The Blue Lamp /The Nanny 
(Warner Brothers
"British Classics"
Double Feature Region 2 DVD)
(1949/1965)
review by Suspiriorium

As part of their continuing DVD double-bill releases, Warner Home Video UK have just released a fine pairing of two minor British classics on one great value disc.

An Ealing Studios production, The Blue Lamp has a lot in common with the more well-known comedies that the studio was producing at the same time, but plays as a rather more straight dramatic crime movie. Nonetheless, with writer TEB Clarke (assisted by Alexander MacKendrick) many of the typical Ealing trademarks do appear, notably in its’ quintessentially British character & warm sense of humour – this is at times an extremely funny film. If you’d ever wondered where the clichéd image of the friendly, direction-giving, “What seems to be the problem, Ma’am?” Bobby on the Beat came from, it’s probably fair to say that a big part of it is down to this film, & its spin-off TV series, the long-running Dixon of Dock Green. This does make it very much a product of its time & indeed the first half at times seems almost like a recruitment film for the Police Force. However, there is also a real darker edge running through the material, as the jovial Bobby’s come up against a new breed of British gangsters, epitomised by the loose-wired, free-shooting Riley – a terrific performance by a young Dirk Bogarde. Looking astonishingly like Johnny Depp, Bogarde eats up the screen, & prevents the film from slipping into all-out whimsy. His isn’t the only great performance, mind – there’s scarcely a bad note all round, particularly from Jack Warner as policeman Dixon himself, & Bernard Lee, who is best known as ‘M’ in the Bond films, & was fresh off The Third Man. Although by modern standards this film is perhaps a little too slow, view it with half an eye towards the time it was made, & this is decidedly superior entertainment. Besides, the climax (including a thrilling car chase which seems like a trial run for that in the follow year’s Lavender Hill Mob) is absolutely top-drawer stuff, & easily adds an extra skull to the rating.

Whilst Hammer studios is undoubtedly best known for it’s overblown Gothic horrors, filled with hyper-red blood & heaving cleavages, The Nanny could scarcely be any different. A slow, suspenseful psychological thriller, the film plays for the most part with precious little violence, & absolutely no gore. Bette Davis stars as the titular long-suffering Nanny, who tries to keep the family together after the death of the young daughter, with the mother (Wendy Craig) falling to pieces, & a mostly absent father (James Villiers). The death was blamed on the son, 10 year old Joey (William Dix), who has just been sent home from spending two years at a school for dysfunctional children, & who is consumed by a hatred for Nanny, & anything she does. For the most part, this is a fairly static film, remaining entirely ambiguous about what is actually going on, & whose word we can trust. In fact, if anything it keeps you guessing for slightly too long, & borders on becoming a little wearying. But, as with The Blue Lamp, if you can hold on long enough, the climax is well worth it. Again, it’s bloodless & fairly tame, but it is extremely tense, & with so many modern films forgetting that one important element, The Nanny is something of a breath of fresh air. Scenes flashing back to the young girl playing near the bath have an air of awful inevitability to them which makes them quite hard to watch. The film gains considerably from some very strong central performances, although Davis perhaps doesn’t have the room to show off fully. The film really belongs to Dix as the young boy – as written the character is a pretty unlikeable, obnoxious & possibly unhinged brat, but surprisingly you won’t spend the whole film getting annoyed by him & wishing he’d just hurry up and die. Far too often I’ve watched horror films & bemoaned the presence of small children, so it’s quite surprising how palatable he is. Overall, The Nanny is not exactly essential viewing, but it is an above average suspenser, & rather more than just a means to pass the time.

Coming together on a single DVD, both films have pretty impressive full frame 1.33:1 transfers. There’s quite a bit of print damage thoughout, but it’s eminently watchable. Now, I don’t know if the aspect ratio is correct (I would imagine so), although it’s worth pointing out that the framing on The Nanny seemed rather tight. The audio is an impressively cleaned up Mono track – nothing earth-shattering, but certainly no cause for complaints. As ever with these Warner double bills, there’s absolutely nothing in the way of extras, but to get a pair of under-seen gems like this is such good value that I can’t really complain too much, & makes this a package it’s a pleasure to recommend