Michael Medwin has risen to the dignity of being the obituaries editor on his London newspaper. He arouses the ire of his editor when he publishes one of his items under "Happy Events." Fortunately, his vacation comes up before he can be fired. He winds up on an Irish Island, where Joseph Tomelty seems to know everything about him. It turns out Tomelty not only has a very pretty niece in the person of Virginia McKenna. He's got a well in his basement, where an Oracle answers one of his questions every day, about such earth-shaking matters as what the weather is going to be like next week, or where the old lady has left her glasses this time. The Oracle takes a liking to Medwin, and decides,to answer his questions, which Medwin asks on behalf of his paper. It secures his job, and does wonders for the paper's circulation, but the other effects are unexpected.
The first movie directed by Cyril Montague Pennington-Richards is the sort of whimsical fantasy that the 1950s were fond of, drawing some conclusions about the human condition by starting with "what if..." and ending where the writer wanted it. I thought its conclusion were ultimately normative, just like most of this type of movie, and the superficial plot likewise.
The voice of the unseen Oracle is provided by Robert Beatty, who blathers on pompously about how self-important people are. He's amusing, mostly because he's not around most of the time.
