Terry-Thomas Movies
For the first three decades of his life, gap-toothed comic actor Terry-Thomas was far from a household name. The London-born performer worked as a clerk, meat salesman, pianist, bandleader, music hall comedian and movie extra before signing with the Royal Signal Corps upon the outbreak of World War II. His film career took off in earnest in 1949, and by 1955 Terry-Thomas was enjoying star billing in a series of officious, twittish roles. Occasionally a sympathetic leading man in such films as Man in the Cocked Hat (1959), the actor was far more effective in roles calling for easily punctured pomposity. Extremely popular in England, Terry-Thomas was comparatively little known in the U.S. outside of the art-house circuit until he starred in the Frank Tashlin-directed farce Bachelor Flat (1961). Though he'd been afforded opportunities to exhibit his versatility in British films, Terry-Thomas was typecast by Hollywood in such broad, unpleasant roles as the jingoistic J. Algernon Hawthorne in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and the caddish Percival War-Armitage in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). On a Tonight Show appearance in the late 1960s, the actor ruefully commented that, while he liked the money he was getting in Hollywood, he wished that his children could see him play a good guy for a change. After 1970, Terry-Thomas accepted whatever parts came his way, with the mediocre outweighing the worthwhile; he was last seen as Dr. Mortimer in a messy parody version of Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles (1978). Retiring to the Caribbean, he was forced to move back to London when his savings were depleted by his ever-encroaching Parkinson's Disease. The world at large was apprised of the actor's illness and reduced financial circumstance when he was featured on a network-TV documentary about degenerative illnesses. He spent his last painful years living off the charitable contributions of his friends and admirers. Terry-Thomas was the author of two autobiographical books: 1959's Closing the Gap and the posthumously published Terry-Thomas Tells Tales; his mid-1960s comedy record album Terry-Thomas Discovers America is today a much-sought-after collector's item. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1970
The tragic Sharon Tate plays a crucial role (her last-ever appearance before the cameras) in 12 Plus 1 (aka The Thirteen Chairs). If the plot sounds familiar, it is because it's based on a popular Russian novel, also filmed in 1945 as It's In the Bag and in 1971 as The Twelve Chairs. Vittorio Gassman inherits a fortune, only to find that the money is hidden in one of thirteen antique chairs. Trouble is, he's auctioned off the chairs to pay for his transportation costs to and from his late aunt's mansion. The bulk of the film concerns Gassman's fevered scrambled throughout Europe to track down the Twelve-Plus-One chairs. Orson Welles and Vittorio De Sica turn up in cameos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Sharon Tate, (more)
- 1969
John Abbott, a citizen of Ancient Rome, is transported against his will to the 20th Century. No sooner has he landed in Tinseltown than he's pounced upon by opportunists and sharpsters. Ad man Terry-Thomas exploits Abbott for marketing purposes, while gorgeous Lisa Seagram hopes to use the hapless Roman as a launching pad for her own showbiz career. There's a lot of comic talent in 2000 Years Later--in addition to Terry-Thomas, the film features Edward Everett Horton, Pat Harrington Jr. and Casey Kasem. In keeping with its title (in a manner of speaking), the film fares well as a 1960s time capsule, with cameo appearances by such icons of the decade as singer Monty Rock III and designer Rudi Gernreich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
In this upbeat film four war-time performers known for their concert parties, have a reunion. They decide they are still good together and form a successful nightclub act. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Ed Stander (Robert Morse), with the help of an all-star cast, teaches Paul Manning (Walter Matthau) the fine art of philandering in A Guide for the Married Man. Paul, happily married to sexy Ruth (Inger Stevens), has no burning desire to cheat, but Ed makes the prospect sound very attractive. Finally taking the "big step" with a glamorous brunette after months of careful preparation, Paul finds that he loves his wife way too much to betray her -- while the ever-careful Ed ends up in divorce court. Among the myriad of "advisors" peppered throughout Guide for the Married Man are Art Carney, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Jayne Mansfield, Terry-Thomas, and Carl Reiner. The best guest-star vignette features Joey Bishop as a man caught in bed with another woman by his wife -- whereupon he calmly puts on his clothes, straightens up the room, and quietly responds to his wife's outrage by saying "What bed? What girl?" Adapted by Frank Tarloff from his book of the same name, Guide for the Married Man was directed by Gene Kelly, who makes a cameo "appearance" of his own as a voice on a TV set. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, (more)
- 1962
