The Wrong Arm of the Law


The Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier and Bill Kerr. It was partly written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and made by Romulus Films.
The film opened at the Warner Theatre in London's West End on 14 March 1963.

Plot

In London, a gang of criminals from Australia led by Jack Coombes impersonate policemen to carry out robberies. Local gang leader "Pearly" Gates, who operates from the cover of a French couturier, finds his takings cut severely, and blames rival crook "Nervous" O'Toole. When it emerges that they are both being scammed by the same gang, they join forces, along with Lionel Jeffries' Police Inspector "Nosey" Parker, to bring the so-called "I.P.O. mob" to justice. Nanette Newman provides the love interest, John Le Mesurier plays a senior policeman, and a young Michael Caine has a small and uncredited role as a young PC. Other uncredited roles include John Junkin, Dennis Price, Cardew Robinson, Dick Emery, Mario Fabrizi, John Harvey, Harold Siddons, Jack Silk, Derek Guyler, Gerald Sim and Marianne Stone.

Cast

Many of the robbery scenes were filmed around Uxbridge Moor. The film features an Aston Martin DB4 GT.
Peter Sellers loved his 1961 Aston Marton DB4GT so much that he bought the car after shooting the film—contingent on the engine being replaced with a 4.0-litre Lagonda Rapide.

Box Office

It was one of the 12 most popular films at the British box office in 1963. According to Kine Weekly the four most popular films at the British box office in 1963 were From Russia With Love, Summer Holiday, Tom Jones and The Great Escape, followed by, in alphabetical order, Doctor in Distress, The Fast Lady, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Heaven's Above, Jason and the Argonauts, In Search of the Castaways, It Happened at the World's Fair, The Longest Day, On the Beat, Sodom and Gomorrah, The V. I. Ps, and The Wrong Arm of the Law.
In a positive review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded, "Of course, it is strictly lightweight clowning, longer on plot than on wit and wholly dependent on the archness of Mr. Sellers to give it a cachet. Others in the cast are amusing, especially Mr. Jeffries as the cop, but the enterprise stands by the stiffening of Mr. Sellers's cunning roguishness."