The Boys

Richard Todd and Robert Morley star in this super courtroom drama with a good solid story and some really deft performances. A nightwatchman is murdered and four troublemaking youths are apprehended by the police and put on trial for the crime. What appears, initially, to be a bit of a fait-accompli develops into an interesting evaluation of social norms and attitudes in early 60s Britain. Todd is incisive as the prosecuting barrister and Morley much less avuncular with his conducting of their defence than is usual for his performances. Dudley Sutton (probably most famous as "Tinker" in the BBC series "Lovejoy" that brought Ian McShane to the fore) is superb, as is Ronald Lacey and Felix Aylmer keeps things on an even keel as the High Court Judge. Definitely worth watching...