Sous le plus petit chapiteau du monde
Titre original : The Smallest Show on Earth
- 1957
- Tous publics
- 1h 20min
NOTE IMDb
7,0/10
2,4 k
MA NOTE
Un jeune couple hérite d'un cinéma criblé de dettes et des trois séniors excentriques qui y travaillent.Un jeune couple hérite d'un cinéma criblé de dettes et des trois séniors excentriques qui y travaillent.Un jeune couple hérite d'un cinéma criblé de dettes et des trois séniors excentriques qui y travaillent.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Nomination aux 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination au total
Francis De Wolff
- Albert Hardcastle
- (as Francis de Wolff)
The Blake Twins
- Cast Members
- (non crédité)
Terry Burton
- The First Customer
- (non crédité)
John Bush
- Cast Member
- (non crédité)
Ted Carroll
- Bijou Cinema Patron
- (non crédité)
Jimmy Charters
- Bijou Cinema Patron
- (non crédité)
Avis à la une
This film starts off with a young couple inheriting from an uncle long forgotten. An old theatre named the "Bijou" but known to the locals as the "flea pit" starts the fun. Apart from a closed decaying building, the couple also inherit three old eccentric people who are the employees of the Bijou. Not to be left out is the nefarious owner of the town's other theatre house who wants the valuable land under the Bijou for expansion. The young couple reopen the old theatre to an array of problems. You actually begin to "root" for the employees and couple to keep the old theatre going. Ingenuity is upmost in "bringing" and "keeping" paying customers. These attempts are both amusing and creative and makes this film worth watching.
I saw this film on DVD. It was part of a package of 50 old films - it hadn't been restored and appeared much older than its 50 years. I had trouble reading the titles and credits.
What ever happened to all those old cinemas? This is one of them. In one scene the projectionist is having a horrid time and the film burns causing a "melt" before the audience. I experienced this at a local theatre in Papua New Guinea and it took me right back. And how the audience would tolerate it. Well sort of.
The scene where the three old codgers watch a silent film is very touching. In fact, I thought this would surface again in the film but it didn't.
It was delightful. The ending is not your stereotypical Hollywood film that we accept as the norm.
If you can get this film - it is well worth the watch.
What ever happened to all those old cinemas? This is one of them. In one scene the projectionist is having a horrid time and the film burns causing a "melt" before the audience. I experienced this at a local theatre in Papua New Guinea and it took me right back. And how the audience would tolerate it. Well sort of.
The scene where the three old codgers watch a silent film is very touching. In fact, I thought this would surface again in the film but it didn't.
It was delightful. The ending is not your stereotypical Hollywood film that we accept as the norm.
If you can get this film - it is well worth the watch.
Imagine inheriting an entire estate and finding it consists of a run-down fleapit cinema just under a railway line! That's exactly what happens to Matt and Jean Spencer (Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna)when they receive a letter from the solicitor dealing with a long-forgotten great-uncle's estate.
With the beautiful and bizarre Bijou cinema taking centre stage, and its three odd employees (the wonderful Margaret Rutherford as Mrs Fazackalee; Peter Sellers as drunken projectionist Quill; and Bernard Miles as daft doorman Old Tom) livening up the proceedings with their eccentricity, the stage is set for a British movie with a warm heart and a genuine love of the silver screen.
With Leslie Phillips as solicitor Robin, Francis de Wolff as the rival cinema owner Hardcastle, and Sid James as one of his trademark wideboy characters, this film is a treat from beginning to end. Of particular note is the scene where the three long-term Bijou workers watch silent films when the audience has gone home - magical!
With the beautiful and bizarre Bijou cinema taking centre stage, and its three odd employees (the wonderful Margaret Rutherford as Mrs Fazackalee; Peter Sellers as drunken projectionist Quill; and Bernard Miles as daft doorman Old Tom) livening up the proceedings with their eccentricity, the stage is set for a British movie with a warm heart and a genuine love of the silver screen.
