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Customs Movies: River Patrol and Forbidden Cargo

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  Looking at how HM Customs and Excise was portrayed in the movies, the list is relatively small. I can only think of two. River Patrol. 1948. One of the earliest post-war Hammer Films, it was written by film editor James Corbett and directed by Ben R. Hart. Made at Marylebone Studios (appropriately, a deconsecrated church) it stars cheeky John Blythe as Robby Robinson, a Waterguard officer who sees one of his crew shot and murdered during an interception on the Thames. When the smugglers cruiser opens fire with a machine gun, Robinson retaliates with an automatic pistol! Not sure that 20th century Waterguard officers were ever officially entitled to bear arms, but maybe the pistol was a souvenir Robby brought back from the war. Unfortunately, the film veers into Harry Enfield territory in a statically directed scene where Robby returns to headquarters and turns off the wireless in the canteen to mourn his colleagues death. Hungry for revenge, Robby is teamed with Jean Nichols (Lo...