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Two-Way Stretch
Two-Way Stretch
	Original poster
Directed by	Robert Day
Written by	John Warren; Len Heath; Vivian Cox; Alan Hackney; (add'l dialogue)
Produced by	E. M. Smedley-Aston
Starring	Peter Sellers; Wilfrid Hyde-White; Maurice Denham; Lionel Jeffries; Beryl Reid; David Lodge; Irene Handl; Liz Fraser; Bernard Cribbins
Cinematography	Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by	Bert Rule
Music by	Ken Jones
Distributed by	British Lion Films (UK)
Release date	11 February 1960 (UK);
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£118,677

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 big 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 fake prison van driven by Soapy. The operation is almost foiled by the new Chief Prison Officer, disciplinarian "Sour" Crout.The trio return to the prison by hiding inside a garbage truck they know is scheduled to make an early morning pickup at the prison (a load of garbage is unexpectedly dumped on them). 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 recognized and arrested but not before Crout throttles an actual Vicar and starts a near riot. The others get away, still trying to steal the diamonds again. They are seen in disguise at a ceremony where the Sultan will literally receive his weight in jewels.

Cast

Peter Sellers as "Dodger" Lane
Lionel Jeffries as Chief Prison Officer "Sour" Crout
Wilfrid Hyde-White as "Soapy" Stevens
Bernard Cribbins as Lennie ("The Dip") Price
David Lodge as "Jelly" Knight
Irene Handl as Mrs Price
Liz Fraser as Ethel
Maurice Denham as Horatio Bennett, the prison governor
Beryl Reid as Miss Pringle
George Woodbridge as Chief Prison Officer Jenkins
Edwin Brown as warder Charlie
Cyril Chamberlain as gate warder (day)
Wallas Eaton as gate warder (night)
William Abney as visiting room warder
Thorley Walters as Colonel Parkright
John Wood as captain
Robert James as police superintendent
Walter Hudd as Reverend Patterson
Mario Fabrizi as Jones
Warren Mitchell as tailor
John Glyn-Jones as lawyer
Arthur Mullard as Fred
Ian Wilson as milkman
Edward Dentith as detective
John Harvey as governor Rockhampton Prison
Ted Carroll as "Tarzan Model" in Art Class

Production

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

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