Innocent Sinners

Olivia Chesney is too sick to leave home, somewhere in Battersea in London, but waves out of her window to various neighbours.

These include Lovejoy (June Archer) who is a neglected young girl in post-war London who finds solace in the secret garden which she creates on a bomb site.

Her motivations are mixed: she buys grass seed using borrowed money, and steals a net from a baby's pram to use to protect the seed growing. She steals money from the candle box in the church in order to buy a garden fork.

Lovejoy is being raised by the Vincents. Mr Vincent is a waiter in a posh restaurant and is very kind to Lovejoy. Her mother seems to have a dubious lifestyle when she visits Lovejoy, and she has "male callers" such as Col Baldcock who Lovejoy is asked to address as "uncle Francis". Mr Vincent asks her to leave.

A gang of young boys destroy Lovejoy's garden. One boy (Tip) returns her garden fork to her and suggests a better site: a bombed out church. They become friends. He makes her pay "penance" for stealing money from the church.

Mr Vincent buys two special plates to serve dessert on, but his wife chastises him, as they have bills to pay.

Meanwhile a couple are planning to restore the bombed church. A woman gives Lovejoy a shilling in the church and is impressed when she puts it straight into the candle box (as part of her penance).

The couple go to Vincent's restaurant to eat. They give Lovejoy a ride in their car and give her a miniature rose to plant in her garden. Olivia tries to help.

An old man gives Lovejoy some seedlings as it is too late to plant seeds. Her friend steals earth from the local park (much to the annoyance of the adults).

On a rainy night Tip brings Sparkey to the park to steal earth. Lovejoy gets arrested with the boys.

The police are aware that Lovejoy's mother is not around (she has actually gone to Canada and got married but doesn't want Lovejoy to follow).

The Vincents get into serious financial trouble and have to give Lovejoy away to the home, but Lovejoy runs off.

• June Archer as Lovejoy Mason
• Christopher Hey as Tip Malone
• Brian Hammond as Sparkey
• Flora Robson as Olivia Chesney
• David Kossoff as George Vincent
• Barbara Mullen as Mrs. Vincent
• Catherine Lacey as Angela Chesney
• Susan Beaumont as Liz
• Lyndon Brook as Charles
• Edward Chapman as Manley
• John Rae as Mr. Isbister
• Vanda Godsell as Bertha Mason - Lovejoy's Mother
• Hilda Fenemore as Cassie
• Pauline Delaney as Mrs. Malone
• Andrew Cruickshank as Dr. Lynch-Cliffe
• Cyril Chamberlain as Colonel Francis Baldock (uncredited)
• Basil Dignam as Mr. Dyson - Olivia's Solicitor (uncredited)
• William Squire as Father Lambert (uncredited)
• Marianne Stone as Sparkey's Mother (uncredited)
• Toke Townley as Bates (uncredited)

Hugh Stewart, the producer, said he made the film because "I loved the story' although he had to change the title becaude "the studio wouldn’t have a project with a title like that." Neil Paterson wrote the script, which Hugh Stewart said "was very difficult because Rumer Godden’s story was very gossamer, and I was trying to get some bones in it. She hated what Neil did." He was "very pleased" with Philip Leacock as director.[3]

Leacock had made a number of films featuring children including The Kidnappers and The Spanish Garden. He used amateurs to play the children rather than actors, saying "untrained children are not always suitable for a film but for this particular story I felt it was essential to have absolutely ordinary children."[4]

Philip Leacock later said "I don't know why they changed the title... it hurt it because it was a well known novel, you know. And the Rank Organisation didn't think 'Episode of Sparrows' would mean anything and in those days - well they still are - they're so ridiculous about titles. But I think it hurt the picture. "[5]

Stewart said "It was the one film I made that got universally good notices, it got prizes, and yet it died a death — the biggest disaster I ever had... The critics, like Paul Dehn, went overboard for it: it really got under their skin."[3]

Sight and Sound called it "a well-meaning, uneven and somewhat meandering film" where "a string of sub-plots, although relevant, never quite come coherently together." The critic felt "the children’s scenes are by far the firmest, well played... and directed with delicate care. The adults... stand oddly apart and their playing, by contrast, appears not a little confected. The weakest aspect of the film, though, is its inability to bring to life its background—the dirty, overcrowded London suburb, where busy working-class streets adjoin an upper-class area of tree-lined walks and squares. A weird mixture of location material (Battersea and Victoria) hardly helps here. Despite these flaws, though, Innocent Sinners has a kind of awkward sincerity about it: it is a film whose intentions go beyond its achievement."[6]

Rich. of Variety said it was "a half-hearted stab at being a tearjerker, but it barely tugs at the emotions. With no real star value in its work-manlike cast, chances of survival in the boxoffice jungle are slim."[7]

The Evening Standard called it "fresh, funny and moving."[8]

• Innocent Sinners at IMDb
• Innocent Sinners at BFI