The Blue Lamp. By Ted Willis and Jan Read. (London
Hippodrome.) . WE have had" the book of the film " and " the film of the book" and" the film of the play.' ' Now we have " the play of the film "- a dramatised and stagey version of what was originally a rather good drama-documentary of London police versus young thugs. No amount of revolving the stage and accurately switching on and off the spots could conceal the fact that The Blue Lamp flickers a lot and almost dies as the movement of the story falls so far behind the shifting of the scenes. The whole thing is not a good idea, and the dialogue sounds infantile in a theatre. But there are some good performances, especially by Natalie Kent as the harrowed mother of a murderer crying out against the world he lives in • by Susan Shaw as the high-heeled floosie in the sort of suit that gills still wear east of Aldgate ; and by Edwin Richfield as the more convincing of the two amateurish crooks whose guilt is so clear to the audience while Jack Warner and his detectives bumble along in the dark trying to prove it. Gordon Harker, who has so often been the wrong side of the law, is a realistic and humane constable, and is killed off far too eatr in the play. As melodrama this is not quite strong enough for Leicester Square ; too many of the characters can be seen just around the corner, looking more convincing and more sinister without any grease paint. GERARD FAY.
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