Two-Way Stretch (1960)

A great British crime comedy always worth watching again, Two Way Stretch is about imprisoned crooks who hatch a scheme to pull off a heist with a perfect alibi by breaking out, doing the job, and then breaking back in to serve out their sentences. Peter Sellers, usually an eccentric support in these things, takes a rare lead as cocky mastermind Dodger Lane, confident enough to share the screen with performers who would be doing serious time if scene-stealing were an actual offense. The chief delight of the film is Lionel Jeffries's bristling, infuriated, hilariously humiliated warder Sidney Crout, forever fuming as Dodger gets away with some new scheme. Also in on the scam: Wilfrid Hyde-White as a bogus clergyman, David Lodge as the dimwitted muscleman, and Bernard Cribbins in the nice young man part. The British cinema has been turning out an unheralded series of wonderful caper comedies for decades, from The Lavender Hill Mob through A Fish Called Wanda to The Parole Officer; this effort--along with the follow-up, The Wrong Arm of the Law--ranks among the best. --Kim Newman Amazon.com

Blimey! Sour Crout!

Another great British Lion movie made by those talented actor's companies they put together. Sellers must have been the inspiration for the story of inmates plotting a jail break because he used it in other movies. He and his two cell mates plot an escape to participate in a jewel heist being arranged by another partner on the outside, a con man named Soapy Stevens who poses as a Anglican Reverend. He is played delightfully by Wilfred Hyde White who steals every scene in which he appears.

The jail they are serving time in is a country club type where the inmates are given free reign of the place by a softy Governor (as the warden is called.) The Governor is more preoccupied with winning gardening prizes than running the prison. He makes a mockery of compassion.

Along comes Chief Prison Officer Sidney Crout nicknamed Sour Crout. He plays the British version of the martinet Sergeant to perfection. He intends to set things right and stop this mollycoddling of the prisoners. He makes enemies of the inmates, the Governor, and others. He suffers hilarious misadventures as he tries to reopen the rock pile and discover tunnelers. He is played with zest by Lionel Jeffries in one of the finest performances in this type of role I've ever seen.

Peter Seller's role in this movie, as the hero or main character, is curiously more of a straight man role. His comedy is more subtle.

The caper in the film is of a British Army convoy guarding a sultan's diamonds and losing them, despite all their elaborate plans, to this gang of thieves. It works much better than a similar caper in Seller's "The Wrong Arm of the Law."

Also of note is Liz Frazer's performance as Seller's tarty fiance who uses her feminine distress to help the gang at key moments.

I really liked this movie. July 5, 2008

A great comic caper

Two-Way Stretch is the one where Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins and David Lodge break out of prison to commit a robbery, then break back in to provide themselves with the perfect alibi. Unfortunately, their plan and their luxury regime in prison is disrupted by sadistic new chief warder Lionel Jeffries, whose arrival inspires a reel or so of sendups of classic P.O.W. movies such as The Wooden Horse (with Jeffries ending up falling through the tunnel) and Danger Within (with Cribbins literally up faeces creek without a paddle).

The comic highlights may be the prison visitors sequence, with Liz Fraser's stocking tops providing ample diversion for assorted relatives to slip through sacks full of contraband to the inmates, and Beryl Reid's Ladies' League of Prison Reform inspection of the prison's rehabilitation classes, where plant pots hide dice and woodwork cabinets double as props for demonstrations of safe-cracking (straight out of Sergeant Bilko), but the film manages consistently funny throughout, a rarity for the star. Indeed, the film is so good-natured that it's a surprise to find mention of 'n**-n**s' in the script (this was 1962, after all).

With a great cast filled with familiar faces, the undisputed star of the show is Wilbur the carrier pigeon and his unique way of delivering messages!
February 13, 2008

From the Glory Days of British Comedy

Ah, for those bygone days when British studios like Ealing and Shepperton churned out little classics like this on a regular basis. The stalwarts of the era are all here, including Wilfred Hyde-White, Bernard Cribbins and, of course, Sellers. Those who know Sellers from his later, American period will find this character a little unusual; he's more the sharp tough guy who runs the operation than he is the bumbling fool that he later perfected. The plot is simple; Sellers & Co. want to break out of prison, commit a heist, then break back into prison so that they have the perfect alibi. It all sounds quite masterful but, of course, things go terribly awry. For fans of Sellers and/or the golden era of British comedy, this is definitely one to check out. July 31, 2006

Mildly Amusing Crime Yarn

This film is a pleasant diversion but cannot be ranked as one of Peter Sellers' better efforts. Sellers acquits himself well enough as the Cockney leader of a band of thieves who break out of prison to pull off a diamond heist but neither he nor the story allow him to stretch to heights that he proved capable of in previous and later works. That said, this movie is funny enough to recommend to the most casual viewer and to Peter Sellers fans. September 8, 2004

A few more touches

Your reviewers Kim and Peter did an excellent job and I heartily agree with them.
Do you remember how increasingly noisy the Army guarding the valuables were? Culminating in the major in his armored car yelling at midnight outside the pub and having a chamber pot unceremoniously dumped upon him.
We saw (a much older and heavier) Lionel Jefferies (a bishop) at a London theater. After, on the street, program still in hand, we were discussing our evening plans when he came by in street clothes and said he hoped we enjoyed the show. We persueded him to say "Shut up when I'm talkin' " (from 2-way Stretch) We will never forget it. March 14, 2003

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