Nat Cohen Movies
British producer Nat Cohen began his career in 1930 as an exhibitor. By the following decade he had become a producer and distributor for Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors. While he was there, the studio produced a series of films based on the writings of Edgar Wallace; he was also behind the first baker's dozen of the hilarious, popular "Carry On" comedies. Later he became the CEO of EMI, the company that absorbed Anglo Amalgamated in the 1970s. Cohen last worked as an executive producer on the John Cleese vehicle, Clockwise in 1985. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
John Cleese's knack for mining hilarity from the growing frustration of a dignified gentleman is fully exploited in the British comedy Clockwise. Cleese portrays Brian Stimpson, a perfectionist English headmaster who has been selected to make an important presentation before a group of his peers. When Stimpson sets out upon his journey, however, he finds himself facing a seemingly never-ending series of delays and inconveniences, which range from missing a train to becoming a fugitive from the police. The film goes no deeper than its farcical surface, but is nevertheless consistently entertaining, thanks to former Monty Python member Cleese's precisely tuned transitions from composure to complete collapse. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cleese, Alison Steadman, (more)
- 1958
This first entry in the long-running (some would say interminable) British "Carry On" series is at base a collection of motheaten army jokes, albeit served up with freshness and energy. Future Doctor Who star William Hartnell plays Sergeant Major Grimshaw, whose fondest wish is to win the coveted Best Troop Award before his retirement. Alas, this may never come to pass: his newest batch of conscripts include some of the biggest and stupidest foul-ups in military history. Popular comedian-cartoonist Bob Monkhouse and cockney bombshell Shirley Eaton head up the supporting cast, which includes such "Carry On" stalwarts-to-be as Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams. Carry On Sergeant was very loosely based on The Bull Boys, a novel by R. F. Delderfield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse, (more)
- 1958
In anticipation of Elvis Presley's Kissin' Cousins, British rock-and-roll idol Tommy Steele plays a dual role in The Duke Wore Jeans. Tony (Steele) is a young nobleman who wants to wriggle out of an arranged marriage-especially since he's already taken a bride in secret. Upon meeting a carefree bloke named Tommy (also Steele), Tony talks his new friend into trading places. In a twinkling, Tommy is jetting off to the mythical banana republic of Rittalia, where he promptly gets mixed up in political intrigue. Playing the pretty princess whom Tony/Tommy is slated to marry is June Laverick, while Michael Medwin provides laughs as the obligatory comical valet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Steele, June Laverick, (more)
This waterlogged adaptation of an obscure Grand Guignol stage play finds a hapless couple (Dermot Walsh and Hazel Court) convinced that their newly-acquired yacht is haunted by mysterious and deadly forces. After numerous fatalities, the couple eventually hires a paranormal investigator (John Robinson), who uncovers the yacht's bloody history and determines that the craft is occupied by the vengeful ghosts of the former owner's wife and her lover, who were murdered and subsequently entombed somewhere aboard. Writer-producer-director Vernon Sewell -- who filmed most of the scenes aboard his own private yacht -- executes a few interesting paranormal twists on the Old Dark House scenario, and he would revisit the seagoing thriller theme (on the same boat) somewhat less successfully with Terror Ship two years later. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dermot Walsh, Hazel Court, (more)
- 1950
Miss Laramie Pilgrim (Yolande Donlan) is an American factory girl. Anxious to see what life is like outside her own backyard, Miss Pilgrim trades places with a British lass. After reels and reels of culture-clash comedy, the heroine comes to the rescue of her new friends and neighbors, who are being exploited by a local land developer. On the verge of his American stardom, Michael Rennie plays Miss Pilgrim's English love interest. Miss Pilgrim's Progress was another of those minor British films that were played to death on American TV in the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yolande Donlan, Michael Rennie, (more)
- 1950
The tantalizingly titled Mystery at the Burlesque was originally released in England as Murder at the Windmill. It must be explained that, for many years, London's Windmill Theatre was famous for its scantily clad chorus girls and potty-mouthed comedians. Filmed on location at the Windmill, the story gets under way when a corpse is found in the last row of the theater. To reconstruct the crime, the detective inspector (Garry Marsh) insists that the Windmill troupe repeat the same show they'd performed on the night of the murder. The film's high or low point (depending on one's own tastes) occurs when one of the seedy Windmill comedians performs his magnificently unfunny monologue before an audience of one. Featured in the cast as Marsh's assistant is future "Dr. Who" Jon Pertwee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Garry Marsh, Jon Pertwee, (more)
