A strange film for today"s audience to appreciate and, made even stranger by being split into "serial" episodes with little regard for proper pacing e.g. One episode ends with William's brother saying "I want a word with you." And the next episode begins with the conversation! It is however, a fascinating portrayal of an imagined middle-class post-war childhood where kids can do practically anything they please, including just walking into 10 Downing Street in the hope of talking to the PM! Having said that, retribution always looms with the threat of a walloping.
The story, such as it is, centres around William wanting to share his Dad's ideas for the country with those in Whitehall but also, more importantly, getting his Dad to take him to the circus. National recognition results in a shower of unsolicited gifts including a chimp which William dresses in his spare school uniform cueing a very amusing sequence where the family mistake it for the boy himself!
The climax of the film takes place at London Olympia and features William climbing up the indoor rollercoaster track. This is a very alarming sequence since at times he is shown to be about 8 metres above the ground with no visible safety line and, he has to dodge a rollercoaster car by dropping through the gap in the track. Scary! Animal Rights activists will be seriously offended by the horses and elephant acts shown in the closing sequence but, remember that was the way things were at the time. Circuses are not like that now (Well not in the U. K at any rate!) Really a film to watch if you're a septuagenarian like me and have read the William books by Richmal Crompton.
