There Was a Young Lady

A super-efficient secretary circumvents the schemes of smash-and grab gangsters.

Wherever Michael Denison was, Duclie Gray was never far away - and together they are again in this light-hearted comedy thriller. He is the boss of a diamond brokers; she ("Elizabeth") his secretary/fiancée who after a bit of a row, storms out and into the middle of a heist. The criminals take her along so she cannot identify them, but not before she manages to leave a clue for her husband-to-be "David". Certain that he will understand and pursue with the police, she starts to ingratiate herself with this not very menacing bunch of crooks and, well you can easily guess the rest. The story is a bit thin, and the script flows a bit like glue at times but there are some fun contributions from Bill Owen, Charles Farrell (no, not the silent one) and an early outing for an instantly recognisable Geraldine McEwan (looking not unlike Maggie Smith!). It's a fine example of the simplicity that made us Brits laugh in the early 1950s and taken in that spirit it doesn't disappoint.