Dick Barton, Detective (1948) User Reviews

Dick Barton, Not-so-special Agent.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 8 November 2020]

Based on the popular B.B.C. radio serial, this first film in Hammer's Dick Barton series is a real disappointment, failing to capture the spirit of the character, the formula ruined by too much dumb humour and a script that relies on coincidence to drive the plot. It also suffers from terrible direction and clumsy editing, director Alfred J. Goulding's previous experience in quickie shorts and slapstick comedy not suited to the action/adventure genre.

The plot sees Barton (Don Stannard) and his sidekick Snowey White (George Ford) travelling to the fishing village of Echo Bay where they come up against Nazis who are planning to introduce deadly bacteria into the UK's water supplies. With very broad performances from both the baddies and Barton's companions from the outset, this is all way too silly to be genuinely exciting, and the script's contrivances only make things even harder to take seriously. The accidental delivery of lobsters to Barton and friends is possibly the worst offender - the discovery of valuables inside the shellfish conveniently tipping off the special agent that something is very wrong in Echo Bay - but there are plenty of other daft moments to spoil the film, including several lame attempts on Barton's life by a pair of bumbling henchman (who use a poison tipped dart - of the type found in pubs).

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for this unintentionally amusing line uttered by the film's token babe Jean Hunter (Gillian Maude): "It's no use, Betsy... I can't stand this any longer. I'm going out to look for Dick."

"My name's Barton, Dick Barton"

[richardchatten · 4/10 · 18 June 2022]

The maiden episode of a short-lived trio of Dick Barton movies made by Hammer is a jaunty period piece from the days when the dastardly villains were still nazis rather than commies.

It's amateurish technique, period detail and use of actual locations today gains it considerable interest viewed purely as a documentary.

I'm going to go out and look for Dick.

[southdavid · 3/10 · 26 August 2021]

In preparation for the "House of Hammer" podcast, which is covering the complete "Dick Barton" trilogy that Hammer produced in the late 1940's. Slightly confusingly for me, I watched "Dick Barton: Strikes Back" first, not believing that this was available, but then finding a copy on YouTube. Having enjoyed the sequel, I found this disappointing.

With his friends as cover, Dick Barton (Don Stannard) heads to the small coastal town of Echo Bay and disrupts a smuggling ring there. Though seemingly small fry for a Detective of Barton's renown, the smugglers have a link to a foreign scientist, going by the name of Dr Casper (Geoffrey Wincott) whose scheme is more malevolent than merely importing contraband.

Despite only being made a year later, "Dick Barton Strikes Back" is a much more accomplished film, in virtually every regard. Here, at least on the version I saw, the editing is a lot less capable. The fight scenes are hilariously amateurish but most strikingly the performances are terrible. Even Don Stannard isn't as comfortable as he is next time out. Farnham Baxter's character Roscoe is a very unusual creation. I don't know what accent he's doing but to describe is as odd is an understatement. The foley work is poor, and some of the dialogue crudely pasted into certain scenes.

You have the early use of the trope of a villain who doesn't just kill the hero, when he has him dead to rights, instead choosing to trap him and assume that his elaborate scheme will work. It's a proud tradition started in the serials and continuing right through to the Batman TV show.

Nothing like as accomplished as it's sequel.

Awful dumbing down of a classic British hero. Skip this movie and watch the other two films in the series instead.

[dbborroughs · 2/10 · 7 March 2006]

Based on the classic British Radio series this clunker of a movie is a series of bad choices (which they corrected for the next two movies), and one of the worst films Hammer Studios ever produced.

The plot of this film has to do with smuggling and Nazi spies in and around a small English Village. The villain is a German agent posing, as a Swedish scientist, complete with German accent. He has secret tunnels and hideouts in the village and is plotting great evil. He is aided by various people in the village all of whom are suspicious looking in the extreme. Good guy Dick Barton is sent to the town by his bosses, under cover of taking a vacation, to the village to find out whats going on.

This movie is bad, really bad. The film was aimed at kids and they dumb the whole movie down with over the top performances and really bad humor. Frankly this is more a misfiring comedy rather than the exciting action adventure of the radio. The direction is at best stiff with the actors not so much directed as arranged in tableaux, upon which the camera locks. It reminded me of a movie from the advent of the movies.

I'm dumb founded at this films awfulness.

I've given the movie a 2 instead of a 1 because there a few fleeting moments where the movie actually works, but they are high points in a very low movie and nothing you need concern yourself with. It would probably be best if you just skipped this movie and watched either of the other two Dick Barton films that followed.

Dreadfully Boring Silly Acting

[malcolmgsw · 1/10 · 13 October 2012]

I am not old enough to remember the original radio series.So i don't know if it was done tongue in cheek.this film seems to have an element of that.However the film is let down by a silly plot awful acting and almost invisible production values.It is probably one of the worst British films that i have ever seen.I haven't yet watched the other 2 in the series but they have to be an improvement on this load of tripe.It is a mercy for most of the actors that the credits only list a handful of the leading actors.Usually i find no difficulty in writing the mandatory 10 lines that are required for a review but the sheer awfulness of this film has left my usual nimble fingers frozen in sheer disbelief.

