A vastly over-inflated comedy which isn't funny (Jack Davies is the other writer), yet you can't help marvel at the skill with which it was made. How they even got some of those contraptions to get off the ground is in itself a feat - the various stunts and crashes also noticeable. And the vast scale and Annakin's grasp of crowd scenes and action. Much praise I think must go to the AD Clive Reed and second unit camera Skeets Kelly, Thomas Morahan the production designer and Osbert Lancaster for costumes. The dubbing mixer is Jonathan Bates. There's no aerial cameraman credited - if it wasn't Kelly it was Christopher Challis himself up in the air.
It's a real pleasure to see pre-CGI stuff like this.
It was edited by Gordon Stone and Anne Coates.
There are far too many characters, and sequences that are completely dispensable, like the Dover / seaside bit.
With Stuart Whitman (The Comancheros, The Longest Day), Sarah Miles, James Fox, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Frobe, Alberto Sordi, Eric Sykes, Irina Demick, Benny Hill, Yujiro Ishihara (I was quite impressed with myself for recognising that he's dubbed by James Villiers), Flora Robson, Gordon Jackson, Tony Hancock. Didn't notice John Le Mesurier as French painter, nor Millicent Martin as airline hostess. Michael Trubshawe plays 'Niven'!
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| Quite a nice sight gag |
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| What a waste of budget |
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| Oh, isn't it funny. Ha. Ha. |
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| Actually that was quite funny |
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