Nicholas Phipps Movies

Like Socrates of ancient Athens, Michael Rimmer (Peter Cook) of modern England believes the key to success is to ask the right questions. Lots of questions. So he gets a job with an advertising agency that conducts polls, rises swiftly through the ranks, and eventually runs the agency. Then he bombards England with questions. His ingenious system enables him to predict the outcome of a general election. (Every voter in England had received a questionnaire.) So accomplished is Rimmer at asking questions that he finds his future wife through market research. To insure that he gets the right answers, Rimmer is not above manipulating the polls. For example, when he asks residents of Coventry their religion, 95 percent identify themselves as Buddhists, thanks to an influx of Rimmer stooges. Then he enters politics. In a short time, he gets himself elected to Parliament, becomes a cabinet minister and eventually moves into Ten Downing Street as prime minister after pushing the incumbent prime minister off an oil platform. By this time, every eligible voter in Britain can cast ballots with a television remote control. Alas, the electorate tires of the endless referendum questions that they must answer as part of their daily routine. This development serves only to catapult Rimmer to further success, for the people decide to place all decisions in his hands as dictator of England. So Rimmer keeps rising and rising and rising. And asking questions. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

Detective Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is called on to investigate the activities of his arch enemy Carl Peterson (James Villiers). Carl tries to stop the British from testing a new and improved fighter plane. Drummond travels to Morocco to check into rumors of attempted tampering and espionage by Carl and his henchmen. Comedy relief is provided by Robert Morley as the cooking instructor Miss Mary. Sydne Rome play the delectable double agent whom Drummond is attracted to but whom he also suspects is up to no good. Carl gathers together a bunch of mini-skirted gun-toting mod girls to do his evil bidding in this lightweight spy saga. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

British filmmaker Peter Yates directs singer Cliff Richard in the starring role in this early 1960s pop music romp. Richard plays Don, a mechanic who, with three friends, is preparing to launch an offbeat European continental travel service using an old London double-decker bus. On a test run, they collide with a car occupied by a group of female rock musicians, demolishing it -- so they offer to give the girls a ride to Athens. They also pick up an American pop singer, Barbara (Lauri Peters), who is posing as a boy to hide from her press agent and mother, who refuse to allow her a vacation from a demanding tour schedule. Don and Barbara fall in love, but Barbara's mother accuses him of abducting her, and the bus and the music roll on to Greece after a series of comic misadventures. The cast includes the real rock group The Shadows. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption in 1963, the Boulting brothers' Heavens Above was simply ahead of its time, and has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. Peter Sellers plays an idealistic British reverend with a bad habit of telling the truth at all times. He also follows his conscience whenever possible, resulting in several cleric decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners. By inviting such "undesirables" as gypsies and West Africans to worship freely in his church, Sellers rouses the ire of the rest of his white-bread flock. He does, however, compel the selfish owner (Isabel Jeans) of a laxative firm to "see the light" and to sell off all her holdings on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. Unfortunately, by doing this the woman wrecks her business--which is the principal source of income for the community where Sellers works. Retreating from town with an angry mob on his heels, Sellers relocates on a tiny island in the Pacific. Since the island is the site of a missile base, and since the local astronauts have shown signs of agnosticism, where else is there for Sellers to go...but up? Heavens Above was inspired by a notion cooked up by iconoclastic British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on Anthony Kimmins' stage success The Amorous Prawn, this British light comedy stars Joan Greenwood as the wife of an Army general (Cecil Parker). Having fallen upon hard times, the wife hits upon a scheme to raise some quick cash. She opens her husband's highland headquarters to visiting salmon fishermen, a circumstance that displeases the general when several of those anglers turn out to be handsome young men. On the assumption that American audiences would think The Amorous Prawn was a film about shrimp instead of salmon, the US distributor added the "Mr." to the original. When filmgoers failed to respond, the picture was re-retitled The Playgirl and the War Minister, a shameless attempt to exploit the then-current Profumo political scandal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One in the series of St. Trinian's off-beat, irreverent comedies that began in 1953 and continued strong through the '60s, this farce by Frank Launder features the usual bevy of comely young women who attend the school. This time around, the femmes terribles have just burnt down the school and shock the world by getting acquitted when hauled into the Old Bailey. It seems the judge is keen on Rosalie (Julie Alexander) and besides, an unscrupulous shyster posing as a professor offers to rebuild the school. Instead, he takes the offenders on a bogus tour of Greece and once they are underway, he leads them to his real goal -- forced matrimony to the sons of an Arab sheik. As always, this St. Trinian's comedy is meant for audiences who enjoy its own brand of humor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

A typical light comedy based on a novel by Richard Gordon, The Captain's Table has director Jack Lee at its own helm, riding high on the success of his 1956 A Town Like Alice. Captain Ebbs (John Gregson) brings a part of his freighter experience with him as he takes charge of an ocean liner for the first time. He soon finds that the tactics that worked on the freighter do not work here, though his crew could use some discipline. His purser has sticky fingers, his chief officer has a roving eye, and the steward has his own problems. And then there are passengers like the secret heiress, the charming widow, the temptress, the would-be novelist, and the offensive VIP. Eventually, the captain catches on to the nuances of his new role, confident that he and the "Love Boat" can weather any storm. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Don't Panic Chaps! is one of the least distinguished films in a run of 1950s British comedies set during World War II. This time around, four subpar Brit soldiers are dropped off on an island in the Adriatic Sea, not far from Sicily, to establish a base for military observation. After some time goes by, it becomes woefully apparent that the submarine crew that was supposed to pick them up, forgot. They soon find that a small group of German soldiers are on the island in that very same situation, forgotten by the war. These two opposing units call a truce and all seems to go relatively well until an attractive young woman shows up on the island (Nadja Regin), setting the soldiers back into a competitive, hostile attitude. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Director Gordon Parry's last two films were the 1959 Friends and Neighbors and this so-so, slapstick comedy about a zany naval base on an island just off the southern coast of Britain. Not having a whole lot to do, the klutzy commander (Cecil Parker), a womanizing second officer (Leslie Phillips) and just about everyone else are making money by smuggling and other sub rosa, shady activities. When this motley crew gets word that the powers-that-be want to shut down the base and transfer them to other posts, they start to invent all the reasons they can for remaining where they are. They get deeper and deeper into their deceptions until they are ready to stage a fake revolution with the collusion of the civilian islanders. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, 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

The small but resourceful Scots island of Todday, introduced in the 1949 Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!, made a return visit to movie screens in 1958's Rockets Galore--released in the U.S. as Mad Little Island. In the first film, the good people of Todday faced up to the appalling dilemma of a whisky shortage. Now we're in the space age, and Todday has been targeted as the location for a rocket-launching site. Banding together as before, the islanders do their best to sabotage the project under the unsuspecting noses of the blinkered British military. Mad Little Island was better received in America than it was in England, where it was perceived as an uninspired rewarming of yesterday's haggis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Already a popular TV comedian in 1956, Benny Hill heads the cast of the zany comedy-mystery Who Done It? Eschewing his usual double entendres in favor of pure-and-simple slapstick, Hill plays a would-be private eye named Hugo. Before he quite knows what's happening, Hugo is up to his neck in espionage intrigue. Belinda Lee plays Hugo's dewey-eyed blonde assistant, George Relph is cast as a flustered Scotland Yard inspector, and David Kossof and George Margo portray a couple of sinister Iron Curtain spies. Who Done It? was scripted by T. E. B. Clarke, a mainstay of the droll Ealing comedies of the early 1950s. The film remained unreleased in the US until the late 1970s, when it was put on the market to cash in on the international success of The Benny Hill Show. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi