Trivia / The Blue Lamp

• Backed by the Pentagon: The film opens with a dedication and thanks to the Metropolitan Police.
• Dawson Casting: Seventeen-year-old Diana Lewis is played by twenty-eight-year-old Peggy Evans.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: Contrary to some belief, this film was not inspired by the Craig and Bentley case, which happened a couple of years after its release.
• Star-Making Role: For Dirk Bogarde as charismatic but despicable delinquent Tom Riley.
• Uncredited Role:
  • William Mervyn as Chief Inspector Hammond.
  • Melvyn Hayes as a blonde urchin.
• What Could Have Been: The Rank Organisation, who owned Ealing Studios at the time, initially offered the role of Diana to Diana Dors. However, the producers felt that she lacked the emotional maturity required to take on that role.

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