''I Only Arsked!'' is a 1958 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. Later, Tully wo ...

and starring

Bernard Bresslaw Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was a British actor. He is best known as a member of the '' Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, did recordings and wrote a series of poetry. Biography Bernard ...

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin, OBE (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He f ...

and

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

. It was based on the television series ''

The Army Game ''The Army Game'' is a British television sitcom that aired on ITV from 19 June 1957 to 20 June 1961. It was the very first ITV sitcom and was made by Granada, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional gro ...

'' and was made by

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

Plot

Slapstick ensues when inept army recruits are transferred to a post in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Cast

as Private "Popeye" Popplewell *

as Corporal Springer *

as Private "Excused Boots" Bisley *

Geoffrey Sumner Geoffrey Sumner (20 November 1908, Ilfracombe, Devon – 29 September 1989, Alderney, Channel Islands) was a British actor. As well as appearing in a number of films, he was also a commentator for British Movietone News., His parents were Edmu ...

as Major Upshott-Bagley * Charles Hawtrey as Private "Professor" Hatchett *

Norman Rossington Norman Rossington (24 December 1928 – 21 May 1999) was an English actor best remembered for his roles in '' The Army Game'', the ''Carry On'' films and the Beatles' film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Early life Born in Liverpool, Lancashire ...

as Private "Cupcake" Cook * David Lodge as Sergeant "Potty" Chambers *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as Sir Redvers *

Marne Maitland James Marne Kumar Maitland (18 December 1914 – March 1992) was an Anglo-Indian character actor in films and television programmes. Biography Maitland was born in Calcutta, and educated at Bedales School before going up to Magdalene College, C ...

as King Fazim *

Michael Bentine Michael Bentine, (born Michael James Bentin; 26 January 1922General Register Office for England and Wales – Birth Register for the March Quarter of 1922, Watford Registration District, Reference 3a 1478, listed as "Michael J. Bentin", mother ...

as Fred * Francis Matthews as Mahmoud *

Michael Ripper Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor. He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gou ...

as Azim *

Wolfe Morris Wolfe Morris (born Woolf Steinberg, 5 January 1925 – 21 July 1996) was an English actor, who played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in '' Ill Met by Moonlight''. ...

as Salaman * Ewan MacDuff as Ferrers *

Claire Gordon Claire Gordon (16 January 1941 – 13 April 2015) was an English film actress and comedian known for leading and cameo roles in many British films from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, and for working with most of the television comedy stars of ...

as Harem girl *

Marie Devereux Marie Devereux (27 November 194030 December 2019) was a British model and film actress. She was born Patricia Sutcliffe on 27 November 1940 in Edmonton, London. Marie Devereux became a regular and very popular nude model in magazines during th ...

as Harem girl

Critical reception

'' Allmovie'' wrote, "The level of humor in ''I Only Arsked!'' will perhaps best be appreciated by fans of the original series"; while ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' noted "An enjoyable British slapstick comedy."

References

External links

* 1958 films British comedy films 1958 comedy films Films directed by Montgomery Tully Films based on television series Films scored by Benjamin Frankel Military humor in film Hammer Film Productions films The Army Game Films with screenplays by Sid Colin Films set in the Middle East 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub