Cosh Boy (Flipside 040) (Dual Format Edition)

A gang of juvenile delinquents tear up post-war London in Lewis Gilbert’s shocking and energetic x-rated drama.


Roy (James Kenney) is a brash, chain-smoking thug who bullies his friends (including Rene, played by a young Joan Collins) into subservience. He and his gang assault and rob people on the street, but things get increasingly dangerous when their behaviour escalates to murderous consequences. 


Unafraid to tackle a host of taboo subjects, Cosh Boy is a penetrating portrait of 1950s Britain and its simmering social tensions. One of the first British films to receive an ‘X’ certificate, this landmark classic is available on Blu-ray for the first time and is the 40th entry to the longstanding BFI Flipside catalogue.

Browse more BFI Flipside titles

• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Stranger in the City (1961, 22 mins): short film by Robert Hartford-Davis about Soho in the 1960s
• Johnny on the Run (1953, 68 mins): Lewis Gilbert’s Children’s Film Foundation production starring Sydney Tafler (Carve Her Name with Pride) and featuring an appearance by Dad’s Army actor John Laurie
• The Ten Year Plan (1945, 17 mins): COI film by Lewis Gilbert featuring Charles Hawtrey
• Harmony Lane (1954, 24 mins): musical comedy short by Lewis Gilbert
• Teddy Boys (1956, 8 mins)
• Interview with Ian Whittaker (6 mins): short interview with one of the stars of Cosh Boy
• US title sequence (1952, 3 mins): opening sequence to the US cut, featuring alternative footage and titles 
• **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Matthew Coniam, a new essay on the fashion in Cosh Boy by Jenny Hammerton and full film credits