Chimney-sweep Mr. Grimes (James Mason), his apprentice Tom and the bumbling Mr. Masterman (Bernard Cribbons) go to sweep the chimneys of the local manor. Whilst Torn is cleaning the chimneys, Grimes is stealing the family silver. When the theft is discovered, Grimes puts the blame on Tom.
Pursued by the occupants of the manor, Tom runs down to the river and jumps into 'Dead Mans' pool. Instead of drowning he is transported to an underwater world, where he has many exciting adventures, including the rescue of some Water Babies, and is rewarded by the Lord Of The Sea - Krakon (Neptune) and is allowed to return to the world above.
Once back on 'dry land' he sets about turning the tables on Grimes and Co. Tom is then taken in by the Lord of the manor (David Tomlinson) and Lady Harriot (Joan Greenwood), his days as a sweep are over.
Very good family entertainment, with a reasonable balance between the live action sequences and the cartoon underwater section which this well edited 3 reeler concentrates on.
The colour and definition are average but appear to improve during the underwater cartoon sequence due to the extra bright colours, the review print being very clean and free from neg. dust, but it had a tendency to drift in and out of focus, due possibly to overly tight winding of the print onto the spool, something that seems to be on the increase recently. The sound was good but did require some bass cut to make the dialogue clear.
Whilst the cartoon section is not up to the 'Disney standard' it's as good as you're likely to find these days, and my children accepted it without comment.
James Mason and Bernard Cribbons make marvelous villains and they come across well in this entertaining item. Recommended.
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Distributed by: PM Films. |
The above review was printed in Super
Eight Film Review issue 3 also in issue 38. |