The "WHO" in A Matter of Who isn't a "who" but a "what". The word is an anagram for the World Health Organization, a curious subject for a British comedy--especially one which utilizes a communicable disease as a plot device! WHO operatives Terry-Thomas and Alex Nicol trace the outbreak of a smallpox epidemic to ruthless oil millionaire Guy Deghy. Offsetting the (literal) unhealthiness of the plotline is Terry-Thomas' romance with Sonja Ziemann, the widow of a smallpox victim. A Matter of WHO was picked up for U.S. distribution by MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonja Ziemann, Alex Nicol, (more)
- 1956
The Boulting Brothers enjoyed one of their biggest box-office successes of the 1950s with the wry service comedy Private's Progress. Though billed fourth, Ian Carmichael plays the central character, feckless British soldier Stanley Windrush. Interrupting his college education to serve his country, Windrush flunks out of officer's candidate school and is demoted to private. Much of the humor arises from the bookish hero's confrontation with the ruder and cruder side of army life, as represented by rough-hewn fellow private Cox (Richard Attenborough). As Major Hitchcock, Terry-Thomas offers a brilliant parody of the "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" school of military service, while Dennis Price is equally amusing as a nonplussed commanding officer named Tracepurcel (!) Also worth watching is future "Dr. Who" star William Hartnell as a loudmouthed sergeant. Halfway through the film, the plot rears its ugly head as the protagonists become involved with the covert reclamation of art treasures confiscated by the Nazis during WW2. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, (more)
- 1967
Apparently in the Italy of the 1920s, the only way to keep your home out of the maws of the tax collector was to steal and cheat from everyone in sight -- and the dupes you'd swindle wouldn't know the difference since all their attentions would be focused upon cheating you. That little bit of homespun philosophy is the only conclusion to be drawn from Arabella, a broad sex-farce enlivened with British comic Terry-Thomas appearing in a quartet of roles, and the sexy Virna Lisi as the title character, who is compelled into chicanery in order to prevent her mother's home from being taken away by the tax man. To raise funds, Arabella rooks money from Terry-Thomas, in various fake beard incarnations as a general, a duke, a hotel manger, and an insurance agent. But while she is busy conning the four Thomases, she steps on the toes of an equally tricky burglar (James Fox) and two young lovers -- Giancarlo Giannini and Melina Vukotic. Arabella ultimately becomes attracted to the burglar. Now she must hold her base animal urges in abeyance and concentrate on squeezing more cash out of the Terry-Thomases. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virna Lisi, James Fox, (more)
- 1970
Donald Pleasence, Shelley Winters, Tammy Grimes, and Terry-Thomas star in the obscure British black comedy Arthur!! Arthur? Pleasence plays a henpecked, introverted little nebbish, unhappily wed to Winters. Escaping into fantasy, Pleasence conjures up an extroverted alter-ego, which eventually overtakes his "real" self. Newly emboldened, he murders his wife, cashes in her insurance policies, and runs off with Grimes. But she proves a bit too clever for both of Pleasence's personalities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Another in a series of American comedies of manners, this film was written and directed by Frank Tashlin with his usual grace and elegance. Terry-Thomas plays a meek archeology professor named Bruce Patterson who is attracted to bones. His salivating female college students are attracted to him. And his neighbor's Dachshund is attracted to Patterson's big and ancient dinosaur bone. With his fiancee, Helen (Celeste Holm), away in Paris, Bruce stays at her empty apartment, where love-sick women attempt to make their way through every orifice in the flat to get to the sky professor. Helen, fearful of revealing her true age to Bruce, never told him that she had married before and that she has a college-age daughter to boot. So, when her daughter, Libby (Tuesday Weld), arrives at her mother's home, Bruce thinks she is just another sex-crazed college girl and sends her away. But Libby appeals to the professor's sociological side by pretending to be a juvenile delinquent, and Bruce permits her to stay at the flat with him. Once there, Libby becomes attracted to Bruce's handsome law-student neighbor Mike (Richard Beymer). When Bruce complains to Mike about all the gals who want to lock lips with him, Mike offers a solution to his dilemma -- instead of allowing himself to be chased by the college girls, he should be the one to do the chasing. Bruce agrees and becomes a satyr with a Ph.D. At that point, Helen returns home from Paris. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, (more)
- 1956
