The story focuses on Lovejoy Mason, a fatherless adolescent girl shuffled off by her mother to relatives in the neighborhood. She plants a packet of sunflower seeds in the debris-strewn area. A street gang of wayward boys trashes Lovejoy's garden, but impressed by her determination, they offer to help her rebuild. However, her troubles are not over, and she faces further challenges before she gets the garden of her dreams. Britain, like Lovejoy's garden, was rising from the rubble of war and thriving.
Flora Robson, who plays Lovejoy's benefactress, is the one well-known actor in the film, though there are fine performances by less familiar character actors. June Archer, who made her film debut as Lovejoy, is impressive in the role, but had only small parts in a couple of television programs thereafter. Director Philip Leacock had worked on several documentaries before and during World War II, and moved to features after the war. In the 1950s he had demonstrated his skill in working with children in films such as The Kidnappers (1953), Escapade (1955), and The Spanish Gardener (1956) before making Innocent Sinners. Starting in the late 1950s, he went back and forth between Britain and America directing films, before settling in the U.S. and working regularly on television series and TV movies.
Director: Philip Leacock
Producer: Hugh Stewart
Screenplay: Neil Paterson, based on An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden
Cinematography: Harry Waxman
Editor: John D. Guthridge
Costume Design: Anthony Mendleson
Production Design: Cedric Dawe
Music: Philip Green, Larry Adler (harmonica), Ronnie Ronalde (whistler)
Principal Cast: Flora Robson (Olivia Chesney), David Kossoff (Mr. Vincent), Catherine Lacey (Angela Chesney), Susan Beaumont (Liz), Lyndon Brook (Charles), Edward Chapman (Manley), June Archer (Lovejoy Mason), Christopher Hey (Tip Malone), Brian Hammond (Sparkey), Vanda Godsell (Lovejoy's Mother)
95 minutes
by Margarita Landazuri
