A British period drama; A story set in 1875 about an orphan river scavenger who finds a cameo brooch which leads him to break into Windsor Castle. This is a handsome adaptation of Theodore Bonnet's fictional novel about an urchin from the murky lower reaches of the Thames and a widow in excelsis. While this film has a sentimental plot and may seem a little far-fetched it is not so dissimilar to a factual case of a child palace intruder in 1838. The story unfolds at a slow rate but the screen is always filled with interesting mise en scéne, dramatic tension, humour or atmosphere. All the players make the film a treat: Irene Dunne was considered unlikely casting to embody Britannia but embodied the ageing monarch very well. Matched with her is Alec Guinness who gives a fine performance as Her Majesty's Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Andrew Ray is endearing as the boy looking for a mother-figure. Finlay Currie gives us a grand ghillie John Brown with all his well-known traits that will remind some viewers of Mrs Brown (1997). All in all, this is fine Christmas story-telling.
Review of The Mudlark
