Il était un petit navire

Low key citizens versus the establishment comedy from Ealing Studios stars Alec Guinness as a would-be naval captain, prevented from of a life spent at sea by acute sea sickness, his consolation is to convert a peer into a amusement park depicting a luxury cruise liner, but the local council led by Maurice Denham wants to close him down.

Guinness has multiple roles (as visions) while Irene Browne plays his ally in the fight against Denham and his cronies (principally Lionel Jeffries and Victor Maddern), with growing sympathy from members of the council who see his amusement park as a positive investment for tourism (Alan Cuthbertson, principally). Prolific Percy Herbert plays Guinness' faithful first mate, while Richard Wattis and Donald Pleasance have minor cameos.

Though it's probably one of Guinness' most obscure movies (there's a reference to a better known Guinness' 1950 film "The Mudlark"), it remains a capable comic farce, middle of the road comedy carrying most of the hallmarks that made Ealing the manufacturer synonymous with traditional British comedies in the 1950's.

Known as 'Barnacle Bill' here in the UK, this film concerns a retired RN captain who battles debilitating sea-sickness and buys an old pier, but every time he looks like making a go of it the local council undermines him. I like this film a lot for its cast of stalwart British favourites of the day, sunny photography and whimsy, but it has a number of scenes which always strike me as a bit lame. I must admit to being rather impressed by the seemingly-genuine radar display in his cabin. Most other films would simulate this. The film comes to a rather unsatisfactory end as our hero finishes his story in the bank and they all come dancing out. THE END. We don't get a twist or a final amusing observation, which makes the end a bit ...well, lame. Still a nice little film though.

Wonderful film with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humour. Alec Guiness is excellent as an descendant of a family full of (in)famous captains who has just one little problem to follow in there footsteps: he has a bad case of seasickness! So he decides to buy a 1000 foot pier and run it as a ship. The city-council though has other plans with de seafront and the pier does not really fit into their plans. The Captain can only do one thing: declare his pier as a proper cruise ship! This is a film that fits in with the other small masterpieces made by Ealing Studios in the fifties and I can really recommend it..

The great Alec Guinness gives one of his usual fine performance in this lightweight comedy, wrapped around a typically wacky Ealing conceit - the sailor who can't go to sea buying a pier and running it like a ship. The early set-up sequences, featuring a montage of Guinness playing his ancestors at sea through the ages, are the usual silly, slapstick fun, and our hero's exploits getting his 'ship' up and running, fending off the crooked local council, and generally having a good time are heartwarming and cannot fail to raise a smile. One sequence, where he tries to run a dance hall at the end of the pier and is merrily strutting his stuff on the dancefloor with some local hottie when the authorities arrive to complain, is particularly memorable if only for the mad grin on Guinness' face as he boogies. Lacking the deeper satirical bite or wealth of really hilarious moments and characters powering the true classics of Ealing, this is nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable little film, featuring the standard role-call of vaguely familiar faces (watch out for a youngish Donald Pleasence in an early scene). Not brilliant, but fun.

I've enjoyed most of the Alec Guiness films, especially The Ladykillers. I must say that I wasn't expecting much from this film and it was only because the VCR did not get turned off that I saw it. I believe it to be one of the most amusing films I've ever seen and one of Guiness' best. He approaches the character in a completely serious manner and the results are marvelous. The incongruity of a naval man who gets seasick and dock turned into a "ship" are very funny. At first, the character seems stiff and military, but he is anything but. One of the best scenes is of him dancing with teenagers. Every one of Guiness' Ealing Studios films are gems, but this is the top. This needs to be put out on DVD/VHS.