Il capitano soffre il mare

It was a bit of a shock that, when Alec Guinness passed away many, so many of his obituaries insisted that "Star Wars" was his most memorable film. For those unfortunates who remember him that way, the Ealing Films he made during the 1950s are absolutely essential viewing.

Not least among those films is this little opus, in which Guinness portrays an ex-naval officer who suffers from catastrophic mal-de-mer. Unable to go at sea but not wishing to be away from it, he assumes command of the only type of "vessel" he can endure, an amusement pier.

It is Guinness's characterization that makes this film work. The very fact that he plays Captain Ambrose absolutely straight is what makes the character so funny, including a wonderfully spot-on parody of Noel Coward's speech to his crew from "In Which We Serve": "An efficient pier is a happy pier". Of course, it is granted that audiences back in 1957 undoubtedly picked up on allusions such as that much more readily than audiences would today.

The film also features a running theme prevalent in many British comedies of that period, namely the individual overcoming big bureaucracy or big business. In this case, when the local town council threatens to close down his amusement pier, the imperturbable Captain Ambrose outwits them by means of the clever expedient of registering his pier as a ship, under a foreign flag of convenience. It's just the sort of solution one would expect from the inventive studio that brought audiences "Passport to Pimlico".

I understand this film was also released under an alternative title, "Barnacle Bill". However, under any title, it is a worthy addition to the seemingly limitless pantheon of characters portrayed by the remarkable Alec Guinness.

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.

Although most Americans have little knowledge of his work other than Star Wars, Alec Guinness produced an amazing body of work--particularly in the 1940s-1950s--ranging from dramas to quirky comedies. I particularly love his comedies, as they are so well-done and seem so natural and real on the screen--far different from the usual fare from Hollywood.

This very odd little movie is about a navy captain who comes from a long family line of sea captains. The problem is, he gets so deathly seasick that his career is spent ashore! Out of the blue, he becomes the owner of a seaside amusement pier and begins to envision it as his "ship". He talks as if it's a boat and runs it with naval efficiency as well. See the film--it's funny and very absorbing!

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..

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.