Product Description

Dodger lane has planned the perfect robbery while in prison. He intends to break out of prison steal a fortune in diamonds and break back into prison before anyone notices. With only a few days sentence left and the perfect alibi - what could possibly go wrong? Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 01/21/2003 Starring: Peter Sellers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50644 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-01-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 78 minutes

Amazon.com
A great British crime comedy always worth watching again, Two Way Stretch is about imprisoned crooks who hatch a scheme to pull off a heist with a perfect alibi by breaking out, doing the job, and then breaking back in to serve out their sentences. Peter Sellers, usually an eccentric support in these things, takes a rare lead as cocky mastermind Dodger Lane, confident enough to share the screen with performers who would be doing serious time if scene-stealing were an actual offense. The chief delight of the film is Lionel Jeffries's bristling, infuriated, hilariously humiliated warder Sidney Crout, forever fuming as Dodger gets away with some new scheme. Also in on the scam: Wilfrid Hyde-White as a bogus clergyman, David Lodge as the dimwitted muscleman, and Bernard Cribbins in the nice young man part. The British cinema has been turning out an unheralded series of wonderful caper comedies for decades, from The Lavender Hill Mob through A Fish Called Wanda to The Parole Officer; this effort--along with the follow-up, The Wrong Arm of the Law--ranks among the best. --Kim Newman

Customer Reviews

Top Class Comedy Caper.
I will start by saying that Kim Newman's summary of this classic English comedy is excellent, and I completely agree with the comments. While Sellers is the star, this is clearly an ensemble piece, and the other actors are all terrific. Nobody really steals a film from Sellers, but Lionel Jeffries comes close--his turn as the "nasty" prison guard, "Sour" Crout, is an absolute gem. As Kim Newman mentions, David Lodge, Bernard Cribbins and Wilfrid Hyde-White are fine in support as "the gang".

Others deserve credit too--Maurice Denham as the most benign prison warden in history, preoccupied with his garden and prize--winning ( he hopes ) marrow--Liz Fraser as Dodger's long-suffering, blond-bombshell girlfriend--Irene Handl as Bernard Cribbins' larcenous "Mum", castigating her son for not breaking out of jail and preserving her criminal family's "honour"--George Woodbridge as the kindest, most naive prison guard in the history of cinema.

The script is marvellous--with even "bit-players" getting hilarious lines. During "visiting day", one of the inmates asks for an explanation about his wife's new baby when he has been locked up for three years--her reply is priceless. No--I won't tell you--buy the movie !

Anchor Bay as usual gives us a very nice picture.

One minor criticism--the picture on the cover of the DVD has nothing to do with this movie at all--I'm not sure what happened here.

In summary, a classic British comedy from the "golden age", not to be missed.

A few more touches
Your reviewers Kim and Peter did an excellent job and I heartily agree with them.
Do you remember how increasingly noisy the Army guarding the valuables were? Culminating in the major in his armored car yelling at midnight outside the pub and having a chamber pot unceremoniously dumped upon him.
We saw (a much older and heavier) Lionel Jefferies (a bishop) at a London theater. After, on the street, program still in hand, we were discussing our evening plans when he came by in street clothes and said he hoped we enjoyed the show. We persueded him to say "Shut up when I'm talkin' " (from 2-way Stretch) We will never forget it.

Blimey! Sour Crout!
Another great British Lion movie made by those talented actor's companies they put together. Sellers must have been the inspiration for the story of inmates plotting a jail break because he used it in other movies. He and his two cell mates plot an escape to participate in a jewel heist being arranged by another partner on the outside, a con man named Soapy Stevens who poses as a Anglican Reverend. He is played delightfully by Wilfred Hyde White who steals every scene in which he appears.

The jail they are serving time in is a country club type where the inmates are given free reign of the place by a softy Governor (as the warden is called.) The Governor is more preoccupied with winning gardening prizes than running the prison. He makes a mockery of compassion.

Along comes Chief Prison Officer Sidney Crout nicknamed Sour Crout. He plays the British version of the martinet Sergeant to perfection. He intends to set things right and stop this mollycoddling of the prisoners. He makes enemies of the inmates, the Governor, and others. He suffers hilarious misadventures as he tries to reopen the rock pile and discover tunnelers. He is played with zest by Lionel Jeffries in one of the finest performances in this type of role I've ever seen.

Peter Seller's role in this movie, as the hero or main character, is curiously more of a straight man role. His comedy is more subtle.

The caper in the film is of a British Army convoy guarding a sultan's diamonds and losing them, despite all their elaborate plans, to this gang of thieves. It works much better than a similar caper in Seller's "The Wrong Arm of the Law."

Also of note is Liz Frazer's performance as Seller's tarty fiance who uses her feminine distress to help the gang at key moments.

I really liked this movie.