The Magnet
1950 · Movie · 79 min. · United Kingdom
Johnny Brent (Fox), whilst off school in quarantine for scarlet fever, manages to con a younger boy out of a magnet by swapping it for an "invisible watch". He uses the magnet in a number of ways to gain an unfair advantage, for example by using it to control the pinballs on a pin table. He is believed by an eccentric iron lung maker to have given it away to charity, and a sequence of misunderstandings lead Johnny to be hailed as a hero; however, Johnny feels guilty about his deception and believes the police are looking for him, even to the point of believing that he is responsible for the death of a tuberculosis patient. He flees using the New Brighton ferry to Liverpool, where he conflicts with local boys, winning them over by convincing them he is wanted for murder, but returns home safely.
Direction Charles Frend
Cast Stephen Murray · Kay Walsh · James Fox · Meredith Edwards · Gladys Henson · Thora Hird · Michael Brooke · Wylie Watson · Julien Mitchell · Anthony Oliver · Molly Hamley-Clifford · Harold Goodwin · Edward Davies · Keith Robinson · Thomas Johnston · James Robertson Justice
Soundtrack William Alwyn
Screenplay T.E.B. Clarke
Cinematography Lionel Banes
Original title The Magnet
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Not rated (FilmAffinity)
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