Reviewed by Jo Wood
Featuring The Green Man, Folly To Be Wise, Geordie,
Left Right and Centre & Laughter in Paradise
Stars Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, Guy Middleton, George Cole,
Hugh Griffith, Bill Travers, Norah Gorson
UK certification UK PG | UK RRP £34.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 447 minutes
Directed by Frank Launder & others
The much-loved actor Alastair Sim is a byword for classic British comedy, appearing in unforgettable movies such as the Belles of St TrinianIs and The Happiest Days of Your Life. He was both popular and critically acclaimed, BAFTA nominated as well as topping popularity polls.
Laughter in Paradise (1951, directed by Mario Zampi, 92mins) ****
Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, Guy Middleton, George Cole, Hugh Griffith
Don’t be put off by the date of, or lack of colour, in this good clean wholesome fun-for-all-the-family movie. Sim plays one of 4 relatives remembered in the will of practical joker Henry Augustus Russell. In order to receive their share of £200,000, the 4 have to perform some tasks asked of them. Good natured Deniston (Sim) has to spend no less than 28 days in prison for committing a real offense; hard nosed sister Agnes (Compton) has to find and keep gainful employment as servant to a middle class home; womaniser Simon (Middleton) has to marry the first woman he sees, and timid coward Robert (Cole) has to hold up the bank for which he works. The cast are superbly funny, with a magnificent script, and original plot. With none other than Audrey Hepburn making a debut performance, I beseech any family sitting down at Christmas to crack this comedy open.
Geordie (1955, directed by Frank Launder, 95mins) *½
Alastair Sim, Bill Travers, Norah Gorson
In the excitement and expense of producing this film in colour, director Lauder forgot he needed to pay for a script too. The wonderfully unique idea of a ‘wee’ boy from the Glens taking a body building course and eventually growing up to be a champion hammer thrower for Scotland, is marred only by the fact none of the cast have even the smallest of talent in speaking with a believable Scottish accent, and the lead character can hardly talk convincingly, let alone act. That aside, infrequent scenes including The Laird, are touched with Sim’s magic touch. Although the script is cumbersome and at times grating, it does throw up the odd gem — including: ‘Lady champion shot-putter? I suppose they call that progress...’ Simple Geordie’s (Travers) rise to fame and fortune is both awkward and filled with temptation, while he struggles to keep the peace with childhood romance, Jean (Gorson). At times willing it to end, this film is far too long for what it offers, and one to watch only really on a Sunday afternoon when the alternative is walking the dog in a thunderstorm.
Left Right And Centre (1959, directed by Sidney Gilliat, 88mins ) ***½
Alastair Sim, Ian Carmichael, Patricia Bredin, Richard Wattis, Eric Barker
This is a wonderful tongue-in-cheek golden oldie about the sexual tensions between a couple of politicians both campaigning in the by-election in the small town of Earndale — one a TV gameshow contestant and amateur in politics, the other, a woman (gasp!). She a Socialist, he a Tory, their relationship is most certainly doomed from their fateful meeting on the train, neither knowing who the other is. Robert Wilcock (Carmichael) was nominated for the campaign by his delightfully eccentric and money-minded Lord Wilcot (Sim), although Robert possesses none of his uncle’s charisma and charm, and God only knows what Stella (Bredin) actually sees in him. Some lovely characters, including the campaign managers on both sides, make this film adorably watchable, although getting the kids to sit through a movie with an under current of politics might be tough.
EXTRAS None