AllMovie

The Birthday Present is a bitter half-hour anecdote stretched to 100 minutes. Tony Britton plays a British toy salesman who purchases a watch for his wife's birthday while visiting the Continent. Not wishing to pay the customs duties, he hides the watch upon his return to England. Britton is caught with the goods, and his life is never the same afterwards. Intended as a slice of raw realism, Birthday Present plays more like a cautionary social studies film.