bkoganbing Although the play Cosh Boy never made it to Broadway, probably too British in its subject matter, the original actor who played the lead on the London stage got to recreate his role for the screen. In the tradition of Richard Attenborough in Brighton Rock, James Kenney is mesmerizing and unforgettable as the dirty little punk who with his gang robs little old ladies of their monies.If anything Kenney is far more loathsome than Attenborough, not even a hint of surface charm. In fact the hardest part of the film to take seriously is having young Joan Collins surrender herself and her virginity to this creep. Still his love 'em and leave 'em attitude is just one more reason to hate this kid. I've seen very few leading villains so lacking in any redeeming qualities. Possibly Lee Marvin in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one.For those of us Yanks for who the film was retitled The Slasher for release by Lippert Pictures here, a Cosh is a kind of truncheon used to whack someone into unconsciousness or beat them severely. That's what he and his gang use. He's the bane of the existence of his poor mother Betty Ann Davies who agonizes over what she did wrong in raising him. She has a new man in her life, American Robert Ayres playing a Canadian, who thinks the kid just needed a good attitude adjustment that was never given him by a father who is not in the picture. In the end Kenney has to account for all his many sins.Besides a very young Joan Collins viewers should take note of the two Hermiones in the film, Hermione Baddely as the mother of Collins who wants to Cosh the Cosh Boy after she finds out what Kenney has done and Hermione Gingold playing a not disguised at all prostitute who is a friend of the Davies/Kenney family. It's a poor section of London these folks live in with evidence all around of the recent war. Kenney's gang hides out in the bombed out buildings still not repaired by 1953. Cosh Boy is still quite a riveting piece of film making and Kenney is unforgettably evil.

kidboots After the war Britain went through a J.D. crisis and some fine films tried to give understanding to the problem ("The Blue Lamp" (1950), "Violent Playground" (1957), "Beat Girl" (1959)). While "Cosh Boy" was a bit heavy handed (literally) at laying the blame on absentee fathers - at least it tried to find a solution. It was also the first British film to receive an X certificate.Two young chaps follow an inebriated granny onto a vacant lot, "cosh" her and take her purse. So begins "Cosh Boy", a rather wooden film that attempts to explain the rise of juvenile delinquency that happened everywhere, after World War 11. The boys, Roy (James Kenny) and Alfie (Ian Whittaker) are caught and sentenced to one year's probation. Roy manages to put on a good performance for the magistrate but he is the brains behind the gang and has no intention of stopping his unlawful activities. His mother announces her intention of marrying Bob Stevens and Roy goes crazy - says if she marries Bob, he will kill him!!!Roy goes to a local dance and meets Rene (beautiful Joan Collins). She is not impressed with his caveman tactics and continues to see dependable Brian. Roy arranges to have Brian beaten up and when Brian is discharged from hospital Roy and Rene are a couple. Roy may have his mother hoodwinked - but not his gran, who has her own ideas about how he should be bought up. When Roy's mother and Bob come back from a date, Gran is distraught - her life savings (which she kept under her bed) are gone, and she knows who is responsible. Bob waits until Roy comes home and gives him a sample of what life will be like when he marries Roy's mum. Rene is having her own problems - she is having a baby and Roy, being the gentleman that he is, refuses to have anything to do with her. She then tries to kill herself by jumping into the river but, fortunately, is saved, a sadder but wiser girl.Things start to unravel for Roy - he has got hold of a gun, which he uses with disastrous results in a bungled robbery. Even though he will spend a long time in jail, police turn a blind eye when his step father gives him a well deserved thrashing!! Comparing this film to "The Blue Lamp" is silly. "The Blue Lamp" is a classic British noir, this is just a programmer. I wouldn't describe the acting as amateurish and the film is not as bad as some reviewers make out. Recommended.

mikepetty Just seen this on TV. Watched the whole thing (not just the last 15 minutes), and agree with most of what's been said - the dodgy accents, the usual brace of Hermiones, Sid James doing his avuncular desk sergeant bit, etc etc. And as the stepfather Robert Ayres gives the best performance as a piece of wood I've seen since the log in Twin Peaks. Don't think I've ever seen a film before where the fuzz make themselves scarce for ten minutes so stepfather can give his stepson a bloody good thrashing! But...making allowances for the conventions of the time, you can tell it was made by someone who knew what he was doing, and several things kept me watching: the location shots of blitzed London; Joan Collins, who was rather affecting given the limitations of her role; and James Kenney as Roy the hoodlum was really good - overwrought, sure, but convincing nevertheless. I was reminded of Gary Oldman at his most psychotic.

Andy-140 'Cosh Boy' was made at a time when society was preoccupied with youth. Many men died in the war leaving widows on their own to cope with family life. The fear of crime in the early post-war period was blown out of proportion. 'Cosh Boy' is a reflection of this moral panic and many newspapers carried stories about 'cosh boys' going out mugging old ladies.Lewis Gilbert's film follows the rise and fall of Roy Walsh a young thug from Battersea. The acting is dire. Ian Whitaker who plays Roy's educationally backward sidekick Alfie collins is staggeringly bad. The film follows the struggles of Roy's widowed mother Elsie who is unable to control her son supposedly because of the absence of a man in the house. The grandmother also lives with Elsie and knows that Roy is no good, she represents the older wiser generation that believed in discipline and family life with two parents. The film has a soapbox message in advocating law and order. It starts from an irrational premise, i.e. the country risks being over-run by youthful barbarians. It advocates that women should follow their prescribed gender roles as housewives and mothers, leave the hard stuff like discipline to men. The most nauseating line in the film comes from Grandma Walsh 'They don't know what hard work is these days. Eight hours a day, five days a week, makes me laugh'. So the working classes should be grateful for less exploitative working hours and conditions. Reactionary trash but a laugh a minute none the less.