Writer/artist Roland Searle's diabolical "belles" of St. Trinian's Girls School return in this raucous British comedy. Because the girls cannot behave themselves, their headmistress (Alastair Sim in drag!) has been thrown in jail, and the school is surrounded by police and army troops. The students escape their durance vile by winning an all-expense-paid trip to Europe (by cheating, of course). While laying waste to the Continent (with Terry-Thomas driving the bus), the girls are enmeshed in a diamond theft instigated by the father (George Cole) of one of the students. The film ends with an elongated water polo game, played with the ladies' usual sense of sportsmanship and fair play. In the 1950s and 1960s, the "St. Trinians" series was as popular a British movie attraction as the "Carry On" films--but unlike "Carry On", they don't play quite as well with American audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry-Thomas, George Cole, (more)
- 1959
This is an uneven though occasionally hilarious comedy about a remote British colony and diplomatic blunders. Terry-Thomas as a British diplomat and Peter Sellers as a nasty, vile Prime Minister on the island, tend to overshadow the roles they are playing. Carlton-Browne (Terry-Thomas) is sent to the remote island of Gaillardia to prevent any other powers from tapping into its potentially rich mineral deposits. The fact that the Brits have ignored Gaillardia for the last fifty years or that Carlton-Browne is a walking disaster does not stop the Foreign Office. Circumstances quickly spin out of control as the island colony heads toward revolution with a new, young king (Ian Bannen) on the throne. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, (more)
Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is the criminal mastermind who has just pulled off a huge heist. He spends most of his free time with his girlfriend, Eva (Marisa Mell), in fond embrace. The police minister (Terry-Thomas) is approached by Valmont (Adolfo Celi), a master criminal who proposes to use his underworld connections to catch Diabolik for the police. In between their gratuitous lovemaking, he and the exotic Eva are chased by police and the mob in this plodding crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, (more)
- 1958
This soft-pedalled British comedy was adapted from Quiet Wedding, a play by Esther McCracken that had previous been filmed in 1940. On the eve of their nuptials, David (Ian Carmichael) and Janet (Janette Scott) have a serious falling out. It isn't really the couple's fault, however; as usual, their relatives have messed things up with their well-intentioned meddling. Patching up their differences, David and Janet decide that the best strategy is to hide out until the wedding, and to that end they embark upon a long motor trip. Unfortunately, a zealous traffic cop nearly prevents the couple's appearance at the altar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott, (more)
- 1949
A persistent case of hiccups causes all sorts of problems for a pretty young socialite in this comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This scattered, slightly anarchic and uneven comedy stars the inimitable Terry-Thomas as Reggie Blake, a writer whose books are created by the adventures he experiences, thanks to the brainstorms of his editor. His latest adventure finds him truly lost in the desert and adopted by a tribe of Bedouins before he is finally rescued and brought home. His adventure is a bust from all angles; first his editor rejects the book that came of it, and secondly his wife (Janette Scott) rails against his newfound "self" (he has adopted Bedouin dress). The result is that the couple split their living space and their responsibilities down the middle, providing a series of ludicrous situations spoofing the gender assumptions in marriage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janette Scott
- 1968
Two parents worry about the feelings of their love-struck teenage son in this engaging romantic comedy. Grif (James Garner) and wife Jenny (Debbie Reynolds) are concerned about their son Davey (Donald Losby). When his girlfriend is slated for a tour of Europe, the teenage boy is heartbroken. Grif, a photographer by trade, draws the assignment as a photo journalist to cover the girl's tour. Jenny is swindled by Mr. Tilly (Terry-Thomas) who takes her money as rent payment on a Riviera villa. The house is owned by a French playboy who allows the pretty mom to stay. Comedy ensues when a jealous Grif discovers wife Jenny in a bikini given to her by the amorous Frenchman. Prolific songwriter Jimmy Webb provides the music for this feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1965
We can't find How to Kill 400 Duponts in the official movie resume of star Terry-Thomas, leading us to conjecture that the film might have been designed for television. The toothy protagonist plays a Scotland Yard inspector, assigned to a series of high-profile murders. Someone is methodically killing members of France's Dupont Family. If you want to know the reason why, we refer you to this film's role model, Kind Hearts and Coronets. The humor ranges from dry to droll to just plain dippy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
