Leslie Phillips Movies
Character player, onscreen from 1936. ~ All Movie GuideLewis Flander and Carol Hawkins star in the hectic British farce Not Now Comrade. Flander plays a Russian ballet dancer who decides to defect. Unable to reach the British embassy, Flander hides out with London stripteaser Hawkins. There's an abundance of female flesh in this one, a fact that necessitated numerous snips in the TV version that made the UHF rounds in the 1980s. Watch for Not Now Comrade codirector Ray Cooney and veteran British funster Roy Kinnear in cameo roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, based on a stage play, a randy politician gets in trouble for sleeping with his secretary and another woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, a married man in the fur business gets in trouble after he finds himself attracted to a gangster's moll. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Moira Lister, (more)
A collection of English humor in the form of sketch film are provided on this film which was assisted by comedians Feldman and Chapman. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Forsyth, Joan Sims, (more)
In this farce, four people go to extremes to inherit the giant fortune of a wealthy practical joker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This offbeat comedy begins when Doctor Burke (Leslie Phillips) chases the beautiful Ophelia (Angela Scoular) on board an ocean liner and is trapped. He masquerades as a female photographer to avoid detection, hoping to propose marriage to Ophelia. Burke tries to avoids the suspicion of pompous Captain Spratt (Robert Morley), who plays the stuffy skipper with his usual comic flair. James Robert Justice plays the captain's blue-blooded brother Sir Lancelott Spratt. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Harry Secombe, (more)
It's Funny Face meets Rififi in Maroc 7, starring Cyd Charisse as Louise Henderson, an editor for a slick and chic fashion magazine who utilizes her jet-setting life style as a front for an international jewel-smuggling operation. Abetting her in the scheme is the magazine's top photographer and high-fashion cover model. But instead of "Think pink" it's "Think clink" as secret agent Simon Grant (Gene Barry) is sent in to infiltrate Louise's organization. Posing as a safecracker, Simon convinces Louise to let him in to the gang's next operation: a plan to smuggle a priceless gem out of Morocco. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Barry, Cyd Charisse, (more)
Doctor in Clover is the next-to-last entry in the British "Doctor" comedy film series. After losing his government job, doctor Gaston Grimsdyke (Leslie Phillips) signs up for a medical school course with his old tutor-nemesis Sir Lancelot Spratt (welcome back, James Robertson Justice). What follows is the standard melange of double- and single entendres, not to mention the usual dalliances with such underdressed lovelies as Shirley Ann Field, Fenella Fielding and Elizabeth Ercy. A subplot involves a rejuvenation serum that is disastrously applied to the behemothlike Sir Lancelot. Though allegedly based on the original "Doctor" novel by Richard Gordon, any resemblance is purely coincidental.Doctor in Clover was also released as Carnaby MD, in deference to the "Swinging London" craze. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Shirley Ann Field, (more)
You Must be Joking? draws its laughs from an Army endurance test. Over a 48-hour period, five officers in the British army-including American transplant Michael Callan-must wend their way through a maze, retrieve a hood ornament from a Rolls Royce and steal a lock of hair from beauteous pop singer Gabriella Licudi. There's a big prize in store for the officer who finishes the test first, and since the other contestant include such middle-aged huffers and puffers as Lionel Jeffries and Denholm Elliot, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out who the victor will be. Director Michael Winner was still in his "mad mod" period when he lensed the wacky goings-on of You Must Be Joking? His Death Wish pictures of the 1970s were in 1965 as remote as another galaxy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Callan, Lionel Jeffries, (more)
In this lively British comedy, a newlywed couple's quaint country cottage becomes a nightmare of repairs as they try to fix it up themselves. They originally purchased the ramshackle pile to escape the influence of the new wife's meddlesome father. Unfortunately, the place needs more help than they are able to give and they must reluctantly get her father's help. He brings in a bumbling builder and things only get worse from there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, (more)
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)
This comedy features a 12-step Program for habitual hoods. The recovering criminal takes a job as a department store Santa, and again finds himself confronted with temptation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
Very Important Person is an amusing British comedy set in a German POW camp during World War II. Sir Ernest Pease (James Robertson Justice) is a self-important professor with a bloated ego and a lightning put-down. When he is flown over Germany disguised as a navy officer to check out the effectiveness of one of his radar inventions, his plane is shot down and he lands in the POW camp. All sorts of misunderstandings arise, since the other prisoners suspect him of being a spy. In the meantime, there are the expected clashes of wit between the British prisoners and their dour German captors and the inevitable camp-organized concert. In the midst of these activities, the professor is challenged to find a way to escape. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, (more)
