Figure 1.-- Here we see the two inmates of the Borstal greeting the new inmates. We had thought that boys in borstals wore brown corduroy shorts. The shorts here do not look like corduroy. |
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"Boys in Brown" is a movie depicting an English borstal or boys' reformatory. The movie was filmed in 1949. All boys sent to these institutions were dressed in corduroy short trouser outfits. The film had an impresive cast and attempted to depict the borstal in realistic terms. Jackie (Richard Attenborough) is being raised by asingle mother. They are quite poor. He is smitten by the girl across the street--Kitty. To get out of poverty, he gets involved in a robbery. He is caught and sentenced to 3 years in a Borstal. Once he is in the Borstal he and his new friends plot to escape. There he meets various characters who are planning an escape. Alfie (Dirk Bogarde) persuades Jackie to join them. It has been a while since I have seen this film. Perhaps our British readers will remember more.
"Boys in Brown" is a movie depicting an English borstal or boys' reformatory. The film attempsts to give a look of reality by using an optical photographic device to provide actual backgrounds with the studio sets and actors. It was not always very successful.
"Boys in Brown" was based on a theatrical play written by Reginald Beckwith.
Britain used to refer to their reformatories as borstals. Borstals were institutions to which young offenders could be sent instead of prison. The name was taken from Borstal prison near Rochester, Kent, where the system was first introduced in 1902. Thus the little village of Borstal gave its name to an empire-wide institution dreaded by tearaways. Being "sent for Borstal training" involved military-style discipline with a heavy emphasis on the acquisition of workshop skills. The word "borstal" is probably best known to Americans for Irish author Brendan Behan's book Borstal Boy, an autobigaphical account of his experience as a young Irish boy imprisoned in a British borstal during World War II. Borstal refers to a series of reformatories built throughout Britain beginning in the late 19th century. Borstals were for delinquent boys aged 16 to 21 years. The idea originated (1895) with the Gladstone Committee as an attempt to reform young offenders.
The mpvie was filmed in 1949 with a contemporary setting.
The film had an impresive cast. This was an early film for some important British actors. Jackie the main character was played by Richard Attenborough. His friend Alfie was played by Dirk Bogarde. These are two fine actors, but they seem a little old for the parts they played. Younger unknown actors might have been a better choice here. Other cast members were: Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Thora Hird, and Alfie Bass. Jack Warner played the governor or warden of the borstal.
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"Boys in Brown" attempted to depict the Borstal in realistic terms. The facilities could be quite brutal. Jackie (Richard Attenborough) is being raised by asingle mother. They are quite poor. He is smitten by the girl across the street--Kitty. To get out of poverty, he gets involved in a robbery. He is caught and sentenced to 3 years in a Borstal. Once he is in the Borstal he and his new friends plot to escape. There he meets various characters who are planning an escape. Alfie (Dirk Bogarde) plays a scheming manipulator and persuades the naive Jackie to join them. The governor of the Borstal can't understand why the boys have no desire to change their ways. The boys for their part are primarily caught up in the standard adolescent rebellion.
The film gets its name from the brown color of the borstl uniforms. All boys sent to these institution swere dressed in corduroy short trouser outfits. A reader writes, "In your description of the movie, you say the inmates wore corduroy shorts. I think they look more like a woolen serge or flannel type of
material." Yes I think you are correct. ith many of these reviews I try to write up something for HBC, although often I saw the fims years earlier before there was an internet. So many accounts of borstals mention brown cord shorts. I thought this was standard. The "Brown" in the title suggests corduroy to me. Note the brown cord shorts used in "Borstal Boy". Perhaps not all borstals used corduroy. At least the shorts seen here in the stills from the film do not look to be corduroy. Of course from the black and white stills, it is not possible to know what color they were.
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