The first batch of releases for 1952 from The Children’s Film Foundation (CFF) included four short subjects and just two of the hour-long features with which it would become most associated.
The Stolen Plans, with its story of two children foiling a gang of spies who try to steal the plans for a new aircraft from its designer, supplied the prototype for many features to come.
John of the Fair, on the other hand, is a more unusual project with few subsequent imitators.
Its most untypical aspect is its historical setting in eighteenth-century England, a narrative device which the CFF, with its desire to encourage identification between its young audience and the subject on screen, only rarely returned to.
Young John (John Charlesworth) has been brought up by Doc Claydon (Arthur Young), a struggling fairground hawker who sells herbal remedies. As the narrative unfolds, we discover that John is really the heir to a country estate and that his rightful inheritance has been stolen by his uncle, Sir Thomas Renton (David Garth).
Doc was supposed to take the boy away from the area forever, but their inadvertent return causes Sir Thomas to have John kidnapped and put aboard a ship.
When this fails, he attempts to have John killed, resulting in the death of Doc.
Renton’s final scheme sees John framed for Doc’s murder, while John and his friends simultaneously try to find the only witness who can prove his true identity.
The inevitable happy ending arrives with a last-minute rescue at John’s trial.
The film, produced by Merton Park, is a handsome affair that skilfully disguises its low budget.
Despite some obvious sets, the costumes and décor are convincing, and the orchestral score lends the film a cinematic feel.
The story is constructed around a series of chases and escapes, an episodic structure that became characteristic of the CFF.
John Claydon
John Charlesworth Doc Claydon
Arthur Young Sir Thomas Renton
David Garth Sally
Glenda Davies Jill
Carol Wolveridge Valdar
Tom Clegg Ma Miggs
Hilda Barry Biggernough
Leonard Morris William Samuels
Richard George Captain Jiggers
Clive St. George Sarah Wilmott
Fanny Wright Reverend Greenslade
Roy McDermot Gilroy
Sidney Bland Jasper Sly
Michael Mulcaster Dobbin
Himself
Director
Michael McCarthy
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The Stolen Plans, with its story of two children foiling a gang of spies who try to steal the plans for a new aircraft from its designer, supplied the prototype for many features to come.
Doc was supposed to take the boy away from the area forever, but their inadvertent return causes Sir Thomas to have John kidnapped and put aboard a ship.
The film, produced by Merton Park, is a handsome affair that skilfully disguises its low budget.
