Tommy Trinder Movies

Comedian, actor, and author Barry Humphries wrote and co-stars in this sequel to the surprise international hit The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, based on the comic-strip character created by Humphries. Well-meaning but dunderheaded über-Aussie Barry McKenzie (Barry Crocker) is escorting his aunt, self-proclaimed "housewife superstar" Edna Everage (Barry Humphries), on a trip to France, where they've learned Barry's twin brother, Ken McKenzie, a progressive priest, will be speaking as part of a seminar on "Christ and the Orgasm." En route, a pair of Transylvanian agents, working under the command of the evil Communist vampire Count Plasma (Donald Pleasance), become convinced that Edna is actually Queen Elizabeth II, and not long after arriving in Paris, they kidnap Edna and spirit her away to the count's castle. When Barry learns that his aunt has fallen victim to foul play, he and his mates, including transplanted Australian Colin the Frog (Dick Bentley), set out to find her -- when they're not busy chasing "Shelias," swilling Foster's Lager, or projectile vomiting. In addition to playing Edna Everage, Humphries takes on two other roles in Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, and managed to persuade former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his wife to make a cameo appearance in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Joseph Losey directed this unusual science fiction effort, which has won a small but fervent cult following. Simon Wells (MacDonald Carey) is an American visiting England, where he meets a woman named Joan (Shirley Ann Field). Simon is immediately attracted to Joan, but there's a considerable obstacle in their budding romance: Joan's brother King (Oliver Reed), the leader of a violent pack of motorcycle rockers. King has a barely concealed incestuous attachment to his sister, and he sometimes uses her to lure victims into his gang's clutches. King and his cronies attack Simon, take his money, and leave him stranded, where he's eventually found by a pair of military security men. Simon is brought to the home of Bernard (Alexander Knox), a scientist working on a secret project for the government, and his girlfriend Freya (Viveca Lindfors), a sculptor. Joan eventually tracks Simon down in hopes of winning his forgiveness, but another run-in with King causes Simon and Joan to discover a cave that holds a terrible secret: a group of strange, cold-blooded children who were the products of one of Bernard's experiments gone wrong. The children were genetically engineered to survive a nuclear war, and, as a result, they are radioactive enough to kill anyone who comes in close contact with them. Controversial in its day, The Damned was produced in England in 1961 but was not released until 1963, when Hammer Films booked it as the second-half of a double bill with Maniac. It did not reach American screens until 1965, when it was shown under the title These Are the Damned. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This British comedy pokes fun at the rigors of army life as it chronicles the exploits of an army surplus salesman who must serve two weeks in the reserve. There he must contend with a tough old sergeant-major whom he despises. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A pair of furloughed British sailors and a Wren go for a visit to Stonehenge, get caught in a violent storm and end up in ancient Rome. This comedy chronicles their exploits that begin when they try to curry the emperor's favor by predicting the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Bells Go Down is a dramatization of London firefighting efforts during the 1940 Blitz. In structure, the film is very much like any other smoke-eating melodrama, with perhaps more emphasis on comedy than usual. The omnipresence of the Luftwaffe gives the film an urgency that others in its genre tend to lack. Making it all the more remarkable is the fact that most British studios were just as vulnerable as London's burned-down landmarks--a fact not lost on the actors, who perform with heightened credibility. Many of the better composed shots in The Bells Go Down would find their way into TV documentaries of the 1950s and 1960s as "reality" footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, three sailors accidentally get on a Nazi ship. Mayhem ensues when they commandeer it for the Royal Navy. The story is also known as Three Cockeyed Sailors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this wartime comedy, set after the beginning of WW II, a British entertainer is drafted and immediately finds himself at odds with his new CO. After he uses his show-biz know-how to save the camp, the performer is given a commission. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This 1938 remake of the 1930 British farce Almost a Honeymoon makes a few slight alterations in the text. Originally, a wandering vagrant accidentally found himself sharing a bed with an amorous old crone. In the remake, the hero (popular cockney comedian Tommy Trinder, here making his screen debut) is a man of wealth. His inadvertent bed-mate is an attractive young girl (Linden Travers), who is occupying the hero's sleeping quarters when he stumbles in after a night on the town. Nothing really happens (this is a 1938 film), but you can't censor the gleam in the supporting characters' eyes. Like the first Almost a Honeymoon, the second film is based on a stage play by Walter Ellis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide