When I was a lot younger I saw a lot of UK TV on the ABC in Australia - I fell in love with the Goodies, Kenny Everrett, Dave Allen and so on. I remember seeing a distinguished Jon Pertwee offering food for thought on Whodunit, and I am still watching all seven series of Minder daily, starring George Cole.
Suddenly late one night I randomly land on this fun movie and had a hoot watching it. It was great to watch classic UK actors from this era (especially Pertwee and Cole) having a shot at ham drama and comedy. It was wonderful to see these talented actors on the young side of prime, something I had never seen before.
The movie is the tale of stage hypnotism (which I found unusual and charming). The hilarity derives from the fact George has lost all his inhibitions due to being hypnotised. Typical British hijinks, tempered with a stiff upper lip, ensues.
Regardless of what others say, I found this movie to be a delight, the story is fun and bright and the acting animated. I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy it.
Plot summary
After a mix-up at a music hall, a henpecked bank clerk who lives a dreary existence in suburban London finds himself onstage with ambiguously foreign magician Mendoza, who hypnotizes him into losing all of his inhibitions.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Ahh, what jolly good fun!
Two Doctor Who's in one film.
If you like classic British comedy's this could be for you a great cast with George Cole as a mild mannered henpecked man who get hypnotised which completely changes his character. Two future Doctor Who actors Jon Pertwee & William Hartnell appear together on screen with support from Joan Sims.
Dull and tedious farce!
With a strong cast of well known character actors, I expected a much more entertaining film. George Cole, plays the upright and meek, bank employee Henry Sterling, who suffers from sudden temporary fits of 'womanising' and playing the 'cad' which land him in all all sorts of marital and work problems. His 'Jekyll and Hyde' shenanigans is made worse by his scatty brother, played by Jon Pertwee. Enter all sorts of idiosyncratic characters, such as James Hayter playing a 'mad hatter' doctor, as Henry's lothario habits and misunderstandings land him in one crisis after another. Although the pace is fast and furious, the storyline borders on the absurd and infantile, and long before the end, the scenes showing Henry, morphing into a sort of 'Brian Rix' become too much! I found the character of George Cole annoying and frankly irritating! He was never a photogenic male lead and the idea that eligible young woman would swoon over him, seemed faintly ridiculous. A tedious film with too many cringeworthy scenes.