cult film freak: JAMES KENNEY & JOAN COLLINS IN 'KOSH BOY' OR 'THE SLASHER'

Written by James M. Tate / 8/17/2024 / No comments / british film noir , fifties , james kenney , joan collins , melodrama , teen

JAMES KENNEY & JOAN COLLINS IN 'KOSH BOY' OR 'THE SLASHER'

8/17/2024 | No comment

Title: COSH BOY also THE SLASHER Year: 1954 Rating: **1/2

It's a shame that COSH BOY (strangely re-titled THE SLASHER) is so extremely dated, holding back what's promised by the edgy image of British teen actor James Kenney as a street thug "teddy boy" (name of youth gangs in England)... because Kenney not only delivers his dialogue strongly, but listens just as intensely...

Too bad his words are aimed at a coddling mother, about to marry a strict man... and both are even more important than the fellow gang members, who sporadically hit the streets to "cosh" (violently mug) their victims...

James Kenney and Stanley Escane in COSH BOY

On the peripheral is a romance with Joan Collins, injecting the kind of wispy hysterics to suit what's ultimately more a melodrama with crime genre elements than the sleek crime-noir it could/should have been instead...

Yet despite the flaws, director Lewis Gilbert, during the few scenes that matter involving the young gang working together before turning on each other, brings the viewer straight into the action... that is, when the distractions haven't taken over, in this case, almost entirely.

James Kenney in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Stanley Escane in COSH BOY

James Kenney in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Betty Ann Davis in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Joan Collins in COSH BOY

Ian Whittaker and Hermione Baddeley in COSH BOY

James Kenney, Betty Ann Davis, Ian Whittaker and Hermione Baddeley in COSH BOY

James Kenney, Ian Whittaker, Stanley Escane, Michael McKeag, Sean Lynch in COSH BOY

James Kenney in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Joan Collins in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Stanley Escane in COSH BOY

James Kenney, Ian Whittaker, Stanley Escane, Michael McKeag in COSH BOY

James Kenney and Joan Collins in COSH BOY

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Tags : british film noir , fifties , james kenney , joan collins , melodrama , teen

James M. Tate

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