Imagination is best

[andeven · 1/10 · 4 July 2016]

I was nine years old when Dick Barton finally left the Light Programme (rough though not exact equivalent now Radio 2) in 1950 to make way for The Archers. In its short life it made a huge impression on the wartime and post-war generation of kids (and many adults)and it's difficult now to express what a thrill it was in those radio obsessed and almost TVless days to anticipate seeing on the screen what had previously been left to the imagination.

And therein lies a good part of the problem. We all had our mental visions of Dick, Snowy and Jock and the chances of their screen counterparts matching these was virtually nil. For my money Don Stannard, who tragically died in a car crash at 33 in 1949 just after the third and final Barton film, made a good and physically acceptable Dick Barton, though he could never match Noel Johnson's distinctive radio voice, and George Ford a good Snowy (or was it Snowey - sources differ?). More on Jock Anderson, the third of the trio, below.

I cannot but agree with the comments of other reviewers on the film. It is awful. The radio series may have been very much tongue in cheek, though we kids never thought so at the time, but the film takes itself seriously while having no plausible plot, some dreadful acting and directing and almost non-existent continuity. At one point Dick breaks into a building and somehow manages to change his shirt while he is in there!

So to Jock Anderson, played by Jack Shaw in what according to IMDb was his only film. In my view this is far and away its main fault. On radio Jock was a young, agile and athletic man, a reliable lieutenant to "Mr" Barton, and who had served in a Highland regiment during the war. Here he is unforgivably portrayed as a stage Scotsman, much in the Harry Lauder mould,in full tartan gear and clearly cast for comic relief. At one point he is in a stretch of water and there is a close up of a tadpole wriggling on his bald head. Laugh!? I thought I'd never start. It was a thoughtless and stupid insult to Barton fans. I can only assume that the Director had no working knowledge of the radio series or, if he had, unaccountably chose to ignore it. Perhaps you should do the same with the film.

Dick Barton: Special Agent

[CinemaSerf · 4/10 · 5 January 2023]

The premiss for this is quite good - a disparate gang of Nazi spies plotting to poison the London water supply. Only the eponymous special agent (Don Stannard) can track down the conspirators and thwart their plan... Well, aside from the instantly recognisable John Bath theme tune, this is really just a series of radio sketches with a camera in front of the actors. Indeed, all that is actually missing is the sound effects man with the coconut shells and the washboard. It flows like glue, and lumpy glue at that - and although the story itself is actually quite good, the execution here is really unremarkable. The last ten minutes redeem it slightly, at least things are happening, but otherwise it's a film to watch only if you are really bored.

ALMOST INSUFFERABLE...JUVENILE COMEDY-ADVENTURE...FROM POPULAR BRITISH RADIO

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 19 August 2021]

ALMOST INSUFFERABLE...JUVENILE COMEDY-ADVENTURE...FROM POPULAR BRITISH RADIO

Very Early Hammer Cheapie when the Newly-Born Studio was Floundering About in a Number of Genres.

In this one Hammer Dumbs-Down Popular Radio Hero Barton to a Comedy-Adventure with Copious Amounts of Slapstick and Bad Mugging.

Certainly Made for a Juvenile Audience.

It's Lively, if Nothing Else, and Manages a Fast-Pace both in Montage and Dialog.

This Type of Speedy Line-Delivery is Reminiscent of Screw-Ball Comedies from Hollywood.

They also Borrow the Style and Tone of the Serials.

Most of the Action is Fisticuffs with a Couple of Car Romps and Bit on the Sea.

The Studio Saw the Error of Their Ways and the Sequels are Much Better.

Not Much to Offer Except Nostalgia for those that Lived Through the Early Years of the Brit. Hero.

Most of those Fans will be Disappointed with this Entry but can Look Forward to Better Movies Ahead.

Special Brew

[Spondonman · 6/10 · 27 March 2004]

This is one of the worst films to watch as an adult, and as an adult who appreciates Kane, Orphee, Rashomon, Godfather I/II, Donnie Darko etc to name just a handful. You have to try and switch your Cynic Button to Standby for 66 minutes and enjoy it for what it was. I agree it is a laughable and witless film - but it was made for British children and especially the post-WW2 teenagers listening to the weekly BBC radio series - who weren't so demanding as we all have become. Although apparently the BBC were initially surprised that children were listening in their millions, and eventually decided to "tone" the gratuitous sex and mindless violence in DB down. Which of course by todays high standards was on the level of Sesame Street, but losing even that meant the end as the millions turned off. Could you watch old serials such as Nyoka nowadays without laughing - could a serious film buff in the 40's?

A populist subject for the film - a gang of Nazi smugglers operating in quaint English fishing village, plotting the downfall of all around them. Don Stannard was excellent for the ... unbelievably manly role of Dick Barton - although since Red Dwarf I can't quite get Arnold Rimmer out of my head. And current Tory Party Boss David Cameron too for that matter! Snowy and Jock were both there as DB's sidekicks, played with gusto if not finesse. What I find when I let go is that this sometimes atmospheric film is an enjoyable romp (semi-silent, too!) from proto-Hammer, which strains credulity at every turn but keeps you watching like all Fantasies should do. The whole production was cheap and amateurish which is reflected in the acting. Marvellously refreshing after seeing Requiem For A Dream!

Therefore I don't think Plan 9's Title is in jeopardy, except maybe from Blazing Saddles - time will tell!