George Axelrod's script for How to Murder Your Wife isn't politically correct in the least, but you're likely to get a charge out of it -- provided you are of the male persuasion, that is. Jack Lemmon stars as Stanley Ford, a successful cartoonist and a confirmed bachelor who shares a lavish apartment with his misogynistic manservant, Charles (Terry-Thomas). While attending a friend's bachelor party, Stanley falls head over heels in love with the gorgeous bikini-clad girl (Virna Lisi) who pops out of a cake. He impulsively marries her, but thinks better of it the next day. Alas, Stanleycan't get a divorce because his bride is an Italian Catholic (this is 1966). Dicier still, she is a "domestic goddess," lovingly plying her hubby with rich Italian food until Stanley's once-athletic physique is as bloated as the dirigible Hindenberg. Stanley's descent into husbandhood is reflected in his work: his popular adventure comic strip "Bash Brannigan" metamorphoses into a Blondie-like "idiot husband" daily. As a catharsis, Stanley vicariously "kills" his lovely wife by having Bash Brannigan murder his missus. Stanley's wife sees the finished strip on his desk and runs tearfully out of his life (at least temporarily). The publication of the strip, coupled with his wife's disappearance, results in Lemmon being put on trial for murder. We won't tell you how things turn out; suffice it to say that most feminists will be outraged, while most husbands will laugh immoderately. Eddie Mayehoff and Claire Trevor provide sparkling support as Lemmon's bombastic editor and his dragon-like wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, (more)
- 1973
I Love a Mystery was a campy TV revival of Phillips Lord's old radio series. The three adventure-loving heroes are Jack, Doc and Reggie (Les Crane, David Hartman and Hagan Beggs), insurance investigators hired to tackle a mystery at a remote island mansion. Ida Lupino plays a domineering matriarch whose billionaire husband is missing, and who seems to know more than she's letting on. The mystery's ingredients include the eerie nocturnal sound of a crying baby and a series of related murders and kidnappings. The heroes are occasionally distracted from their work by Lupino's nubile daughters Faith, Hope and Charity (Karen Jensen, Deanna Lund and Melodie Johnson). The script for I Love a Mystery was based on Philips Lord's classic radio serial "The Thing That Cries in the Night," but there's nothing classic or even remotely entertaining about the derisive, patronizing treatment of the source material herein. This made-for-TV "busted pilot" gathered dust for seven years before its 1973 premiere, and not without just cause. A further note: Though Don Knotts is advertised as one of the "stars," he shows up to sputter one miserable line at the end of the film! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set in the 1950s in Britain, this award-winning social comedy by director and co-writer John Boulting features Ian Carmichael as the inept Stanley Windrush, a hopeless twit with -- we are to believe -- an Oxford degree. Unlike others in his social circle, Stanley wants to work. When he tries out for jobs in industry with the full expectation of working his way into a management position, he sets off disasters and alienates his interviewers. So his uncle gives him a job in his munitions factory, knowing what an idiot he is, and relying on him to eventually cause a strike (the uncle needs this for his own reasons). Fred Kite (Peter Sellers in a performance that would launch him as an international star) takes Stanley under his wing yet that does not exactly turn out as expected either. Stanley screws up by accidentally being too efficient, and the entire British work force is affected. If one can accept a portrayal of factory workers as shiftless men unwilling to work, and managers as good 'ole boys whose jobs are gained only by networking, then this film will be all the more entertaining. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, (more)
- 1936
Robert Young decides to create a "scoop" by fabricating the impending arrival of a female big-game hunter named Mrs. Smythe-Smythe. Jessie Matthews decides to pose as the fictitious woman, the better to embarrass Young. The comic complications are obliged to share screen time with Matthews' inevitable songs, the best of which is the title tune. Not all of Jessie Matthews' films played as well in America as they did in Britain: It's Love Again is a delightful exception. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessie Matthews, Robert Young, (more)
- 1963
- Add It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to QueueAdd It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to top of Queue
With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, (more)
- 1962
Terry-Thomas stars in this British comedy as J. Barker-Rynde, a detective assigned to look into some dirty dealings at a health club. The supporting cast includes Lionel Jeffries, Eric Sykes, and Dennis Price. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes, (more)
- 1966
In this British war comedy, set in WW II, a bomber crew is shot down over Paris during the Nazi occupation. They are helped out of the city by several good-hearted Frenchman. They make it to the steambath where they had an important rendezvous. They then begin the final part of their escape. A cross-eyed German inadvertently helps them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Bourvil, (more)
