The Birthday Present is a 1957 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Tony Britton and Sylvia Syms.

His wife tells his employer’s managing director, Colonel Wilson, that, contrary to earlier reports, Simon has not been sick but is serving a prison sentence.

However, Wilson, who remains convinced he took the right decision at his earlier meeting with Simon, forcefully debates the issue with the directors and points out if he had been fined rather than going to prison they would have a different attitude.

Moreover, the direction so lacks real force and conviction, that the final impression is of a technically competent piece of commercial film-making – clean, smooth, hygienic and quite unpoetic.

...Tony Britton contributes a smooth study as the immaculate and confident though foolish Simon, Sylvia Syms is most appealing as the loyal Jean, and Geoffrey Keen and Walter Fitzgerald impress as Wilson and Sir John.

The kaleidoscopic opening has colour and the concluding reels thrust home its stern moral, but during its middle stages a little too much attention is paid to prison detail.

"[9] Allmovie called it "a bitter half-hour anecdote stretched to 100 minutes... Intended as a slice of raw realism, Birthday Present plays more like a cautionary social studies film.