Bottoms Up

One of the most under - rated of 1950s British film comedies, 'Bottoms up', is a spin - off from the TV series 'Whacko', and an early example of the new fast developing genre, television, spawning a 90 minute offering for the cinema, the latter sadly in decline at the time.

'Bottoms up' must have delighted the beleaguered cinema goers of 1959, and is still a delight to watchers on DVD six decades later. The central characters are perfectly cast. 'Professor' Jimmy Edwards (an Oxbridge MA in real life) reprises his role of the blustering, cane - welding headmaster who only succeeds in whacking his Assistant Headmaster, the latter played to hapless, dithering perfection by Arthur Howard. Martita Hunt is the new Chair of Governors who threatens a 'regime change' unless there is a marked turn around in the school's fortunes, another memorable 'battle axe' performance by the screen's best Miss Havisham.

The plot is the hoary old chestnut of a foreign prince enrolling in the school, an idea lifted from 'The Belles of St Trinians', five years earlier (naturally a princess on that occasion). However, its treatment in this film is hilarious, Melvyn Hayes as a fake prince with a marked cockney accent, caped in oodles of brown face paint. Naturally, the real prince turns up!

In truth, the rather wobbly storyline doesn't really matter: a sparkling script (Muir and Norden much in evidence), extremely effective interactions of the characters, and first rate, highly authentic sets all contribute to an eminently watchable film. It's also a fascinating experience for imdb aficionados. Look out for future comedy great Richard Briers, as the new master, and take a good look at the 'leader' of the boys - yes, it really is Mitch Mitchell, legendary drummer for Jimi Hendrix, aged 12, sporting a short back and sides!

'If....' was a shameless plagiarism of 'Zero de Conduite', but Mario Zampi had already anticipated the anarchistic shenanigans of Anderson's film (aided and abetted by his regular collaborator Michael Pertwee, whose abrasive cynicism had already complemented Zampi's genial good humour on several previous occasions and who's script here manages to reference both Castro and the volatility of the Middle East) with far less conceit and self-regard in this big screen version of the TV series 'Wacko!'

Jimmy Edwards' venal and sadistic headmaster with a taste for corporal punishment was already a long-established comic figure in a tradition that extended back at least as far as Beachcomber's Narkover stories and the films of Will Hay (to whom the presence of Martita Hunt provides a direct visual link).

This movie has stayed fondly in my memory since I saw it as a kid. The sight of a hoard of school kids destroying a platform that was meant to be used for a mass caning was unforgettable. I'm sure a lot of people would pay to see it again - where is an entrepreneur to convince the studio to release it on video or DVD?

After the war comedy films set in schools were a mainstay of popular cinema going.It all really started with "The Happiest Days Of Your Life" which is undoubtedly top of the class.Then there followed the St Trinians films and then this film.It is a TV spin off from the BBC TV series "Whacko".The TV series was written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden but they only contributed additional material to this and it shows.\unfortunately it isn't very funny.This despite the loudest attempts by Jimmy Edwards ably assisted by Arthur Howard and Richard Briers and Donald Hewlett.It is very loud but not very funny or original.It is far and away the least funny of the school films.

Jimmy Edwards is the headmaster of a third-rate public school -- for Americans, that means a private school. He believes in beating the boys for any offense and none. Eventually, they revolt.

It's a feature-length version of Edwards' TV show, WHACK-O. I've never seen it, but found that his blustery character palled on me over ninety minutes. It's certainly possible that at the shorter length of TV sitcom, it was more palatable. Apparently, the show, which ran eight seasons from 1956 through 1972, for a total of 60 episodes, would have Edwards attempting to steal the boys' pocket money, like a futile Sgt. Bilko.

Other notable players include Martitia Hunt, Sidney Taffer and John Stuart.