Homeless Children

Homeless Children is a 1964 British comedy-drama film produced and directed by and filmed by his production company Gidney/Blanko Productions. The screenplay was written by and, and stars (a young)  and.

Produced on a low budget and originally envisioned as a made-for-television film, Homeless Children was released theatrically by on 8 January 1964 and aired on television on  on 24 January. It drew a lukewarm public response and received mixed reviews from critics, however the film was a box-office success.

Plot
13-year-old Benedict Baldridge, from Washington D.C., is repeatedly turned his eyes by the teacher because of his poor family, and because of a dispute with his classmates, he is expelled from school by the principal, Emmanuel Griffiths, on the grounds that he has not paid the tuition fees. Philippa Hopkins is originally his teacher, but on behalf of Benedict, she pleads unsuccessfully and resigns in frustration.

After resignation, Hopkins is invited to serve as the dean of the orphanage. Although she is repeatedly teased by orphans, Hopkins uses sincerity and love instead of severe punishments such as vine whip and black house, winning the approval of orphans and colleagues.

Having being expelled by the principal, Benedict dares not return home. He works with street children and makes a living by stealing wallets. After Hopkins learns that Benedict is missing, she and her lover Zachariah "Zach" Baxter begin searching for him on the street, but Benedict feels that she has no face to meet Hopkins and avoids her. After several hardships, Hopkins finally brings Benedict and the street boy back to live in the orphanage.

Little does Hopkins know that street children don't want to be bound by the rules of life in the orphanage, and sneaks away with Benedict. When his classmates Lee Wan-Huang and Daniella Thompson get dissuaded, Benedict gets beaten and faints on the train tracks. He then sacrifices himself before being crushed by the train in order to save Lee and Daniella, and is taken to the hospital.

Although the street boy really repented at this time, Hopkins has agreed to study abroad with Zach. At the farewell meeting, Zach is deeply moved by the reluctance of the orphans and understands the significance of educating the next generation. He not only says that he would not take Hopkins away, but also decides to stay and work side by side with Hopkins for the orphanage.

Cast

 * as Benedict Baldridge
 * as Philippa Hopkins
 * as Principal Emmanuel Griffiths
 * as Zachariah "Zach" Baxter
 * Desmond Suen as Lee Wan-Huang
 * as Daniella Thompson
 * Casey Kennedy as Diego Matthews
 * Lilah Newman as Heloise Nerz
 * as Nurse
 * as Angry Waiter
 * as Maid

Home media
The LaserDisc, VHS and Betamax releases of the film were released by Rank Video Library on 10 August 1981. The VHS release was re-released by Rank Home Video on 25 January 1988.

On 1 April 2005, the film's DVD release was released by Network Distributing in the United Kingdom.