Calamity the Cow

Calamity the Cow is a 1967 British film directed by David Eastman and starring John Moulder-Brown and Elizabeth Dear. It was written by Eastman and Kerry Eastman and made for the Children's Film Foundation.^[1][2] The film featured Phil Collins as a teenage actor three years prior to his joining Genesis.

Calamity the Cow
Opening titles
Directed by	David Eastman
Produced by	Ian Dalrymple
Starring	John Moulder-Brown Elizabeth Dear Stephen Brown
Cinematography	Bert Mason
Edited by	Jack Drake
Production company	Children's Film Foundation
Release date	1967 (1967)
Running time	55 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot summary

Farmer Grant's children get him to buy a cow from another farmer. The children work hard to make the cow fit and healthy enough for the show ring. But at the last minute the other farmer, Kincaid, steals Calamity.

Cast

• John Moulder-Brown as Rob Grant
• Elizabeth Dear as Jo Grant
• Stephen Brown as Tim Lucas
• Phil Collins as Mike Lucas
• Josephine Gillick as Beth Lucas
• Grant Taylor as Mr. Grant
• Honor Shepherd as Mrs. Grant
• Alastair Hunter as Kincaid
• Michael Warren as Ringer
• Desmond Carrington as Uncle Jim
• Ken Goodlet as Lefty
• Peter Halliday as Sergeant Watkins

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Against a background of village and farm-life, this children's film is filled out largely in terms of slapstick. The nicest touch is the Heath Robinson contraption which the children build from material they find in a junk-heap – an old bath and bits of a bedstead – to transport the cow to the show. The slapstick ranges from flying paint from a can on a revolving horn gramophone to the predictable but vigorous action of Calamity biffing the villainous Kincaid into a water trough. Fields and country lanes provide pleasant settings for an agreeable piece of children's entertainment."^[3]