Snowball (1960) User Reviews

"Is Injustice to Be Permitted?"

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 14 August 2021]

Like Pat Jackson's earlier film 'The Birthday Present', behind the apparently light-hearted title lies not a fluffy little comedy but a stark drama reminiscent of 'The Children's Hour', 'Le Corbeau', 'Panique' and 'The Wrong Man' which could have been called 'The Tangled Web'.

Sixty years on the tensions between bus drivers and their passengers are still a feature of daily life; as well as the malign influence of the tabloid press. Ironically only two years earlier Kenneth Griffith had already played a fare dodger in 'Chain of Events'; but this time the poacher is the gamekeeper.

A first rate B film

[malcolmgsw · 8/10 · 26 October 2021]

One shouldn't be surprised that this film should be so good bearing in mind that it was directed by Pay Jackson. A great performance from Kenneth Griffith's,not his usual mannered villain. Three couples all adversely affected by the complaining letter written by an unthinking neighbour.

A simple story, well told

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 17 August 2021]

SNOWBALL is a really interesting little movie, a British drama all about repercussions and how seemingly simple and innocuous events can spiral out of control and cause ultimate damage. Similar than to prior fare like THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT and CHAIN OF EVENTS, but with enough intrigue to work by itself. Dennis Waterman plays the pivotal role of a lying kid in his film debut and he's ably supported by a good quality cast, from rugged Gordon Jackson to the intensely sympathetic Kenneth Griffith. A simple story, well told, and one that continues to impact today in the likes of the Mads Mikkelsen starrer THE HUNT.

Great Trees From Little Acorns Grow

[boblipton · 7/10 · 7 August 2022]

Zena Walker is worried, she tells husband Gordon Jackson. Their son, Dennis Waterman, isn't home yet. Jackson says he's probably out with his fiends. When Waterman gets home, he says the driver kicked him off. Miss Walker tells people, and local busybodies get involved, and soon a reporter from the local paper is following the story. The driver says he has no memory of the incident, and insists he would never kick a child off. But the affair starts to snowball.

It's an engaging little movie directed by Pat Jackson from a novel by James Lake, very low key at first, but gradually growing in tension and anguish. Highly recommended.

Waterman died this year at the age of 74.

Good, But Too Many Plot Holes

[radbond · 6/10 · 10 April 2024]

Like many pictures, this film seems very good but on second thought plot holes appear. The boy forgot his annual bus ticket and didn't have any money so he had to walk home - a four-mile walk. It rained when the boy was on his way home - why isn't he wet when he arrives home? Why does the boy hide from father when his father goes out to look for him? The next day he starts riding the bus again with the same conductor who supposedly wouldn't let him on without his annual pass. Since the conductor can't remember refusing a ride to the boy, the bus line holds a line up so the boy can identify the conductor at fault. But the boy just rode home on the bus with the conductor under suspicion and has been doing so for days. The idea that a lineup would enable the boy to identify the conductor just doesn't make sense. The conductor becomes depressed over the fact that the word of a 10-year-old boy is being taken over his. He goes to a railroad bridge - supposedly to commit suicide - sees a dog on the tracks and goes to rescue the dog. He falls down an embankment, becomes disoriented and ends up getting run over by a train. The manner of the conductor's death has nothing to do with the plot of the film. In sum, this film is based on a good idea but the screenplay just isn't well thought out.

Excellent Little B Movie

[bobby971234 · 7/10 · 17 April 2024]

Hadnt saw this before but caught it recently on Talking Pictures. An enjoyable little movie of how Peoples lives are affected by one small lie from a school boy (played by Dennnis Waterman who contrary to another reviewers opinion, actually did have have a few hit TV series playing lead roles such series as The Sweeney, Minder and Minder.

Kenneth Griffith is great as the accused Bus Conductor, while Gordan Jackson and Zena Walker play the parents of the boy. Throw in a rookie news reporter and things really do "Snowball" and makes the film gripping and shows just how one little white lie can cause so much trouble and consequences.

Try tearing yourself away.

[g-hbe · 9/10 · 7 December 2021]

Very much of its time, this film explores several issues including the power of the press, the damage a simple lie can do and and how an interfering busybody can cause such upset and tragedy. The story is simple on the surface - did an otherwise good boy (Dennis Waterman in an early role) tell a lie to cover up his mis-spending of a sixpence? But events snowball, gossip grows and an innocent man is accused of something of which he has no recollection. Strangely gripping and quite moving in parts.

