A Kid for Two Farthings main backdrop
A Kid for Two Farthings main poster

A Kid for Two Farthings

Visit website

6.5/10 • 25

1955-08-151h 36m

DramaComedy

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.

Directors
Carol Reed
Editors
Bert Bates

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Celia Johnson

    Celia Johnson

    Joanna

  2. Diana Dors

    Diana Dors

    Sonia

  3. David Kossoff

    David Kossoff

    Avrom Kandinsky

  4. Joe Robinson

    Joe Robinson

    Sam Heppner

  5. Jonathan Ashmore

    Jonathan Ashmore

    Joe

  6. Brenda De Banzie

    Brenda De Banzie

    Lady Ruby

  7. Primo Carnera

    Primo Carnera

    Python Macklin

  8. Lou Jacobi

    Lou Jacobi

    Blackie Isaacs

  9. Sid James

    Sid James

    Ice Berg

Reviews1

View Reviews
CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Apr 16, 2025

7/10

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.

Media

  • A Kid for Two Farthings backdrop
  • A Kid for Two Farthings backdrop

Recommendations

  • The Final Countdown main backdrop

    The Final Countdown

    6.6

  • The Weak and the Wicked main backdrop

    The Weak and the Wicked

    6.4

  • Three Girls from Rome main backdrop

    Three Girls from Rome

    6.0

  • A Town Like Alice main backdrop

    A Town Like Alice

    6.3

  • Hugo main backdrop

    Hugo

    7.2

  • The Shawshank Redemption main backdrop

    The Shawshank Redemption

    8.7

  • The Ten Commandments main backdrop

    The Ten Commandments

    7.8

  • Dumbo main backdrop

    Dumbo

    7.0

  • Rush Hour main backdrop

    Rush Hour

    7.0

  • Garfield main backdrop

    Garfield

    5.7

  • The Hunger Games main backdrop

    The Hunger Games

    7.2

  • The Devil Wears Prada main backdrop

    The Devil Wears Prada

    7.4

  • The Shining main backdrop

    The Shining

    8.2

  • Luca main backdrop

    Luca

    7.8

  • It main backdrop

    It

    7.2

  • Modern Times main backdrop

    Modern Times

    8.3

  • Don Jon main backdrop

    Don Jon

    6.0

  • Inglourious Basterds main backdrop

    Inglourious Basterds

    8.2

  • Hit Man main backdrop

    Hit Man

    6.8

  • Beverly Hills Cop main backdrop

    Beverly Hills Cop

    7.2

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
unicorn