DramaComedy

A Kid for Two Farthings

Joe is a young boy who lives with his mother, Joanna, in working-class London. The two reside above the tailor shop of Mr. Kandinsky, who likes to tell Joe stories. When Kandinsky informs Joe that a unicorn can grant wishes, the hopeful lad ends up buying a baby goat with one tiny horn, believing it to be a real unicorn. Undaunted by his rough surroundings, Joe sets about to prove that wishes can come true.

Release Date : 1955-08-15

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : London Films Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Joanna

Original Name : Celia Johnson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sonia

Original Name : Diana Dors

Gender : Female

Character Name : Avrom Kandinsky

Original Name : David Kossoff

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sam Heppner

Original Name : Joe Robinson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe

Original Name : Jonathan Ashmore

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lady Ruby

Original Name : Brenda De Banzie

Gender : Female

Character Name : Python Macklin

Original Name : Primo Carnera

Gender : Male

Character Name : Blackie Isaacs

Original Name : Lou Jacobi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ice Berg

Original Name : Sid James

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Abramowitz

Original Name : Irene Handl

Gender : Female

Character Name : Madam Rita

Original Name : Sydney Tafler

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bully Bason

Original Name : Danny Green

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mimi

Original Name : Vera Day

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dora

Original Name : Daphne Anderson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Vagrant

Original Name : Joseph Tomelty

Gender : Male

Character Name : Oliver

Original Name : Harold Berens

Gender : Male

Character Name : Auctioneer (uncredited)

Original Name : Bart Allison

Gender : Male

Character Name : Madam Rita's Workroom Girl (uncredited)

Original Name : Barbara Archer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jamaica (uncredited)

Original Name : Harry Baird

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alf the Bird Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Alfie Bass

Gender : Male

Character Name : Policeman (uncredited)

Original Name : Bruce Beeby

Gender : Male

Character Name : Market Patron (uncredited)

Original Name : Paddy Brannigan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Quinn (uncredited)

Original Name : Madge Brindley

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sylvester the Photographer (uncredited)

Original Name : Eddie Byrne

Gender : Male

Character Name : Walk on part (uncredited)

Original Name : Peter Gilmore

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chick Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Harold Goodwin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Customer (uncredited)

Original Name : Nora Gordon

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dog Man (uncredited)

Original Name : George Hurst

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Kramm (uncredited)

Original Name : Lily Kann

Gender : Female

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Harold Kasket

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Sam Kydd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stallholder (uncredited)

Original Name : Harry Locke

Gender : Male

Character Name : Postman (uncredited)

Original Name : Arthur Lovegrove

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dog Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Edward Malin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Referee (uncredited)

Original Name : Lew Marco

Gender : Male

Character Name : Indian with Grey Beard (uncredited)

Original Name : Spike Milligan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stallholder (uncredited)

Original Name : Norman Mitchell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alf's Customer (uncredited)

Original Name : Judith Nelmes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wrestling Match Spectator (uncredited)

Original Name : Jim Brady

Gender : Male

Character Name : Madam Rita's Workroom Girl (uncredited)

Original Name : Mollie Palmer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Wrestling Match Audience (uncredited)

Original Name : Dido Plumb

Gender : Male

Character Name : Breakaway China Stallholder (uncredited)

Original Name : Raymond Rollett

Gender : Male

Character Name : Customer's Girlfriend (uncredited)

Original Name : Marigold Russell

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hokey Pokey Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Charles Saynor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wrestling Match Spectator (uncredited)

Original Name : Jack Sharp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stallholder (uncredited)

Original Name : Arthur Skinner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Indian Fortune Teller (uncredited)

Original Name : Derek Sydney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Porter (uncredited)

Original Name : Robert Brooks Turner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Blonde with a Crush on Sam (uncredited)

Original Name : Barbara Windsor

Gender : Female

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2025-04-16

Jonathan Ashmore does quite a sterling job here tugging at the heart-strings with this upbeat, feel-good drama about the young “Joe” who just wants to be kind. He’s a young lad growing up in a sort of Portobello Road environment in a post war London that is still recovering. He lives with his mum (Celia Johnson) in small flat above a tailor’s shop run by “Kandinsky” (David Kossoff) who fills his head with imaginative stories and fantasies. It’s this that leads the lad to an idea. He uses every farthing to his name so he can buy a young kid that has yet to develop it’s horns properly. Why? Well, he thinks it will turn into an unicorn and be able to bestow gifts of good luck on those in his tightly knit community who care for him and whom he loves. What now ensues takes a rather good-humoured but still quite poignant look at human nature, nurture and spirit. His are not always rose-tinted experiences and at times his little goat finds itself in quite a pickle, but somehow we just know that good will prevail. It’s easy to be cynical about the naivety and simplicity of this story, but there’s a delightful chemistry on display between an on-form Kossoff and Ashmore partnered with the ever reliable Brenda de Banzie and aspiring the glamour-puss “Sonia” (Diana Dors) that all engagingly taps into the prevailing sentiment at the time that we won the war because we were supposed to and we must all muck in to rebuild - physically and societally. It’s the sheer innocence of the thing that cannot fail to bring a smile to your face, and there’s even a charming “Hercules” on hand in the guise of Primo Carnera’s aptly named “Python” to keep any trouble at bay. Don’t watch this with 2020s eyes, it won’t work - but if you can imagine yourself in a cinema in 1955, the new reign just started and a feeling of optimism abroad in the land, then I think you will enjoy this story of hope and friendship that Carol Reed keeps right ride of sentimentality.