comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by
Alan Bromly
Alan Bromly (1915–1995) was a British television director, producer and actor. Bromly also directed two feature films, '' The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp'' and '' Follow That Horse!''. Amongst the television series he produced was ''Out of the U ...
and starring
David Tomlinson
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both a leading man and a character actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles wit ...
,
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...
,
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Early life
Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffords ...
Dora Bryan
Dora May Broadbent (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was an English actress of stage, film and television. The screenplay was by
Alfred Shaughnessy
Alfred James Shaughnessy (19 May 1916 – 2 November 2005) was an English scriptwriter, film director and producer best known for being the script editor of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''.
Early life
Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London, his father ...
and
William Douglas-Home
William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician.
Early life
Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Li ...
based on the 1954 novel ''Photo Finish'' by Howard Mason.
Plot
Various parties including scientists and spies chase after a horse that has eaten a roll of microfilm.
Cast
*
David Tomlinson
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both a leading man and a character actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles wit ...
as Dick Lanchester
*
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...
as Sir William Crane
*
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Early life
Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffords ...
Dora Bryan
Dora May Broadbent (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was an English actress of stage, film and television.Raymond Huntley
Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' as the pragmatic family soli ...
as Special Branch Chief
*
Sam Kydd
Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British actor. Most of his film roles were very small but he appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952.
His best-known ro ...
as Farrell
*
George Pravda
George Pravda (born Jiří Pravda; 19 June 1916 – 1 May 1985) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak theatre, film and television actor.
Early life
He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jiří Pravda, and then emigrated ...
Peter Copley
Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor.
Biography
Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain.
After changing his mind about joining ...
as Garrod
*
Cyril Shaps
Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades.
Early radio
Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...
Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad ...
as auctioneer
Critical reception
''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...
'' wrote: "A standard, old-fashioned British farce is coaxed along by the subtly timed performances of David Tomlinson, Cecil Parker and Richard Wattis. Briskness and gusto stiffen much that is limp in the situations and offset the undistinguished humour, but only just."
''
Kine Weekly
''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971.
Etymology
The word Kinematograph was derived from the Greek ' Kinumai ', (to move, to be in motion, to ...
'' wrote: "The picture lacks the astringent wit of recent comedies that have cashed in by ridiculing Establishments, but nevertheless has its amusing moments. ... The scenes in Whitehall and Cherwell's laboratories contain some bright satire, but the intestinal humour, arising from the fight against time for the possession of the horse before nature does her work, creates the loudest chuckles."
In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Vigorous playing by cast of scene-stealers just get antiquated farce by. "
''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media
In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, calling it "Harmlessly silly."