Kitchen Sink Waterman

[TheFearmakers · 6/10 · 25 February 2023]

A British New Wave/Kitchen Sink drama involving how fate works... not the first or last... and SNOWBALL is set in some pretty nice weather, so the title's about gossip gaining momentum...

And all because of child actor Dennis Waterman as an English suburban kid who shares to his parents and a neighbor how a bus driver dumped him off: having to walk home four miles... the last stretch of that seemingly breezy stride opening the movie with credits shown...

So it's not very difficult for the audience to realize the kid's a liar, making this a melodrama without much mystery: although SNOWBALL has many elements of the latter, including a cub reporter trying to get to the bottom of things, wishboned between his editors and the bus company...

But the true main character is the kid's mom, pretty British actress Zena Walker in one of many friendly mom or wife roles... here she's married to strict husband/father Gordon Williams, and the sparse realism into their seemingly typical household circumstance both literally and symbolically represents the Kitchen Sink aspect...

Meanwhile on the outskirts, yet technically holding the most significance, is a British character-actor who usually plays troubled, mousy sorts: Yet Kenneth Griffith has a wife as faithful and even similarly down-home-pretty as the central family in an ironical juxtaposition that's somewhat intriguing...

If only there were more stakes raised for the kid, played by Waterman, who, despite being a great child actor (before becoming an adult who'd never not have a hit TV series), seems to basically care less about pretty much anything and everything all along.

A strong moral tale very well told.

[plan99 · 9/10 · 21 April 2022]

Shows very well how "a little white lie" can have far reaching consequences which has happened in real life thousands of times and this will continue. Politicians are of course well practiced in this especially in 2022, no examples are required I'm sure. Interesting so see a 12 year old Dennis Waterman in action.

Dennis waterman

[Wheffles · 10/10 · 29 June 2022]

I recently caught this film on talking pictures having never seen it before. Top cast included an eleven year old but clearly recognisable Dennis Waterman as a schoolboy who turns up at home very late from school. On being asked where he's been he blames a bus conductor for Turning him off the bus for not having a ticket. A nosy neighbour writes to the papers and before long it all snowballs out of control with the conductor who was pow in the war hounded by all. Now I expected a typical period drama all cosy and nice, I got a surprise... Dennis is very good as the boy and his parents Gordon Jackson. And Zena walker are similarly good. This is a morality tale of what can happen to the nicest of people when we don't think, as the title says,... things 'snowball' An excellent and unsuspected film.

Belies it's B movie status

[swalbj86 · 9/10 · 16 April 2022]

Caught this on TP toda, an absolute gem of a film. A moral tale told very well, and ending that doesn't sugar coat it. Solid performances all round from all involved. In my opinion this film is up there with I'm Alright Jack as a British social commentary of its day.

The cost of lying.

[tomosp1965 · 8/10 · 16 April 2022]

A good film to show young people!

This film concentrates on a young boy who has a tendency to tell fibs. There are serious issues contained in this movie, not only child lies, but the way the press and a person's peers can treat an innocent person, going only on the word of a child.

Basically, this film is about how a childs simple lie can have repercussions beyond the mis-spending of a sixpence, and lead to things no one wanted, or expected.

Waterman and Jackson are great and show the acting skills that would later make them both excellent TV actors.

The film could do with an upgrade, as it still carries an important message.

8 out of 10.

When gossipy neighbors turn something that isn't their business into everybody's business.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 31 August 2022]

This is a great exposé about a ridiculous excuse for a human interest story taking over the neighborhood news when it really should have stopped from spreading in the living room of young Dennis Waterman's family. He has lied about getting home late from school because he spent his bus fare and claims that he was denied passage because he couldn't find his ticket. Someone over here is, alerts the press, and the bus driver is turned into a public pariah. Reporters barge into the house where the boy lives, harassing his parents (Gordon Jackson and Zena Walker), and the chattering old biddies pass judgment on the parents in addition to getting driver into deep trouble.

Definitely the type of story that uses the analogy of "the boy who cried wolf" to present another moral tale, one that hopefully made some people in the audience very uncomfortable because they saw themselves in the townspeople sticking it in where it didn't belong. It also shows the truth about the reality of "good intentions", especially when it's based on non-truths. A great little quota quickie with terrific performances that shows how naive and gullible basically decent people are when they figuratively grab that pitchfork and head up the hill to the castle. I definitely had a good appreciation for this one, showing that even in some of the most unexpected of little movies can come a masterpiece. If ever a film's title could be called a metaphor, this one is it.