Newly arrived Army chaplin Captain Paris (Alastair Sim) attempts to book various acts for the entertainment of a troop of soldiers.Newly arrived Army chaplin Captain Paris (Alastair Sim) attempts to book various acts for the entertainment of a troop of soldiers.Newly arrived Army chaplin Captain Paris (Alastair Sim) attempts to book various acts for the entertainment of a troop of soldiers.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Chris Adcock
- Soldier in Audience
- (uncredited)
William Baskiville
- Soldier in Audience
- (uncredited)
Martin Boddey
- Visiting Brigadier
- (uncredited)
Maria Charles
- WRAC
- (uncredited)
George Cole
- Soldier in Brains Trust audience
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title comes from Thomas Gray's poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" (1768). The actual lines (the last two lines of the poem) are ".... Where ignorance is bliss, /'Tis folly to be wise".
- GoofsJust before Walter gives Captain Paris a message for the Doctor, Captain Paris bangs the gavel on the table and then places the gavel next to his glasses. He then receives the message with his left hand. In the next shot he is holding his glasses with his left hand and holding the message with his right hand.
Featured review
This black and white cinema adaption of a successful play is probably a bit better than I expected, though either side of the core "Brains Trust" component in the middle is pretty flat and run of the mill.
The Q & A is quite funny with a Labour politician and a drunken Tory artist soon at each other's throats, while the feisty Private Jessie Killegrew keeps on insisting, with the support of the growing audience, that the panel answer her question on marriage. It is literally Alistair Sim's show though and he dominates proceedings and is amusing to watch, just about turning himself inside out, trying to control his rag-tag panel, 2 members of whom are having an affair. The highlight though is the hearing-impaired MD, who suddenly does decide to overrule his earlier claim that he didn't have a sense of humour because it wasn't important. He suddenly decides to tell the audience doctor jokes, not realising quizmaster Sim has moved everyone on to other questions. I found myself really laughing along with the film audience.
The movie's stage origins are pretty obvious, though I am curious how they featured the ever increasing army base audience in the play. This is worth a look if you have the opportunity arises and you don't mind a bit of a laugh.
The Q & A is quite funny with a Labour politician and a drunken Tory artist soon at each other's throats, while the feisty Private Jessie Killegrew keeps on insisting, with the support of the growing audience, that the panel answer her question on marriage. It is literally Alistair Sim's show though and he dominates proceedings and is amusing to watch, just about turning himself inside out, trying to control his rag-tag panel, 2 members of whom are having an affair. The highlight though is the hearing-impaired MD, who suddenly does decide to overrule his earlier claim that he didn't have a sense of humour because it wasn't important. He suddenly decides to tell the audience doctor jokes, not realising quizmaster Sim has moved everyone on to other questions. I found myself really laughing along with the film audience.
The movie's stage origins are pretty obvious, though I am curious how they featured the ever increasing army base audience in the play. This is worth a look if you have the opportunity arises and you don't mind a bit of a laugh.
- spookyrat1
- Apr 3, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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