UK, 1956. Directed by Robert Day. Alastair Sim, George Cole, Jill Adams, Terry-Thomas, Raymond Huntley, Colin Gordon, Dora Bryan.
Adapted from the stage play Meet A Body by producers Launder & Gilliat, this farce may not be as widely known as the more famous Ealing comedies but is nevertheless one of the funniest British films of the 1950s. It tells the tale of a gauche vacuum cleaner salesman (Cole) and the young woman he befriends (Adams) who together thwart the murderous plans of a master assassin (Sim). In addition to the leads there’s a wealth of familiar faces appearing in supporting roles: Raymond Huntley as a pompous politician, attempting to have a dirty weekend with a naiive typist, Terry-Thomas as a caddish charmer, convinced his wife is keeping tabs on him, Dora Bryan as a flirty barmaid and the wonderful Colin Gordon as a pretentious intellectual poet-cum-BBC newsreader. In real life Alastair Sim fostered George Cole and helped his acting career – they appeared together in numerous films including of course the St Trinians series. Here they don’t have many scenes together but each is amusing in his own right whenever they’re on screen. Cole of course would find even greater fame on TV in the 1980s playing Arthur Daley in Minder. My favourite moment in this film: Sim’s pretence of enthusiasm as the string trio play in the hotel lounge. Priceless.
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