The Boys

UK, 1962. Director Sidney J. Furie. 123min.

The Boys readily illustrates the widespread discrimination directed at post-war youth by a conservative Britain. This gripping film centres around the media controversy that engulfed capital punishment at the time, and was one of the first British social melodramas to acknowledge the rise of teenage gangs and the resulting juvenile delinquency. The title characters are four working class teenagers, described here as “Teddy Boys,” all implicated in the murder of a night watchman. Furie makes a close study of the sartorial choices made by the boys who all sport the latest Italian slim-line style suits, made fashionable in the UK by Cecil Gee during the late 1950s, becoming a precursor to the mod style of the early 1960s.

With Richard Todd, Dudley Sutton and Robert Morley.

Past screenings

If Looks Could Kill – London
Saturday 31 May 2008, 18:20 | The Horse Hospital
Screened alongside The Violent Years (1956) in the double bill ‘So What! Two Tales of Juvenile Delinquency,‘ guest curated by Roger K. Burton.