The Magnet (film)

The Magnet is a 1950 Ealing Studios comedy film, and gave James Fox his first starring role. The story involves a young Wallasey boy, Johnny Brent Fox, who obtains the eponymous magnet by deception, leading to much confusion. When he is acclaimed as a hero, he is shamed by his own sense of guilt.

After he returns to school, Johnny sees the little boys nanny and overhears her telling her friend about her budgerigar, which she says has died of a broken heart. Johnny mistakenly thinks she is talking about the little boy himself, and becomes convinced that he is guilty of murder. He hides in the back of a van which takes him to Liverpool, where he comes into conflict with the local boys. He wins them over by convincing them he is a fugitive from the police. He saves the life of one boy who had fallen through a disused pier. The injured boy ends up in an iron lung made by the man to whom Johnny gave the magnet. When Johnny visits the boy, he sees the magnet mounted on the iron lung and is reunited with the inventor, who is delighted to have found Johnny again. Johnny is awarded the Civic Gold Medal, which he gives to the magnets original owner, clearing his conscience.The Magnet was filmed on location in and around New Brighton, Wirral, Cheshire and Liverpool, and at Ealing Studios, London, in black and white. Given its setting, however, authentic local accents are absent until almost the end of the film, in a scene filmed in the shadow of the Anglican cathedral. A Chinese boy appears in this scene, which was unusual for the time in film, although there had been a significant Chinese community in Liverpool since the 1860s, but when he is called home by his mother in Chinese, explains this to his friends in fluent scouse. ........

Source: Wikipedia