Two-Way Stretch
Original poster
Directed byRobert Day
Written byJohn Warren
Len Heath
Vivian Cox
Alan Hackney
(add'l dialogue)
Produced byE. M. Smedley-Aston
StarringPeter Sellers
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Maurice Denham
Lionel Jeffries
Beryl Reid
David Lodge
Irene Handl
Liz Fraser
Bernard Cribbins
CinematographyGeoffrey Faithfull
Edited byBert Rule
Music byKen Jones
Distributed byBritish Lion Films (UK)
Release date
  • 11 February 1960 (1960-02-11) (UK)
[1]
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£118,677[2]

Two-Way Stretch, also known as Nothing Barred, is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Robert Day and starring Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Lionel Jeffries and Bernard Cribbins.[3] The screenplay is by Vivian Cox, John Warren and Len Heath. A group of prisoners plan to break out of jail, commit a robbery, and then break back into their jail again, thus giving them the perfect alibi – that they were behind bars when the robbery occurred. However, their plans are disrupted by the arrival of a strict new Chief Prison Officer.

Plot

Three prisoners nearing the end of their jail sentences, "Dodger" Lane, "Jelly" Knight and "Lennie the Dip", are visited by a vicar seeking to find employment for them. He is actually conman "Soapy" Stevens, who proposes a large-scale diamond robbery. They will also all have alibis, because they will break out of prison, commit the robbery and then break back in. With the assistance of Dodger's girlfriend Ethel and Lennie's mother the trio smuggle themselves out in a prison van. The operation is almost foiled by the new Chief Prison Officer, disciplinarian "Sour" Crout. The trio hide the diamonds in the Governor's office until they are released and can take them away. All goes well until the sack of diamonds is lost on a train. Stevens is recognised and arrested, but the others get away, still trying to steal the diamonds again.

Cast

Production

The gates of the former South Cavalry Barracks in Aldershot stood in for the prison gates in the film

The prison scenes were filmed at the South Cavalry Barracks at Aldershot, and the security van robbery at Pirbright Arch in the village of Brookwood in Surrey.[4]

Critical reception

Kine Weekly called the film a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.[5]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Jokes and situations borrowed from many a Service farce and laboured parodies of prisoner-of-war escape films are churned out by a familiar cast in a setting reminiscent of Convict 99. Wilfrid Hyde White easily gives comic point to every unctuous line, but Peter Sellers disappoints after his performance in I'm All Right Jack, as if neither he nor anyone else had worked out what sort of character he should give his convict. All in all, though, the pace and simple, rough humour of the story should guarantee the film a public."[6]

In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther gave it a positive review, writing, "the script by John Warren and Len Heath follows a straight line and is clever and full of good Cockney wit. Robert Day's direction is lively, in the vein of civilized farce, and the performances are delicious, right down the line," concluding, "Mr. Sellers is still on the rise."[7]

Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Amusing comedy with good performances and situations, unofficially borrowed in part from Convict 99."[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Two Way Stretch". The British Film Institute. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 360
  3. ↑ "Two-Way Stretch". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "bdca.org.uk • View topic – 1960 film "Two Way Stretch"". www.bdca.org.uk.
  5. ↑ Billings, Josh (15 December 1960). "It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes". Kine Weekly. p. 9.
  6. ↑ "Impact". Monthly Film Bulletin. 27 (312): 40. 1 January 1960.
  7. ↑ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 11 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 1063. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
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