|
By
FRANK BEHRENS
Not all that long ago,
Anchor Bay gave us a boxed collection of Alec
Guinness comedies, which are all classics and the
products of a British studio called Ealing. Now on
that same label, we have five more comedies from
the same source titled "Ealing Studios Comedy
Collection." While none are quite up to the
Guinness gems, each one has more merits than any
recent film that passes as comedy on either side
of the Atlantic.
The weakest of the five is "The Maggie" in which
an American businessman, played with no trace of
humor at all by Paul Douglas, desperately tries to
get a wizened captain of a dilapidated "puffer" (a
small vessel) to deliver an expensive cargo on
time. Naturally, he and his goods are taken for a
ride in both senses of the word.
There is a good deal of charm in "A Run for Your
Money," in which two Welsh miners are given a trip
to London to pick up a money prize, get separated,
and have various adventures before being reunited.
Guinness has third billing in the role of a
newsman. No belly laughs, but it will keep you
smiling.
"The Titfield Thunderbolt" is the only one in
color. It tells the tale of a small town train
line that is threatened by two less-than-honest
owners of a bus line and meets the challenge by
sheer will power and a very old engine from their
town museum, the Titfield Thunderbolt. The ending
is predictable and abrupt, but there is a good
deal of fun along the way. (If it seems to predict
"The Great Race" a decade or so later, so be it.)
"Whiskey Galore" first came to America titled
"Tight Little Island." Here the male population of
a small island off the northern coast of the
British Isles finds that its wartime quota of
whisky has run out. The wreck of a large vessel
filled with 50,000 cases of whisky just off their
beach brings promise of happy days and plenty of
comedy as the men devise a way of getting most of
it not only off the ship but well hidden from the
revenue men.
The best of all is "Passport to Pimlico," in which
that section of London finds it is really part of
Burgundy and declares itself an independent
nation. The British Government nearly beats them
by agreeing with them. But with leaders such as
Stanley Holloway, how can the Government ever hope
to win?
As you might have noticed, the essence of each of
these films is the triumph of the "little man"
over authority. And the one bit of dialogue that
sums it all up for its British audiences comes
from a housewife in "Pimlico" when she says (I am
quoting from memory here), "We are all English, we
have always been English. And because we're
English we're sticking up for our rights to be
Burgundians." The sun will never set on thoughts
like that.
My only problem was keeping up with the accents,
which add a good deal of charm but do not fall
easily on these Yankee ears, and a sometimes fuzzy
sound track.
There is also a nice little booklet provided with
several facts about each film. Thanks again,
Anchor Bay. |
