everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

At last, a chance to see this unique, rarely played film again. During a resent trip to the UK and a chance visit with friends to Covent Gardens market, I happened to find a DVD copy. While my copy is not one of the re-mastered Criterion discs, this HVE disc has very good visual quality (even if the audio may be a slight thin) The transfer from the original IB three strip Technicolor is fine indeed.When I first saw this work I had no idea it was made by that great British master Carol Reed (odd Man Out '47 ~ The Third Man '49 etc) This is a film of believable humanity with a true sense of beauty (often amidst back alleys). This unusual story at first seems to be a fantasy but it later dawns on the viewer that all that happens, does so by natural coincidence. It's almost told through the eyes of Joe, a young lad growing up in a part of London now long gone (pettycoat lane)...the real story teller though, is the local tailor superbly played by David Kossoff. He's the gentle teller of stories that create a sense of wonder in young Joe. This marvelous story, written by Wolf Mankowitz has so many nuisances, I can't help but feel both these characters were etched out of the writers recollections and experiences of growing up with such people in similar surroundings. It's also spiced with some very witty humor. In another of Wolf's award winning short stories "The Bespoke Overcoat" he tells the story of a tailor (again played by David Kossoff) this also featured strong overtones of human responsibilities. Many of the characters in 'A Kid for two Farthings' are quite gruff and the theme involves some grotesque wrestling scenes but somehow the drama of these everyday lives all adds up to a very special experience.In some ways the look and feel of 'Kid' is reminiscent of Reed's "Oliver" a decade later. The young lovers of this piece are convincingly played by Diana Dors (her best work though was probably in "Yield to the Night" in '56) and wrestler Joe Robinson - surprisingly good in his role. Robinson, having been injured in various rough and tumble bouts realized movies offered a safer way to make a living. Young Joe (Johnathon Ashmore) who never made another film, grew up to become a Physiology lecturer.This film is given a terrific look by superb Director of Photography Ted Scaife whose other works included the classic 'Outcasts of the Islands' 51 and two surprise entries in the Tarzan series 'The Greatest Adventure' 59 and 'The Magnificent' 60. Everything he photographs is graced with eye popping Art Direction by multi Award winner Wilfred Shingleton ('Great Expectations' 48 ~ African Queen' 51) The above combination brought together by an astute director, with a sensitive script, assures that this film offers a veritable visual treat. The film was well received at Cannes film festival and deserved its nomination for a Palme D'or.The melodic music by prolific jazz and symphonic composer Benjamin Frankel, also known for: 'Footsteps in the Fog' 55 and 'End of the Affair' 55, adds just the right finishing touch. It tells much about the modern media industry when these great Motion Pictures don't receive the recognition they deserve, while so much cartoonish fluff flourishes.If you like entertainment with a flair for realistic details and warmth, then this could be for you. The final walk off with tailor Kandinsky cradling the 'unicorn' won't be forgotten easily. Recommended for discerning viewing or film study...AND, good quality DVD's are out there!....KenR.

I love old movies and looked forward to seeing this on Film4 today. It's just finished and I have to say it ranks very high in the 'Why did they bother' stakes. Very bad casting, some appalling acting with the lead character - a little boy, raised in the tough East End of London who talks with more marbles in his mouth than he has teeth! I'ts in colour though really should have been b&w to give it more atmosphere but frankly, it would have taken a hell of a lot more to save this old crock. Only watch it if you're wrapped head to foot in a plaster cast and have nothing else to watch. Much worse than I expected, given the great films turned by the British studios of that era. To cheer me up I'm now going to watch Sunset Boulevard for the umpteenth time. Disappointed, Steve Weaver, UK.

Seeing this film for the first time today, the first thing you notice is just how vibrant the colours are and just how unsuited to colour the film is. Black-and-white might have given the film an edge; colour only makes it look like a sub-Runyon yarn. It's set in London's East End and is certainly full of Runyonesque characters, this time courtesy of Wolf Mankowitz. The next thing you notice is just how terrible it is and how terribly miscast it is.Who, apart perhaps from Carol Reed, could have envisaged marble-mouthed Celia Johnson as a working-class East End mother? Is it any wonder her toffee-nosed brat of a boy, (Jonathan Ashmore, never heard of again), talks as if he's been taking elocution lessons. Then there's Joe Robinson, the most Runyonesque character of all, another improbably polite strongman engaged to Diana Dors, (not bad, considering). And no East End movie of the period would be complete without David Kossoff as a Yiddish tailor, (did he come out of the womb talking and looking like that?).It's about Ashborne buying a young goat with a single horn which he believes is a unicorn. It's meant to be heart-warming. We are supposed to love the child and his goat. I wanted to skin them alive. The film is hardly ever revived. Even Carol Reed retrospectives tend to ignore it. Now I know why.

A nostalgic film which works on many levels. It is as gentle a look at the innocent magic of childhood as Stephen Spielberg's E.T. It is also a look at the indomitable spirit of London's east enders only 10 years after the end of WWII. Another level is a look back at the 50's, which seem chaste by comparison with today. As one who grew up in the 50's, I can remember that it was exactly like that. Wrestling matches were gritty affairs which took place on Friday night's at the local drill hall, and attracted all the small town gamblers, crooks, bookmakers and "fast Eddies" in town.The film captures the cockney humor and sharp wit of the polyglot community practically living on top of each other. People lived close to the small shops and businesses. Everyone knew everyone else and saw them all day. Their lives were lived openly, with the neighbors sharing in each others joys, sorrows, gossip, romances, and whatever. The most shining performance is that of the wonderful character actor, David Kossof, as the elderly tailor who strives to keep the child's dream alive.