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Amazon.co.uk Review
After a decade on radio in The Goons, 1959's I'm All Right Jack set Peter Sellers on the road to international stardom. Sellers played both Sir John Kennaway, and unforgettably, the Bolshy trade union leader Fred Kite (he would go on to take three roles in Dr Strangelove and featured endless disguises in The Pink Panther in 1963) series. The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge, lampooning the then burning issue of industrial relations. Bertram Tracepurcel's (Dennis Price) plans to make a fortune from a missile contract, a scheme which involves manipulating his innocent nephew Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) into acting as the catalyst in an escalating labour dispute, from which the socialist Mr Kite is only too keen to make capital. Management and labour both have their self-serving hypocrisy dissected in this ingenious comedy, actually a sequel to the military comedy Private's Progress (1956), but which stands independent of the earlier film. Both films were made by the brothers John and Roy Boulting, director and producer of such British classics as Brighton Rock (1947), Seven Days to Noon (1950), Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959) and Heaven's Above (1963). The superb cast of I'm All Right Jack also features Richard Attenborough, John Le Mesurier, Margaret Rutherford and Terry Thomas. --Gary S. Dalkin
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.66:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Black & White, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Set in the 1950s in Britain, this award-winning social comedy by director and co-writer John Boulting features Ian Carmichael as the inept Stanley Windrush, a hopeless twit with -- we are to believe -- an Oxford degree. Unlike others in his social circle, Stanley wants to work. When he tries out for jobs in industry with the full expectation of working his way into a management position, he sets off disasters and alienates his interviewers. So his uncle gives him a job in his munitions factory, knowing what an idiot he is, and relying on him to eventually cause a strike (the uncle needs this for his own reasons). Fred Kite (Peter Sellers in a performance that would launch him as an international star) takes Stanley under his wing yet that does not exactly turn out as expected either. Stanley screws up by accidentally being too efficient, and the entire British work force is affected. If one can accept a portrayal of factory workers as shiftless men unwilling to work, and managers as good 'ole boys whose jobs are gained only by networking, then this film will be all the more entertaining. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, ...I'm All Right Jack
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The amazon review has it right; Sellers was never as brilliant as in this cracking Boulting Bros. satire. It's also the best of Ian Carmichael's film classic trifecta as the innocent upper-class twit turned Everyman. Sellers gets the most attention in most reviews, but I'm Alright Jack also boasts perhaps the best comedic ensemble ever, from the quiver-lipped time-study man John le Mesurier to the closet Tory Irene Handl (wife of Commie shop steward Sellers), from Liz Fraser (in pointy-bra'd perfection) to the always welcome Margaret Rutherford -- and then there's the unnamed union slugabeds working at the missile factory, the earnest but comic managers at the companies Carmichael visits. . .oh, and we haven't even mentioned Dickie Attenborough and Terry-Thomas, have we? Look -- any film that starts out with Churchill's V-for-Victory being returned with a workingman's two-fingered "salute" is going to be truly wicked, and this one really satisfies. An underappreciated masterpiece.
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I recall seeing this film during 1959 at the local Odeon, and to this day, remains one of my favourite comedy films of all time.
Ian Carmichael plays an upper class twit who after leaving University, fails to find employment due to his incompetance and niavety during various visits to factories and offices. Some of these scenes are quite hilarious, especially the one in the cake factory. His Uncle Tracepercil(Denis Price) finds him a job in a local warehouse where unknowingly he causes a strike with the local workforce which escalates into a national strike almost shutting down the British economy.
This is one of those rare British comedies which suceeds on every level, mainly due to the various actors around at the time, everyone of them being a household name. Peter Sellars is brilliant as the shop steward Fred Kite; Terry Thomas is the Personnel Officer, and Richard Attenborough plays Cox a rival manufacturer who is actually in league with Tracepercil (Denis Price) by causing industrial unrest so that a rival company would obtain a working contract from a foreign buyer.
Irene Handl, Liz Fraser, Victor Maddern, Kenneth Griffith, and the wonderful character actress Margaret Rutherford all contribute to this laugh a minute comedy. Although it is often shown on television, a new generation of viewers should see this because it does give an insight into the British Class system of the 1950s. Wonderful entertainment.
Ian Carmichael plays an upper class twit who after leaving University, fails to find employment due to his incompetance and niavety during various visits to factories and offices. Some of these scenes are quite hilarious, especially the one in the cake factory. His Uncle Tracepercil(Denis Price) finds him a job in a local warehouse where unknowingly he causes a strike with the local workforce which escalates into a national strike almost shutting down the British economy.
This is one of those rare British comedies which suceeds on every level, mainly due to the various actors around at the time, everyone of them being a household name. Peter Sellars is brilliant as the shop steward Fred Kite; Terry Thomas is the Personnel Officer, and Richard Attenborough plays Cox a rival manufacturer who is actually in league with Tracepercil (Denis Price) by causing industrial unrest so that a rival company would obtain a working contract from a foreign buyer.
Irene Handl, Liz Fraser, Victor Maddern, Kenneth Griffith, and the wonderful character actress Margaret Rutherford all contribute to this laugh a minute comedy. Although it is often shown on television, a new generation of viewers should see this because it does give an insight into the British Class system of the 1950s. Wonderful entertainment.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
This is hilarious,even if you're not interested in the satirizing of British trade unions and management. Sellers is brilliant as a trade union man who idolizes Soviet Russia. He's never been there but believes workers work in the fields in the day and go to the ballet at night. Meanwhile the management are totally greedy and self serving. In between these 2 comes Ian Carmichael as an honest working man. He moves in with Sellers and meets his daughter played by gorgeous busty Liz Fraser,this wasn't Liz's first film but this was her first big break. She has many scenes in it,definitely one for Liz fans as well as lovers of classic comedy. Brilliant.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I'm All Right Jack
I am assuming the readers of this brief commentary are acquainted with the details of the film from other reviews. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Wilberfalse
One out. All out
Anybody who was a union person a few years ago will really appreciate the contents of this film,it gives you an insight into how trade unions used to operate.
Published 7 months ago by Backrow
old fashioned fun
Love the way that old union attitudes are shown. Peter Sellars is brilliant as the local union leader, but love the way his home life is different from his work life.
Published 15 months ago by Mr. Keith Mapp
An Equal Opportunity Insult Fest
"I'm All Right Jack," (1959), is surely one of the most brilliant, classic, black and white British comedies to be released during those golden years of the 1950s and 60's. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Stephanie DePue
Near masterpiece from the brilliant Boulting brothers.
I'm All Right Jack is directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting from a script by Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Spike Owen
Classic British film
I recommend this classic from the British film era heyday. The actors are superb. Obviously being an old film it is a lttle predictable but that's what makes films like this,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Don
A wonderful satire of British industry and society in the 'good...
.
When an unemployed Oxford grad takes a blue-collar job in a missile factory, he suggests labor-saving improvements that upset management and enrage labor. Read more
When an unemployed Oxford grad takes a blue-collar job in a missile factory, he suggests labor-saving improvements that upset management and enrage labor. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Allen Smalling
Sellers Carmichael Magic!
Inovative and forward thinking movie a great film one that I have been after for ages. Sooo Glad I have it in my collection.
Published 19 months ago by russ
One of the classics of Peter Sellars
Good condition, good delivery, would order from this seller again. Love this film, always good to watch.
Published on 30 April 2010 by Ms. V. A. Davies
Classic comedy with mordant wit and great performances
Although its vision of a class riddled Britain with all-powerful Trade Unions and bowler hated executives is no longer accurate; the wider point about groups putting their own... Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2010 by Minerva
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