Name: The Wrong Arm of the Law
Genre: Crime, Comedy
Released: 1963-03-17
Duration: 94 min
Rating: 6.7
Cast: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Nanette Newman, Davy Kaye

The Wrong Arm of the Law

Meet the Mastermind Who Pulls the Strings in the Underworld...and all his mobs and dolls...filling the London fog with laughter and lunacy!!!

The crooks in London know how it works. No one carries guns and no one resists the police. Then a new gang appears that go one better. They dress as police and steal from the crooks. This upsets the natural order of the police/criminal relationship and the police and the crooks join forces to catch the IPOs (Impersonating Police Officers), including an armoured car robbery in which the police must help the gangs to set a trap.

CrimeComedy

DirectorCliff Owen

WritersRay Galton, Alan Simpson, John Antrobus, John Warren, Len Heath, Ivor Jay

StatusReleased

LanguageEnglish

Release DateMarch 17, 1963

Runtime1h 34m

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

January 16, 20247/10

Ostensibly, "Pearly Gates" (Peter Sellers) is a French couturier selling posh frocks, but we know in reality he's a crook. Imagine his chagrin when his latest crime falls foul of the police! Imagine how much worse it gets when he discovers that it wasn't the police at all, but a gang who "IPO" (Impersonate Police Officers). That's below the belt! Meantime, the rather supercilious police inspector "Parker" (Lionel Jeffries) starts to get embroiled in this too as his bosses don't much like the idea that there are fake officers out there robbing with impunity. The most unlikely of truces now ensues as both have to bury the hatchet and concoct a plan to entrap their rather shrewd, and well briefed, protagonists. The enormous sum of £500,000 is to be used as bait but what's the betting the plan goes pear-shaped? There's a good dynamic between Sellers and Jeffries here with a well paced and engagingly daft story unravelling over a quickly paced ninety minutes. Some familiar faces make up the supporting cast and the denouement - well I quite liked that! The humour is simple and uncomplicated, relying on some characterful performances and some spirited efforts on screen, and I did quite enjoy this.