The Wrong Arm Of The Law (1963)

Writer and film academic Graham Rinaldi joins the pod this week to discuss the much admired 1963 British comedy romp The Wrong Arm of the Law, starring Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries and Bernard Cribbins. Very much a soulmate of the earlier film Two Way Stretch, and featuring many of the same cast, The Wrong Arm of the Law drew upon the talents of the cream of British comedy at the time - scriptwriters Galton & Simpson (and John Antrobus), plus supporting cast including Bill Kerr, Graham Stark, Dick Emery, Dennis Price and others. It also supposedly features an uncredited early appearance by Michael Caine but good luck spotting him!Sellers plays Pearly Gates, the self-assured head of a London crime syndicate whose legitimate business is within high class ladies fashion, where he masquerades as a Parisian fashion designer – M. Jules - with impeccable society connections. Maison Jules is of course a front for Pearly’s more illegal interests and he employs a hapless gang principally consisting of Graham Stark, Davy Kay and John Junkin. When these three are conned into handing over the spoils of a daring postal van hijack to three Australians purporting to be policemen, and when six of Pearly’s subsequent operations are stymied by the same trio of uniform-clad colonials, it is clear that this so-called ‘IPO Mob’ is seriously threatening Pearly’s livelihood – and not only his: a fellow crime boss, Nervous O’Toole (played by the wonderful Cribbins) has been similarly hit and the two criminal fraternities come together to try and decide how best to tackle this problem. Enter the ever-angular Lionel Jeffries as ‘Nosey’ Parker, an ambitious if bumbling police inspector, and the eventual collaboration of the entire London Metropolitan Police with the Gates and O’Toole syndicate to pool resources and catch the IPO Mob. Cue a sting operation, car chase and daring escape with a perfect ending - The Wrong Arm of the Law has it all.