Go Kart Go
Directed by	Jan Darnley-Smith
Screenplay by	Michael Barnes
Story by	Frank Wells
Produced by	George H. Brown
Starring	Dennis Waterman Pearl Catlin Jimmy Capehorn
Cinematography	John Coquillon
Edited by	John Bloom
Music by	Ron Goodwin
Production company	Fanfare Films
Release date	1963 (1963)
Running time	55 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Go Kart Go is a 1963 British black and white children's comedy-drama film directed by Jan Darnley-Smith and starring Dennis Waterman, Pearl Catlin and Jimmy Capehorn.^[1][2] It was written by Michael Barnes from a story by Frank Wells, and produced for the Children's Film Foundation.^[3]

Two rival children's go-kart gangs compete to win the local race. The Damson Street gang only has a home-made motorised soap-box, but the Craven gang has a proper go-kart, and therefore win all the races. The Damsons try to build a more powerful kart using a lawn mower engine, but when it runs out of control they persuade their parents to pay for a professional kart kit, in time for the big race. The Craven gang try to sabotage the Damsons' new kart, but fail. The Damons finally triumph.

• Dennis Waterman as Jimpy
• Pearl Catlin as Jimpy's Mum [uncredited]
• Jimmy Capehorn as Square Head
• Frazer Hines as Harry Haggetty
• Pauline Challoner as Patchy
• Melanie Garland as Squirt
• Robert Ferguson as Stiggy
• John Moulder-Brown as Spuggy
• Edward Martin as Slab
• Hugh Halliday as Basher
• Gareth Robinson as Cheesy
• Christopher Witty as Woodlouse
• Graham Stark as policeman
• Campbell Singer as policeman
• Wilfrid Brambell as Fred, junk man
• Cardew Robinson as postman
• Gladys Henson as housewife
• Peter Myers as race organiser
• Alan White as parent
• Harry Locke as greengrocer parent

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Ealing-inspired kids' adventure with a dash of Tashlin. The novice director, Jan Darnley-Smith, brings economy and polish to the stock story. He knows how to cater for and get the best out of children – both gangs are toughly, realistically observed – and has an engaging taste for near-fantasy. A chase sequence through Harrow, with a runaway lawn-mower peeling and chipping Gladys Henson's spuds and hacking a bald path through a rug laid out to be cleaned, is worthy of a Jerry Lewis film. Ron Goodwin's score is lively; the cutting and camerawork are slick, especially in the all-important racing scenes; and various adult guest stars – Graham Stark as a Quiet Wedding policeman, Wilfrid Brambell as a Steptoe junk-dealer – catch the infectious enthusiasm of their spirited young colleagues. An altogether admirable CFF production."^[4]

Alistair McGown wrote for the British Film Institute: "This film is a good example of the 'gang' in the CFF films – as well as engendering a sense of camaraderie, the ensemble of mixed ages of kids, boys and girls, allows most members of the CFF audience (aged between 5 and 12) to find a point of identification, even if this probably seems a mite unrealistic. For obvious reasons the eldest members of the gangs carry the film – and were among Britain's most experienced child actors of the 1950s and would soon become adult TV stars. Go Kart Go also serves as a good example of the way CFF films preferred actions to words, using relatively little dialogue. The well-edited, noisy race setpieces symbolise rather than verbalise simple conflict. TV comedy fans should note the cameo appearances by Wilfrid Brambell as scrap dealer Old Fred – just a year after the debut of Steptoe and Son (BBC, 1962–1974). Brambell appears heralded by a piece of incidental music that pastiches Ron Grainer's famous 'Old Ned' theme."^[5]

Writing in The Guardian, Andrew Roberts called Go Kart Go an "archetypal 1960s CFF film."^[6]

The film was awarded the Arquero de Bronce at the 1964 Children's Film Festival, Gijon, Spain.^[3]

Go Kart Go was released on the compilation DVD Saturday Morning Pictures: Volume 3 (Network, 2007).

• Go Kart Go at IMDb