I'm All Right Jack (1959)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

John Boulting

Writers:

Alan Hackney (novel)
Frank Harvey (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 April 1960 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Three of England's Top Comedians...One Big Laugh Riot!

Plot:

Naive Stanley Windrush returns from the war, his mind set on a successful career in business. Much to his own dismay...

Plot Keywords:

Strike | Naive | Industrial Town | Female Rear Nudity | Advertising

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Ian Carmichael	...	Stanley Windrush
Terry-Thomas	...	Major Hitchcock
Peter Sellers	...	Fred Kite / Sir John Kennaway
Richard Attenborough	...	Sidney De Vere Cox
Dennis Price	...	Bertram Tracepurcel
Margaret Rutherford	...	Aunt Dolly
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Kite
Liz Fraser	...	Cynthia Kite
Miles Malleson	...	Windrush Snr.
Marne Maitland	...	Mr. Mohammed
John Le Mesurier	...	Waters
Raymond Huntley	...	Magistrate
Victor Maddern	...	Knowles
Kenneth Griffith	...	Dai
Fred Griffiths	...	Charlie

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Charter Film Productions

Quotes:

Waters: The natural rhythm of the British worker is neither natural, rhythmic, or much to do with work.
Major Hitchcock: We've got chaps here who could break out in a muck sweat simply by standing still.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Unknown Peter Sellers (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I'm All Right, Jack

Great, acerbic British comedy

The cast alone is a triumph in this movie - some of the best British character actors who ever lived are here: Terry Thomas, Miles Malleson, John Le Mesurier, all backing up Ian Carmichael as the earnest, silly-ass upper-class bumbler and Peter Sellers as Fred Kite, the Marxist shop steward. Sellers in particular is wonderful; his Fred Kite is a lower class striver who has acquired just enough education to give him an inflated idea of his own abilities, but not enough to realize the gaps and inadequacies in his views. He is a perfect realization in miniature of Taine's statement that there is nothing more dangerous than a general idea in a narrow, empty mind. He boasts to his Oxford-educated gentleman lodger about the summer course he took at the university once, reminding him in a familiar fashion about the very good marmalade and toast provided by the college, while the obviously wealthy young man politely admits that he wasn't acquainted with the public dining hall during his years there.

The plot becomes more and more complex as the movie progresses, with almost everyone turning out to be on the take. The climax comes in a free-for-all over a bag containing thousands of pounds intended to bribe Stanley into joining the sensible schemers plundering the public while paying lip service to public service and solidarity with the working class. Malcolm Muggeridge has a interesting cameo in this scene, playing himself. Most recent broadcasts of this movie have edited out the disturbing racist statements of the working class characters, but the original movie had no sentimental soft spot for anyone, workers or bosses.