45:(credited as J. Lee-Thompson)
1459:Films scored by Philip Green
1449:1950s English-language films
1309:Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects
1289:Death Wish 4: The Crackdown
1475:
296:, amongst the bomb sites.
257:with sets designed by the
163:10 February 1953
682:"Foam bath for a fat boy"
555:, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p 502
28:
1119:A Great American Tragedy
929:Woman in a Dressing Gown
899:An Alligator Named Daisy
889:As Long as They're Happy
626:Chibnall, Steve (2000).
388:as Sunday School Teacher
869:The Weak and the Wicked
430:as Fruit Stall Customer
134:Marble Arch Productions
1360:For Them That Trespass
959:No Trees in the Street
278:Queensway tube station
1370:No Place for Jennifer
1049:Return from the Ashes
879:For Better, for Worse
579:. BFI. Archived from
1429:Allied Artists films
1424:Films shot in London
1404:Films about children
1259:King Solomon's Mines
1239:The Evil That Men Do
1219:Happy Birthday to Me
989:The Guns of Navarone
849:Murder Without Crime
406:as Bibulous Customer
1454:1950s British films
1434:British drama films
1069:Before Winter Comes
969:North West Frontier
919:The Good Companions
687:The Mail (Adelaide)
659:The Mail (Adelaide)
654:"Mound the studios"
1350:East of Piccadilly
1330:The Price of Folly
1299:Messenger of Death
979:I Aim at the Stars
909:Yield to the Night
859:The Yellow Balloon
792:The Yellow Balloon
786:The Yellow Balloon
776:The Yellow Balloon
750:The New York Times
527:The New York Times
492:London Underground
484:The Yellow Balloon
443:Peggy Ann Clifford
422:Richard O'Sullivan
313:London Underground
268:took place around
251:Associated British
221:is a 1953 British
218:The Yellow Balloon
24:The Yellow Balloon
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1179:The White Buffalo
1029:What a Way to Go!
439:as Police Officer
356:William Sylvester
331:as Frankie Palmer
294:London's East End
266:Location shooting
235:William Sylvester
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90:William Sylvester
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1399:1953 drama films
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788:at Letterbox DVD
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712:(31 Jan 1953: 8.
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364:as Jessie Stokes
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583:on 12 July 2012
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469:Elstree Studios
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362:Marjorie Rhodes
337:as Emily Palmer
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227:J. Lee Thompson
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754:. Retrieved
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585:. Retrieved
581:the original
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535:for years."
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453:
416:Edward Evans
392:Sandra Dorne
341:Kenneth More
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262:Robert Jones
259:art director
243:Kenneth More
225:directed by
217:
216:
215:
179:Running time
156:Release date
120:Philip Green
110:Richard Best
82:Kenneth More
54:Anne Burnaby
18:
1199:The Passage
1009:Taras Bulba
840:As director
461:The Mudlark
404:Laurie Main
368:Peter Jones
347:Bernard Lee
64:Produced by
38:Directed by
1394:1953 films
1388:Categories
1279:Firewalker
1209:Caboblanco
733:at Variety
539:References
514:The Window
479:Censorship
450:Production
437:Hugh Moxey
329:Andrew Ray
276:including
231:Andrew Ray
223:drama film
204:Box office
183:78 minutes
167:1953-02-10
127:Production
78:Andrew Ray
50:Written by
999:Cape Fear
949:Tiger Bay
831:Films of
530:, critic
503:Reception
410:Hy Hazell
400:as Potter
380:Sid James
270:Bayswater
247:Hy Hazell
207:£116,245
106:Edited by
16:1953 film
1169:St. Ives
509:Observer
196:Language
116:Music by
74:Starring
1202:(1979)
756:4 April
587:4 April
519:Variety
412:as Mary
394:as Iris
274:Chelsea
199:English
188:Country
165: (
129:company
1373:(1950)
1363:(1949)
1353:(1941)
1343:(1941)
1333:(1937)
1312:(1989)
1302:(1988)
1292:(1987)
1282:(1986)
1272:(1986)
1262:(1985)
1252:(1984)
1242:(1984)
1232:(1983)
1222:(1981)
1212:(1980)
1192:(1978)
1182:(1977)
1172:(1976)
1162:(1976)
1152:(1975)
1142:(1974)
1132:(1973)
1122:(1972)
1112:(1972)
1102:(1970)
1092:(1969)
1082:(1969)
1072:(1969)
1062:(1966)
1052:(1965)
1042:(1965)
1032:(1964)
1022:(1963)
1012:(1962)
1002:(1962)
992:(1961)
982:(1960)
972:(1959)
962:(1959)
952:(1959)
942:(1958)
932:(1957)
922:(1957)
912:(1956)
902:(1955)
892:(1955)
882:(1954)
872:(1954)
862:(1953)
852:(1950)
694:8 July
666:8 July
636:
370:as Sid
358:as Len
1159:Widow
796:TCMDB
292:, in
781:IMDb
758:2014
696:2020
668:2020
634:ISBN
589:2014
507:The
323:Cast
284:Plot
272:and
245:and
209:(UK)
150:(US)
794:at
779:at
524:In
517:."
1390::
747:.
684:.
656:.
280:.
264:.
241:,
237:,
233:,
824:e
817:t
810:v
760:.
642:.
591:.
169:)
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