From memory this was pure '50s-style, knockabout London comedy. But seeing it afresh: OK, not quite as funny (very classy performances, though); unexpectedly good to look at, and really rather not-'50s. The direction's at times self-consciously modern, but, more tellingly - check out the costume design. Even plainclothed old bill were in knife-sharp Italian suits and shirts; skinny ties. For a film shot in '62 this was more than somewhat a swingin' number. A line had been crossed - we weren't post-war any more.

Peter Sellers comedies from before 1964 often come off to me as dingy, dated, and a bit twee. So "The Wrong Arm Of The Law" surprised me. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as easily as I did.The movie's title comes from a predicament mob boss Pearly Gates (Sellers) calls the "oldest bleeding con in the business": Dress up like coppers, catch other criminals in the act, steal their loot, and get away. After being stung eight times, Gates' own gang call on the real law for help.It's easy to confuse this with "Two-Way Stretch", another caper comedy Sellers made three years before, with both Bernard Cribbins and Lionel Jeffries in key support roles. "Two-Way Stretch" is amusing but stale; this holds up both as a story and large-scale character piece.By day, Gates sells high-end women's clothing with the help of a fake French accent, using his knowledge of the well-to-do to mastermind burglaries. Cribbins is a rival crime boss so non-threatening he shows off his family photos; Jeffries is inept police inspector "Nosey Parker", who suspects a buy-off attempt when Gates first appears in his office."I'm not trying to bribe you, mate," Gates replies. "I don't carry loose change."Also on hand to bring considerably sex appeal is cat-eyed, slinky Nanette Newman, Pearly's girl. Watching her make out with Sellers' stomach in one scene is pretty erotic stuff; she is also cleverly integrated into the rest of the story.Director Cliff Owen did mostly British TV work. He shows himself here an accomplished cinematic stylist. An opening credit sequence recalls "Catch Me If You Can". The ending is remarkably satisfying; all the story elements come together with surprising grace. You wish Sellers' later, bigger-budget comedies were as well crafted.One caveat: There are no big laughs in "Wrong Arm", just many small ones and amusing asides that keep coming. There's a gentleness reminiscent of an Ealing comedy. When the different gangs discover they're all being had by the same outside interest, they call a meeting where parliamentary rules of order are carefully observed. A pickpocket demands to be heard as the "voice of the small man".Jeffries is the best thing in the film. You know he's a wally, but you like him anyway, and feel a bit when he makes a mess of things with his superiors. "Why do they always pick on me?" he whines, not at all like the hard-case he played in "Two-Way Stretch". Sellers is very good as well, sliding effortlessly between his London and French accents.People who generally avoid Sellers films before "Strangelove" are well advised to make at least this one exception. "Wrong Arm" is a smooth treat that still stands up well, right up there with "The Ladykillers" and "I'm All Right, Jack" in quality and lighter than either.

Peter Sellers is, unusually, the quiet at the center of the storm that makes up the plot of this wonderfully funny film. He plays Pearly Gates, a criminal (and women's wear salesman), who learns that an Australian gang is dressing up as policemen, intercepting Pearly's mob in mid-theft and making off with the goods. He joins forces not only with the leader of a rival gang, who are also suffering from the Australian competition, but also with the police, who don't want their reputation besmirched.Sellers is very good, but top acting honors go to Lionel Jefferies as the hopelessly idiotic policeman trying to prove himself by catching the criminals. Jefferies and Bernard Cribbins, as Nervous (the rival gang's leader), give expertly larger-than-life performances while getting their biggest laughs with throwaway lines and subtle bits of business (like Nervous finishing up his negotiations with Pearly by pulling out some family snaps). Cliff Owen's direction is very sharp and very fast, and allows a cast of experienced character actors to do their best work. Dennis Price displays flawless timing and delivery in a small, unbilled cameo. This film might just be a hidden classic.

By Impersonating Police Officers a group of Australian criminals have devised a simple and effective method of removing the ill -gotten gains from the possession of our native villains.Should you be thinking that this is an unlikely and possibly even a racist notion you should be aware that for many years Britain was plagued by a highly -organised gang of Australian thieves who targeted high - end shops up and down the country from a base in deepest Earl's Court. An unholy Alliance of Old Bill and Hooky Boys led by the Met's finest Inspector "Nosey" Parker (thick as two short planks but dead straight) eventually bring the I.P.O.mob to book.On that simple premise a very funny film is constructed. At the time "The wrong arm of the law" was made co-operation for the mutual benefit of both sides was not unknown in the closed world of the London detective who may have been at school with many of the local heavies and thus have divided loyalties.Occasionally a smalltime offender would be called upon to "take a fall" and help square up the Crime Book so business could carry on as usual.Rather perversely some of the most "helpful" detectives were also some of the best thief - takers. There is no suggestion in this movie that the relationship between the police and the criminals is in any way corrupt either in general or in the specific.Indeed there is much mutual suspicion between the two camps veering on paranoia. Some of the characters seem to have been lifted wholesale from "Two - way Stretch",others are familiar from half a hundred crime capers from the 1950s and earlier,but it is this very familiarity that gives "The wrong arm of the law" its charm.In a part that could have bewen written by Galton and Simpson for Tony Hancock, Mr P. Sellers gives us a "Peter Sellers" performance which may be taken either as a warning or a recommendation depending on your taste. For me Mr.L.Jeffries as "Nosey" Parker and Mr B,Cribbins as "Nervous" O'Toole quietly walk away with the film. In those halcyon days when seat belts were for wimps Mr Cribbins gets one of the biggest laughs of the night when he gets into the back seat of his huge Rolls and gingerly straps himself in. There is a great deal of fun to had in this good - natured British comedy which should amuse many and offend none.I wholeheartedly recommend it.