Soapbox Derby

In Soapbox Derby, which runs a hair more than an hour, we get 15-year-old Michael Crawford as head of a "gang" (more a club) called the Battersea Bats. They are keen to enter a soapbox derby and work hard on designing and fabricating a car. But a rival gang also wants to win. But they decide to steal the plans and copy the design rather than do their own work. More sophisticated and realistic than the US "Our Gang" shorts, the film shows the triumph of good work over those who steal and lie. Very watchable. The on-location shooting is excellent. Although the film ends with the bad boys losing the race (of course) and falling into mud (for a good belly laugh) it also has its dramatic moments as when one boy's little sister gets run over by a truck.

Crawford is especially spunky and shows his prowess at knockabout comedy. Cast also includes Mark Daly as Grandpa, Jean Ireland as the mother, and Denis Shaw as the odious Mr. Lender.

Also of interest in Soapbox Derby is a truly ugly little car called an Isetta, almost a 3-wheeled car with the single door on the front of the vehicle.