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)
Two veterinarians contrast with each other in this standard British comedy by Darcy Conyers. Jimmy Fox-Upton (Leslie Phillips) is a decent chap who took more than ten years of hard work to get his vet's license. His nemesis, Bob Skeffington (James Booth) shortened the time to his license by cheating on his exams. While Skeffington is out to bilk the rich and famous via their pedigree pets, Fox-Upton is only dedicated to serving the mutts of the truly poor. Then in comes a pretty owner (Peggy Cummins) of an escaped, performing chimp, and romance enters the life of Fox-Upton. But not alone. The nefarious Skeffington is in on a racket that threatens to bring down Fox-Upton unless he can figure out what is really going on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Peggy Cummins, (more)
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)
In another standard British comedy of the absurd with the usual eccentric characters who play off each other like tennis pros on a court, A Weekend with Lulu centers on the misadventures of the occupants of an ice cream truck and its rundown trailer. Because of a mix-up, the four inside the truck -- two men at odds with each other, a harridan, and her voluptuous daughter -- do not end up at the seashore as they planned. Instead, they are rattling merrily through France, chased by a wild variety of irate groups -- racing cyclists, rogues, and distraught police. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Monkhouse, Leslie Phillips, (more)
Please Turn Over is an updated British variation on a theme put forth by the old Hollywood film Theodora Goes Wild. A bored young teenage girl (Julia Lockwood) causes a scandal when she pens a torrid bestseller. Those close to the girl recognize themselves as characters in the book; all they can hope for is that no one else does. But as the girl's fame escalates, her friends and family enter the realm of notoriety--which turns out not to be so bad after all. Clearly inspired by the Peyton Place brouhaha, Please Turn Over was based on the long-running West End stage farce Book of the Month by Basil Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This is one of the rare comedies by director Gerald Thomas that does not have the words "Carry On...." in the title, and that is the first indication that the wacky, hare-brained, ribald core of the "Carry On" series is missing here. The premise is that a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan), have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous, since that is where the money lies, to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine McEwan, Julia Lockwood, (more)
The "Carry On" gang take on law enforcement in this rude and crude slapstick comedy. When a flu epidemic leaves a British police station decimated with illness, three incompetent rookies are given the chance to prove themselves as police officers. The three screwy recruits are Tom Potter (Leslie Phillips), a two-bit lothario; Stanley Benson (Kenneth Williams), an uppity intellectual with unique views on law enforcement procedures; and Charlie Constable (Kenneth Connor), an obsessive type who is consumed with astrology. With the help of the swishy Special Officer Timothy Gorse (Charles Hawtrey), the stooges manages to mess up every assignment they are given. But when a criminal gang robs a payroll truck, the four nincompoops are forced to prove their worth. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney James, Kenny Williams, (more)
Based on a British TV comedy, this is the tale of a London couple who inherit a pub in the country, only to find that their troubles are just beginning. Someone doesn't seem to want to make their business a success, but their invention should stop all that nonsense. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
This is the fourth in a series of "doctor" films that began in 1953 with Doctor in the House. Unlike its predecessors, the chief medico is now Dr. Richard Hare (Michael Craig) and he tends to share the spotlight with a few colleagues, making this more of an ensemble effort. Dr. Hare is in his own hospital as a patient when he falls for the nurse (Moira Redmond) assigned to his room. That romance does not linger for long because he eventually meets the charming Dr. Barrington (Virginia Maskell) and really gives his heart away, metaphorically speaking -- this is not a transplant movie. Interspersed throughout the story of Dr. Hare and his colleagues are several funny episodes that have the imminently respectable protagonists turning up by accident at the wrong place -- such as a strip joint instead of a medical conference, or else they encounter unexpected characters, such as ladies of the evening, or they are involved in incidents that just seem to go from awkward to hilarious -- all making this a light-hearted spoof that would entertain any audience ready for an amusing film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Craig, Virginia Maskell, (more)






















