Smiley Gets a Gun (1958) User Reviews

Well, that was interesting - 7.5/10

[Thor-Delta · 8/10 · 28 May 2012]

The DVD release of this film was botched...the opening is in CinemaScope, but the rest of the film is in pan-and-scan. In this modern day, this is not acceptable.

As for the film itself, it was much better than I was expecting. The "Smiley" character is far more likable than one might presume, partially thanks to the child actor playing him.

Production values are more than acceptable, and the "colour" of the film print is very nice, unlike another 1950s film "Jedda" which (while in some respects a better film overall) has very dodgy colour.

The plot line is simple enough. The character "Smiley" is promised to be given a "nick" (or more) marked on a tree for every good deed he does. 8 "nicks" and he will be given a rather nice-looking rifle. A bad deed sees a "nick" removed from the tree bark. But there are troubles involving goats in a church, a bushfire and stolen gold that danger his attempts at getting "nicks" through good deeds.....or so it seems! The film is enjoyable, harmless stuff and it is a shame that the DVD release was screwed-up with a pan-and-scan transfer.

Not the wisest premise.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 2 November 2022]

Young Smiley is promised a gun if he can promise to be good and gain points in a certain amount of time. The promisor is none other than sheriff Chips Rafferty, and this leads to pranks such as plots to scare certain townsfolk with gunfire. Dame Sybil Thorndike plays a greedy and spooky old lady who collects bees and has a hidden case of gold coin behind her floorboards. She should have been stung by the critics for her outlandish overacting. The scenery is still nice but it's obvious that some of it is backdrops.

Then there's a public gathering with the snooty local matron of the arts who bores the audience with an off-key rendition of "Cherry Ripe" which fans of the movie "Victor/Victoria" will remember Julie Andrews singing as part of her audition. This results in her telling Smokey off for his poetry, leading to a riot filled with slapstick in addition to violence. The character of Smokey has been recast with Keith Calvert who seems to be emulating Dennis the Menace and Beaver Cleaver rather than the character from the first movie. The combination of the lack of consistency and a tasteless lack of responsible adults had me turned off even though the movie does have a few entertaining moments.

A cheerful amateurishness? Or just plain bad? Take Your pick!

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 22 July 2017]

Producer: Anthony Kimmins. Associate producer: Leslie Gilliat. A Canberra Films Production, filmed on locations in Camden (an outlying suburb of Sydney) and Gundy (near Scone, about 120 miles north of Sydney) and in Sydney's Pagewood Studios.

Copyright 1958 by Canberra Films Pty. Ltd. Released through 20th Century-Fox. No New York opening. U.S. release: January 1959. U.K. release: 11 May 1958. Australian release: 18 December 1958. 8,072 feet. 89 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: "Smiley Gets a Gun" is the story of a merry-eyed, mischief-making ten-years-old Australian boy, the son of a blacksmith and his hard-working wife, living in the tiny town of Murrumbilla, in the great Australian outback. Smiley, always in trouble, has one burning ambition — to own a gun... preferably an old .22 rifle, the cherished possession of his friendly enemy, the local policeman, who received it in his youth because he says, he proved to his parents that he was a responsible person. The policeman promises Smiley he will give him the gun if he can produce evidence of similar responsibility in the form of eight good deeds, marks to be taken away if he lapses into his old waywardness. Smiley accepts the challenge. In fact, the whole town accepts it, being divided into groups for and against the boy, indulging in feverish wagers on the outcome, many cheering him on, others beguiling him into all sorts of mischief, notable of which, perhaps, is the occasion when Smiley brings screams of delight from the men and outraged protests from the women by reciting a questionable ditty at a concert in place of the sedate piece he had been allotted.

NOTES: This sequel to "Smiley" introduced a new lead in Keith Calvert. The original boy had moved to London to pursue his acting career. Although it probably went close to recovering its costs, the film was not nearly half as popular and well-patronized as the original "Smiley".

COMMENT: Abysmally acted, especially by of all people, Sybil Thorndike. Put her down for one of the most blatantly hammy performances of the decade. True, the new "Smiley" is no less disagreeable, but at least his embarrassing amateurishness can be attributed to inexperience. Miss Thorndike's phony emoting is the product of deliberate contrivance. On the other hand, many of the supporting players are obviously striving valiantly — it's amateur night in Murrumbilla — but the ridiculously corny, juvenile screenplay manages to defeat all comers. Kimmins' plodding, heavy- handed direction is certainly no help.

The film's only real asset is its once attractive (but now so faded as to seem ill-lit) color CinemaScope photography. In all other respects, "Smiley Gets a Gun" is so disgracefully poor as to cause every Australian to hang his/her head in shame.

OTHER VIEWS: This story is written and told entirely in juvenile terms, and it is acceptable only on that level. It is played with a cheerful amateurishness which seems to have infected even Dame Sybil Thorndike. — Monthly Film Bulletin.