ComedyDrama

Sparrows Can't Sing

Charlie returns to the East End after two years at sea to find his house demolished and wife Maggie gone. Everyone else knows she is now shacked up with married bus driver Bert and a toddler, and they all watch with more than a little interest at the trail of mayhem Charlie leaves as he goes about sorting things out.

Release Date : 1963-03-26

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company :

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Charlie Gooding

Original Name : James Booth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Maggie Gooding

Original Name : Barbara Windsor

Gender : Female

Character Name : Fred Gooding

Original Name : Roy Kinnear

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bridgie Gooding

Original Name : Avis Bunnage

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jack

Original Name : Brian Murphy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bert

Original Name : George Sewell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nellie Gooding

Original Name : Barbara Ferris

Gender : Female

Character Name : Chunky

Original Name : Griffith Davies

Gender : Male

Character Name : Georgie

Original Name : Murray Melvin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ted

Original Name : Arthur Mullard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ted's Wife

Original Name : Peggy Ann Clifford

Gender : Female

Character Name : Watchman

Original Name : Wally Patch

Gender : Male

Character Name : Perce

Original Name : Bob Grant

Gender : Male

Character Name : Caretaker

Original Name : Stephen Lewis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Queenie

Original Name : Queenie Watts

Gender : Female

Character Name : Arnold

Original Name : Victor Spinetti

Gender : Male

Character Name : Momma

Original Name : Jenny Sontag

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gran

Original Name : May Scagnelli

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lil

Original Name : Fanny Carby

Gender : Female

Character Name : Barmaid

Original Name : Yootha Joyce

Gender : Female

Character Name : Janet

Original Name : Janet Howse

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bridge Operator

Original Name : John Junkin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Greengrocer

Original Name : Harry H. Corbett

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl

Original Name : Marjie Lawrence

Gender : Female

Character Name : Charlie's Friend

Original Name : Glynn Edwards

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lorry Driver

Original Name : Gerry Raffles

Gender : Male

Character Name : Maggie's Neighbor

Original Name : Rita Webb

Gender : Female

Character Name : Eve

Original Name : Eve Eden

Gender : Female

Character Name : Barman

Original Name : Paddy Joyce

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-09-25

Well it all starts rather inauspiciously with Barbara Windsor singing the Lionel Bart penned title song. Good? Well, no - not very. Thereafter we discover that she ("Maggie") used to be married to "Charlie" (James Booth) who has just returned from being at sea. Thing is, their marital house has been demolished and she has moved on to a new life with bus driver "Bert" (George Sewell) and he is determined to get her back. The whole thing has a made for television look to it and though there is a formidable array of British comic acting talent on display, I found the writing to be really weak with the limitations of Miss Windsor as an actress being writ large as she really struggles to carry this (very lightly) comedic enterprise - riddled with innuendo and stereotype - for ninety minutes. It perhaps doesn't help that the narrative centres around life in a fairly pedestrian East End (of London) community and that after a short while there are so many suds you could run a Chinese laundry for a fortnight. It may well have resonated better in 1963 when it offered a plausible depiction of life in a small, tightly knit, community within a big city, but I am afraid now it has lost what potency it had. Cinema nostalgia it probably is if Cockney is your natural dialect. For the rest of us, it's just all rather dull.