I'm All Right Jack
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dennis Price, Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Terry-ThomasDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of I'm All Right Jack
Movie Review: An Equal Opportunity Insult Fest
Summary: 5 Stars
"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. The humor is dark; the wit is rapier-sharp; the spoofs are right on target, the cast and acting are topnotch, and, at a tight 105 minutes, it sure moves fast for a Britcom of the time. This sly satire was penned by Alan Hackney, who wrote the novel, and Frank Harvey who wrote the screenplay. It was directed by John Boulting, and was, once again, not an Ealing picture.
Recent, naive Oxford graduate and old-money aristocrat Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael,Heavens Above!), has survived World War II, and now thinks he would like to carve out a career in industry. But he's one of the great upper class twits of all time, and no industry seems to want him. So, much to his dismay, he takes a menial job in his profit-minded uncle's weapons factory, but cautiously keeps his background a secret. Soon enough, Stanley's incompetence provokes suspicion and sympathy as he, unknowingly following the agenda of his crooked elders, becomes a pawn in a battle between management and an aggressive, bullying Marxist shop steward (Peter Sellers,Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition), The Return of the Pink Panther). Until Stanley unwittingly causes a massive strike, and what will become of him then?
The cast is a who's who of British comic talent at the time. Terry-Thomas (The Naked Truth) plays Major Hitchcock. Sellers plays both Fred Kite, shop steward and lower-class striver; and Sir John Kennaway, industrial bigwig. Richard Attenborough (Miracle on 34th Street) plays the crooked through-and-through Sidney De Vere Cox. Dennis Price, (Kind Hearts and Coronets - (The Criterion Collection)), sadly, in his last major part, he'd made such a wreck of his life, plays Bertram Tracepurcel, Stanley's uncle, owner of the factory. The inestimable Margaret Rutherford (The Agatha Christie Miss Marple Movie Collection (Murder at the Gallop / Murder Ahoy / Murder Most Foul / Murder She Said)), plays Stanley's Aunt Dolly; the indomitable Irene Handl( HEAVENS ABOVE!) is on hand as Mrs. Kite. Liz Fraser (Two-Way Stretch) plays Cynthia Kite as if the part were written for her, and perhaps it was. The irreplaceable Miles Malleson (KIND HEARTS) plays Stanley Windrush Sr. And we've got, in smaller parts, John Le Mesurier as Waters; Raymond Huntley, as the Magistrate; and Malcolm Muggeridge as himself.
The movie was made by Charter Film Productions, and was filmed at Shepperton Studios. Well, there can be no doubt that the film is an equal opportunity insult fest, although, most of the time, the televised versions cut the racist language, used by both labor and management, in the original. But there's not an ounce of sentimentality in its hard, hard heart. Mind you, on a recent re-viewing it did seem particularly anti-union (and I was born a union maid). Never mind, as the plot progresses, things get more and more farcical, and, by its end, almost everyone, save poor bumbling Stanley, proves to be on the take. Finally, I was also interested to note, in that recent re-viewing, just how powerful the three major women players are, for a male-oriented film: they wield a lot of influence. Has nobody ever noticed? At any rate, Sellers was one of the greatest of 20th century comedians, and Fred Kite is one of his greatest, most unforgettable performances. Not to be missed.
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