Michael Brooke

Ten-year-old Johnny Brent (William Fox - The Servant) tricks a young boy to swap him a toy magnet for his ‘invisible watch’. Troubled afterwards by his conscience, Johnny rids himself of the magnet by presenting it to a charitable fund. When news of this touching sacrifice by an unknown child appeals to the imagination of the sentimental public, the magnet is auctioned for charity and raises several hundred pounds. This leads to a search to find the donor, and when Johnny learns of this he concludes that is wanted by the police for obtaining the magnet by false pretences, prompting him to go on the run! Directed by Academy Award nominee Charles Frend (Scott of the Antarctic), written by Academy Award winner T.E.B. Clarke (The Lavender Hill Mob), and co-starring Stephen Murray (A Tale of Two Cities) and Kay Walsh (Oliver Twist), The Magnet is an outstanding Ealing comedy.