It has been a while since I saw this film. I liked it well enough to remember the title, which is a big challenge for me these days. May be difficult to find. In 2001, Andrew Lloyd Webber opened a big musical based on the novel and the film, however, his musical was set in Louisiana instead of outside of London. I don't think it ran very long. This may be a difficult film to find, but easier than catching it on TMC or another vintage movie channel. I think it is only in VHS format. Not the best movie I had ever seen, but touching and I liked the symbolism,....or what I perceived to be symbolism.


Whistle Down the Wind
1962 - UK - Religious Drama/Childhood DramaReviewed by Bosley Crowther

Type: FeaturesDistributor: J. Arthur Rank Productions Rating: NR Running Time: 98 minutes Starring: Alan Bates, Norman Bird, Diane Clare, Patricia Heneghan, Bernard Lee, Hayley Mills, Elsie WagstaffeDirected by: Bryan Forbes
PLOT DESCRIPTIONBryan Forbes' first directorial effort is set in a rugged Lancashire farm community. Three impressionable children, played by Hayley Mills, Diane Holgate, and Alan Barnes, come across a bearded vagrant named Arthur Blakey (Alan Bates) sleeping in their barn. Upon awakening, the ill-tempered bum takes a look at the white-eyed kids and mutters the imprecation "Jesus Christ!" In their innocence, the children assume that Arthur is Jesus Christ, and they spread the word to their friends. In truth, he is an escaped killer. But when the authorities come around looking for him, the kids, remembering Christ's persecution, do their best to protect their far-from-deserving new friend. Though the material, based on a novel by Mary Hayley Bell (Hayley Mills's mother) could have been mawkish and obvious in other hands, Forbes handles the situation and the characters realistically; even the blatant New Testament symbolism is logically incorporated into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide