Eric Barker Movies
British radio comedian Eric Barker gained popularity on such late 1940s series as Merry Go Round and Just Fancy, in which he costarred with wife Pearl Hackney. Like most English radio stars, Barker was best known by his catch-phrase, "Steady Barker." Though he'd been making films off and on since 1936, Barker didn't step before the cameras as a major character actor until 1957's Brothers In Law (for which he won a British Film Academy award), long after his radio fame had subsided. The actor appeared in several of the zany "Carry On" films, from Carry On Constable (1960) to the somewhat seamier Carry On Emmanuelle (1978). Some of the better-known films in which Eric Barker was featured were Heavens Above (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) (as a French postman!), and There's a Girl in My Soup (1971). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1961
Director Gerald Thomas and most of the cast and crew that worked in his "Carry On...." series of comedies are all back again in the funny, sometimes slapstick Raising the Wind. The plot is no more than a situation which then invites multiple sidetracks -- it seems the students at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Arts are going all out to get a coveted award. Thrown into their competitive ambiance is the classic absent-minded professor (Eric Barker), the more commonly found bad-tempered professor (James Robertson Justice), and a host of subsidiary characters, all played with gusto by professionals known for their comedic talents. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Sidney James, (more)
- 1974
Bill Fraser and Raymond Huntley star in the raucous British farce That's Your Funeral. Fraser and Huntley play Bullstrode and Holroyd, rival undertakers. The animosity between the two is amplified when drug traffickers attempt to use coffins and hearses to smuggle their wares. David Battley and John Ronane co-star in the sitcomish goings-on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
This British comedy comes from Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, writers of the hit television program Steptoe and Son. Harry H. Corbett (who played Steptoe, Jr. on the tube) is Hemel, a canal-cruising bargee who is dead-set against marriage. He goes about his freewheeling ways until he finds out that he has impregnated one of his playthings (Julia Foster). Unfortunately for him, the young woman's father (Hugh Griffith) is the lock-keeper and he is not about to get out of this predicament without a vow or two. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry H. Corbett, Hugh Griffith, (more)
- 1957
The British Brothers in Law is a characteristically enjoyable Boulting-brother farce, again extracting humor out of the commonplace. Ian Carmichael stars as a novice attorney, full of notions but coming-on a bit too strong for his fellow lawyers. Thanks to the intervention of irascible judge Miles Malleson, Carmichael is forced to jump in and starts swimming with a particularly prickly case. The experience teaches Carmichael how to bend and shape law to his advantage--and also how to curry favor with the public. Brothers in Law was based on a novel by Henry Cecil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Ian Carmichael, (more)
- 1963
The star of this slapstick comedy is not a person but an antique Bentley sports car, the source of several misadventures. Murdoch Troon (Stanley Baxter) is a simple civil servant who has his heart set on romancing Claire (Julie Christie in an early role), the daughter of wealthy businessman Charles Chingford (James Robertson Justice). As a part of his scheme to appear irresistible, Murdoch takes driving lessons so he will be able to impress Claire in the Bentley. Both the lessons and his driving test produce moments of hilarity, and as might be expected, there cannot be a movie featuring a car without a wacky, wild chase. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Robertson Justice, Stanley Baxter, (more)
- 1966
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Cartoonist Ronald Searle's delightfully diabolical private-school girls are back in action in The Great St. Trinian's Bank Robbery. Comedian Frankie Howerd plays the head of a train-robbery gang who cleverly hides the loot from their biggest haul (presumably the infamous "Great Train Robbery" of 1963) in a deserted old mansion. The gang waits the traditional seven years for the statute of limitations to run out then returns to the mansion to dig up their $7 million booty. Unfortunately, the joint has been converted into the new site for St. Trinian's School for Girls. Even more unfortunately (for the crooks, but not the audience) those "girls" are all holy terrors. The film's climax occurs during a riotous Parents' Day ceremony, which predictably segues into a wild train chase. Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery might have been funnier had Alastair Sim, the star of the first three "St. Trinian's" entries, made a return appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Howerd, Reg Varney, (more)
From Richard Lester, the director of 1980's Superman II and the 1964 A Hard Day's Night, comes this less-successful sequel to the The Mouse that Roared. The Prime Minister of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick (Ron Moody) is in a bind because he has no money to renovate his castle and there is a serious problem with his small country's main export, wine. The stuff tends to explode. So the Prime Minister asks the U.S. for aid to develop space research, knowing full well they are not going to give him money to remodel his castle. Once the U.S. grants a cool million to the country, Russia adds in a used rocket, and things start popping. Like it or not, the Duchy is suddenly involved in space research and contributing to the madness is the discovery that its unique wine makes good rocket fuel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Cribbins, (more)
- 1961
One in the series of St. Trinian's off-beat, irreverent comedies that began in 1953 and continued strong through the '60s, this farce by Frank Launder features the usual bevy of comely young women who attend the school. This time around, the femmes terribles have just burnt down the school and shock the world by getting acquitted when hauled into the Old Bailey. It seems the judge is keen on Rosalie (Julie Alexander) and besides, an unscrupulous shyster posing as a professor offers to rebuild the school. Instead, he takes the offenders on a bogus tour of Greece and once they are underway, he leads them to his real goal -- forced matrimony to the sons of an Arab sheik. As always, this St. Trinian's comedy is meant for audiences who enjoy its own brand of humor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cecil Parker, Joyce Grenfell, (more)
The television host of a popular cooking show, Robert Danvers (Peter Sellers) has a real penchant for women. After one episode, he finds Marion (Goldie Hawn) changing from a wedding dress to street clothes. Instantly deciding to get to her and "take over" before the groom, Jimmy (Nicky Henson) has another opportunity, Robert invites her to his bachelor pad, a specially designed command center for his romantic adventures. He turns on the English gentleman's charm, only to have Marion laugh and suggest forthright that they sleep together. She moves in the following day and the two vacation in France on the Riviera and tour the wine country before returning to London. Upon their return, Robert proposes to %Marion; she rejects him in favor of Jimmy, however, who has sworn faithfulness to her and given up cheating forever. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Goldie Hawn, (more)
- 1965
- G
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Ken Annakin's large-canvas comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines is set in 1910. In order to boost circulation of his newspaper, Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) offers 10,000 pounds to the first person who can fly across the English Channel. A huge number of hopefuls enter the contest, including the scheming Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), who, with the help of his henchman Courtney (Eric Sykes), attempts to sabotage the other entries. There is also a love triangle featuring Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman) and Richard Mays (James Fox) competing for the heart of Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, (more)
- 1965
In this musical, two youngsters are thrilled to meet their favorite Italian movie star and end up spending a day squiring her about London. The star is a little eccentric and asks them to steal some hats for her collection. The star-struck youths agree until they learn that she wants a bobby's helmet, a businessman's bowler, and the bearskin cap of a palace guard. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Brown, Sophie Hardy, (more)
- 1961
Based on the play Something About a Sailor by Earle Couttie, this film is a screwball comedy about the British navy. Kenneth Connor is Officer Blissworth, who is an inept bungler of a sailor. With an equally inadequate partner, Captain David Foster (Eric Barker), he loses the plans for modifying an important torpedo during the testing of a prototype for the revised model. They try to cover up their mistake by giving a set of plans to Admiral Sir Humphrey Pettigrew (Noel Purcell) that detail their ship's refrigeration system. The scheme works for awhile, but then the bumblers discover that a female inspector is scheduled to do the testing of the torpedo. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker, (more)