With Leslie Phillips as solicitor Robin, Francis de Wolff as the rival cinema owner Hardcastle, and Sid James as one of his trademark wideboy characters, this film is a treat from beginning to end. Of particular note is the scene where the three long-term Bijou workers watch silent films when the audience has gone home - magical!
This film is one of my favourites because fifty years ago I was a young projectionists in a small cinema in the East Midlands, England. My future wife, was also a projectionist there (this was just after World War II, and the men were still away in the forces) and was where we met. I later became a movie house manager for several years before leaving the business with the advent of TV. Although it was hilarious the film hit the nail on the head with many home truths. The projectionist and the cashier were always rivals and vied for positions of authority. I knew many projectionists who were fond of the bottle. The way the show was kept running in all adversities was also typical of real life in a small "flea pit". A great film of days that used to be ! Incidentally my wife and I celebrated our golden wedding two years ago, and we did our courting at the movies on our days off.
A delightful story of a young couple that inherit The Bijou -- a broken down movie theater -- and against their wishes make a go of it.
Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers play Jean and Matt -- the young couple.
I was familiar with Ms McKenna's work but Bill Travers was new to me.
He has a wonderful Laurence Olivier air about him and is very appealing as an actor. His only other film that I am at all familiar with was "Born Free."
I was half way through the film before I realized that Percy Quill the projectionist with a drinking problem was Peter Sellers. Even though he was about 32 when the film was released he plays a little old man -- and superbly.
The wonderful character actress Margaret Rutherford, who made a career out of playing Miss Marple, is absolutely enchanting as the somewhat dotty Mrs. Fazackalee.
Why are old, somewhat crazy men in British films always named Tom? For whatever reason, Bernard Mills as Old Tom is quite a piece of work. A tendency to take things a little to literally is what drives his character -- that and the fact he is pretty much nuts.
It seems like many British films from this period look very much like filmed plays -- which this movie very definitely did.
Unfortunately the print that I saw for this film was in nearly as bad a shape as the movies being shown at "The Bijou." A good reason for more and better film restoration -- even for the films that we do not always think of as classics.
Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers play Jean and Matt -- the young couple.
I was familiar with Ms McKenna's work but Bill Travers was new to me.
He has a wonderful Laurence Olivier air about him and is very appealing as an actor. His only other film that I am at all familiar with was "Born Free."
I was half way through the film before I realized that Percy Quill the projectionist with a drinking problem was Peter Sellers. Even though he was about 32 when the film was released he plays a little old man -- and superbly.
The wonderful character actress Margaret Rutherford, who made a career out of playing Miss Marple, is absolutely enchanting as the somewhat dotty Mrs. Fazackalee.
Why are old, somewhat crazy men in British films always named Tom? For whatever reason, Bernard Mills as Old Tom is quite a piece of work. A tendency to take things a little to literally is what drives his character -- that and the fact he is pretty much nuts.
It seems like many British films from this period look very much like filmed plays -- which this movie very definitely did.
Unfortunately the print that I saw for this film was in nearly as bad a shape as the movies being shown at "The Bijou." A good reason for more and better film restoration -- even for the films that we do not always think of as classics.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesThe production insurers declined to cover Dame Margaret Rutherford, so all of her scenes were squeezed into seven days.
- GaffesWhen the young couple arrive in "Sloughborough", in the north of England, they climb out of the taxi in front of Hammersmith underground station in London.
- Citations
Hardcastle: A nice young couple like yourself, you've no business in this business. If you'd seen your great uncle what it did for him in the end! That old battle-ax Mrs. Fazackalee! I remember when she was a wee slip of a thing, pretty as a picture - a "B" picture, mind yuh!
[laughs]
- ConnexionsFeatured in A Bit of Scarlet (1997)
- Bandes originalesGod Save the Queen
(uncredited)
trad.
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Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- Big Time Operators
- Lieux de tournage
- Christchurch Avenue, Kilburn, Londres, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni(exterior of Bijou Cinema)
- Sociétés de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
- Durée1 heure 20 minutes
- Couleur
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By what name was Sous le plus petit chapiteau du monde (1957) officially released in Canada in English?
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