Sir Carol Reed was a filmmaker who had a tendency towards never finding a distinct style, often directing films in a wide range of genres, each one of them giving a different glimpse to one of the subjects that seemed to most interest the director, the lives and times of the population of working-class London. Whether his incredible film noir The Third Man, or the iconic screen production of Oliver!, Reed was frequently equipped with a wide range of skills that allowed him to portray different sides of his hometown. One of his less-heralded films is A Kid For Two Farthings, a wonderfully endearing and charming comedy about a young boy going in search of a unicorn, as he is told by an elderly shop clerk that, should he come into possession of this mystical beast, he will be able to have any of his wishes granted, a prospect that is most pleasing to the child, since he is constantly hoping that his mother will be able to take a break from working so hard, and for his father, who has been living and working in South Africa for reasons that are never made clear (implied to be part of the colonial project), to return after years of absence. It’s not necessarily a major work, and it does have a few slight shortcomings that prevent it from reaching greatness in the way that some of Reed’s more notable productions did, but A Kid For Two Farthings is still a delightful, effervescent comedy that is yet another terrific entry into the genre of adorable coming-of-age stories that may not be particularly grave or serious in their subject matter, but have enough heart and soul to qualify their existence, and an even bigger sense of humour that allows it to rise above some of the more paltry narrative aspects and emerge just a sweet and endearing comedy about a young boy doing whatever he can to make the lives of those around him easier.

From the first moment of the film, A Kid For Two Farthings is profoundly strange, functioning as a very unconventional odyssey into working-class London. Reed, adapting the novel by Wolf Mankowitz (who also wrote the screenplay), presents us with a slightly carnivalesque version of the city, where every character is heightened to the point of being only a few brief steps away from outright caricature, and where even the most perilous of situations are shown as nothing but endearing moments of difficulty. This isn’t to imply that A Kid For Two Farthings isn’t willing to embrace the more serious side of life – Reed and Mankowitz set a firm foundation within a recognizable world, looking at real problems through the lens of a child protagonist. As we’ve seen become conventional with films that centre on the experiences of younger characters, portraying the world in a way that seems far more eccentric is a common practice, and hearkens back to our own childhoods, where everything was bigger, bolder and seemingly much less dangerous. It’s a fascinating balance that Reed captures very well – after all, despite being a director who occasionally did make more family-friendly fare, he was still a filmmaker with a keen understanding of human behaviour, and would put in a great deal of effort to make sure his films reflected something much deeper. It does mean there are moments where A Kid For Two Farthings can come across somewhat heavy-handed, especially in the latter stages of the story, where the varying narrative strands begin to interweave, and a genuine sense of mystery begins to fall over the film, and where tragedy is just around the corner – but for the most part, the film is a wonderfully sweet comedy about a young boy going on a series of delightful adventures with his “unicorn”, and affecting the lives of everyone they encounter.

There’s a sense of magic that persists throughout A Kid For Two Farthings, which Reed manages to unveil quite effectively. It’s not always perfect, but it does show that there was some depth to this story, rather than just a series of disjointed scenes taking place in a fantastical version of London. Every character in this film is somewhat of an archetype, and Reed pays careful attention to keep them within the confines of their individual roles, while still allowing the actors space to experiment. This may seem like a shortcoming, but when you consider how A Kid For Two Farthings has over a dozen major characters that all factor into the narrative in some way, and how the entire film was made to appear like an urban circus of sorts, it starts to make some considerable sense. Reed was clearly not trying to concoct the most flawless and realistic depiction of London society – despite covering some of the same conceptual material, this is about as far from the gritty, kitchen-sink realist dramas that were starting to spring up at the same time. There’s a tricky tonal balance that needed to be met throughout this film – it’s not enough to simply lay the narrative foundation, the filmmakers needed to make sure that the right balance between effervescent comedy and heartwrenching drama were not only met, but entirely successful, since so much of the emotional content of the film hinges on how well the director could play in both proverbial sandboxes. He does succeed, but only to an extent – there’s a degree of hope embedded in the story that he captures exceptionally well, and his ability to draw on the inherent peculiarities of this version of London, which seems more like a circus than a neighbourhood of a major city, is always compelling, even if the story itself can be a bit too slight when focusing on the central character, and too scattered in the sojourns into the happenings in the lives of others. However, these are all minor problems in an otherwise charming film.

If nothing else, A Kid For Two Farthings is a joyful expression of the follies of youth, and our inherent tendency to find the magic in a world that is often void of it when we grow older. It’s not so much that the world is a different place, but rather our perspective shifts radically, evolving in such a way that we’re used to the realities of life, losing the sense of reckless abandon that childhood brings. It would be foolish to suggest that A Kid For Two Farthings is free of flaws – Reed clearly struggles in setting the right tone, the film often feeling quite jagged under his direction, and while this may not be an enormous problem, it does mean that the film is considerably less fun than it should be. Ultimately, there isn’t much to this film, and it functions as a relatively harmless, conventional comedy about a young boy going on a variety of adventures and encountering a range of eccentric characters, all of which are barely realistic, but still very entertaining. Contrasted with the deeply sentimental story that may end on a slightly sombre note (perhaps inappropriately so, since it would’ve been a lot better to end this film with something happier, considering the emotional crescendo it reached without much difficulty), A Kid For Two Farthings is a sweet and endearing film that has a lot of compelling humour embedded deeply within it, and while it may not always manifest as well as it should, considering the depths to which it could’ve reached with a little more effort, it is still a relatively engrossing film that delivers exactly what it promises, and manages to be captivating in all the right places, while still offering us something entertaining. It’s not a major work in Reed’s career, but it’s still a well-made, lovable comedy with a lot of heart and a strong message – and for a film like this, that’s more than enough.