Sparrows Can't Sing

Director - Joan Littlewood (Oh! What a Lovely War, Peierrots)

Starring - James Booth (Pray for Death, Bad Guys), Barbara Windsor (The Great Bang, Double Vision), and Roy Kinnear (Scrooge, Watership Down)

Release Date - 1963

Genre - Comedy/Drama

Tagline - "Sailor, sailor home from the sea.  Whose little stranger can this one be?"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      A few weeks back I was sent several new releases from my friends over at Severin to review.  The package included the amazing set Bloody Legend: The Cliff Twemlow Collection along with several films from director Peter Medak.  I really enjoyed MOST of the film the films that I was sent directed by Medak with the exception of the film Negatives.  I was not a fan of the film but it was the first film in a double feature with the 1963 comedy Sparrow's Can't Sing.  I had assumed that the film was directed by Medak as well but that was not the case.  Regardless, I couldn't wait to check it out in hopes it was better than the other film in the set.  I want to thank Severin for sending this one over!

     The film follows a young man who is returning home after 2 years at sea.  He learns that his neighborhood, his home included, has been demolished.  He can't find his wife and starts looking for her around town while meeting many familiar faces that he knew before he was gone.  When he is able to find her, she is shacked up with another man and taking care of their child.  

     I went into Sparrow's Can't Sing completely blind and it wasn't until the opening credits that I realized it wasn't directed by Medak.  That didn't really turn me off to the film, and while it was better than Negatives, it still wasn't as great as I would have liked.  The acting in this one is actually pretty well done.  I loved the cast and the characters they brought to life.  While the characters are pretty cliched and generic, the cast does a great job which made the film a little more enjoyable.  The story for this one is a bit messy but I did like several elements of it.  The humor, if the film had any, did not find it's mark.  It may have been funny if you had that old style sense of humor but from today's standpoint, it was not funny.  I didn't realize it was meant to be a comedy until I was putting the review together and saw it listed as such on the imdb page.  Also, I didn't like the way that the film focused more on the protagonist's interactions with supporting characters instead of his search for his missing wife.  The movie plays out the same way that I play sandbox games.  Finally, the film has no blood or gore so those looking for carnage will be very disappointed.  Overall, Sparrows Can't Sing is a movie that had promise but fails to pull anything together.  I liked the acting and the baseline for the story but the execution fell flat.  I really wanted to like this one but I couldn't.  Skip it.