Ronnie Stevens Movies

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, Rovi

Gamboling along in a series of sketches without great regard for anything except the next joke, this is a light-minded, unevenly funny comedy by family-oriented director Don Chaffey, put together not long before he began working for Disney studios. At the nexus of the action are David (Bob Monkhouse) and Brian (Ronnie Stevens), two students in the dental school, and Sam (Kenneth Connor) the petty thief who tricks them into selling stolen dental equipment. Humor derives from the antics of the two students after they discover the truth, as Brian the thief poses as a dental student. The usual college staff of deans and secretaries and lecturers throw in extra comic fodder. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

Bachelor of Hearts stars Hardy Kruger as Wolf, a German exchange student attending Cambridge University. Initially arousing the distrust and disdain of his classmates (WWII was, after all, only thirteen years in the past), the affable Wolf slowly wins them over. He also finds romance in the lovely form of an English miss named Ann (Sylvia Sims)-but only after he has gotten himself in quite a pickle by lining up several dates simultaneously (hence the film's title). Filmed on location at Cambridge, Bachelor of Hearts affords ample screen time to the music of the university's highly regarded Jazz Club. The script was cowritten by Leslie Bricusse, later the composer/lyricist/librettist of such filmusicals as Dr. Dolittle and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third of the droll British "Doctor" series, Doctor at Large once more stars Dirk Bogarde as young Dr. Simon Sparrow. Back in his old stamping grounds at St. Swithin's Teaching Hospital, Sparrow misses his chance at becoming chief surgeon when he crosses swords with the formidable Sir Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice). Forced to go job hunting, our hero undergoes a variety of hilarious medical and romantic misadventures before ending up right where he started. Some of the film's best scenes involve shapely nurse Nan, played by Shirley Eaton of Goldfinger fame. Like its predecessors, Doctor at Large was based on characters created by real-life medico George Gordon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Gregson stars as Chayley Broadbent, a young Yorkshire businessman leading a dull, perfunctory life. He inherits a sizeable fortune, plus a prosperous textile factory, from his wealthy father. Soon after, he has a fight with his straight-laced girlfriend, Ethel (Susan Stephen) and leaves her, taking off for London. Once there, he plunges into the nightclub circuit, falling in love with showgirl Diana Dors. But she mistakes him for an impoverished chap and thus rejects his marriage proposal. When she finally figures out the truth, she makes a beeline for him, but by then he's onto her golddigging motives and instead opts to return to Ethel. Adapted from a novel by Derick Boothroyd, Value for Money shows no shame in trotting out all the cliches and obvious comic set-ups indigenous to this sort of film farce. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a jewel thief hides his loot on an abandoned scow. Later he is captured and thrown in jail after assaulting someone. Two models end up buying the boat. The barge is almost sunk in an accident. Later two tart old ladies end up with the goods. They then help the younger women get the reward money. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Top Secret gets under way when George (George Cole), a janitor in a research plant, accidentally comes into possession of the plans for a revolutionary atomic weapon. As George embarks on his annual vacation, the research security team embarks on a nationwide search for the hapless broom-pusher. Meanwhile, the Russians get wind of the incident and intercept George, plying him with liquor and empty promises so that he'll hand over the plans to them. All the while, George never knows what the fuss is about: he thinks that the British and Soviet authorities are interested in his new plans for a modern sanitary system! No one takes Top Secret seriously--certainly not Oscar Homolka, who delivers a bravura performance as a Russian secret agent who wistfully yearns for the glories of the Czarist days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi