New London police officer Andy Mitchell (Jimmy Hanley) is paired with seasoned bobby George Dixon (Jack Warner) to work the night shift. When criminals Tom Riley (Dirk Bogarde) and Spud (Patric Doonan) are caught robbing a local cinema, George meets Tom in a face-off. While trying to coax the thief into making a peaceful surrender, George is wounded and taken to the hospital. It then becomes Andy's task to track down the crooks and restore honour to his partner.
Probably the most famous of all British police films, The Blue Lamp is a classic example of the Ealing Studios ethos of inclusiveness. The film was scripted by ex-policeman T.E.B. Clarke, the writer who arguably did most to define the studio's postwar identity.
In a pseudo-documentary opening, the film offers itself as an examination of a new breed of young criminal, hardened by the war years, whose recklessness and violence contrasts with the discipline of the older criminal fraternity.
Dirk Bogarde's edgy performance as loose cannon Tom Riley launched his career, but the centre of the film is Jack Warner's unimpeachable PC George Dixon.