Double Bunk

This is a story about Jack and Peggy (Ian Carmichael and Janette Scott) who get thrown out of a rooming house for being in the same room together. They end up buying a somewhat dilapidated houseboat. enter Sid James playing a man named Sid who offers to sail the boat as part of a honeymoon for Jack and Peggy. He brings along Sandra, the always welcome Liz Fraser. After wreaking havoc with other leisure boaters they get stuck in a fog and end up in France. They have to get back and end up racing another boat owned by Watson, who was charging Jack and Perry ridiculous rent to keep the houseboat in the harbor in England. This is a fun film which gets better as it goes along. There is some slapstick and, since Sandra is a stripper, a little titillation but not much. Sid James plays a character we've seen him play so many times, the wise cracking friend not always up to complete good. I miss him a lot in films. If you like British humor that doesn't rely on tawdriness, just a decent plot with good performances, here it is. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Ian Carmichael ("Jack") and his fiancée "Peggy" (Janette Scott) fall foul of her rather fastidious landlady and are soon looking for a house. As luck would have it, they discover a houseboat and for a mere £750 they have their dream home/yacht. Not long after moving in they meet their landlord "Watson" (Dennis Price) who wants to double the rent for their mooring. Extortionate, so he - a mechanic, encouraged by his pal "Sid" (Sidney James), decides to get the old tub mobile again, and off they go for some fun folics on the river with "Sandra" (Liz Fraser) along too. It's a very gently paced nautical comedy, this - it is all very predictable with some easy humour that pokes a bit of fun at the "Commodore Classes" whilst leaving you knowing just what is going to happen - and what the outcome will be, too. Noel Purcell is quite entertaining, Dennis Price gets a well deserved ducking and we certainly discover that life on the ocean waves is not for everyone.

Double Bunk is directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and features music by Stanley Black and photography by Stephen Dade. It stars Ian Carmichael, Sid James, Janette Scott, Liz Fraser and Dennis Price.

When newlyweds Jack (Carmichael) and Peggy (Scott) face eviction from their rented London abode, they get tricked into buying a ramshackle houseboat. Taking the challenge on with determination in their hearts and love in their eyes, they are further knocked back when Mr. Watson (Price), the owner of the mooring station, tells them of the charges they must pay to stay where they are. Rebuilding the engine, Jack decides to treat Peggy to a honeymoon trip down the Thames, so with best pal Sid (James) and his stripper girlfriend Sandra (Fraser) along for the trip, they set off on what will prove to be a mighty adventure.

It opens with James and Fraser singing the delightfully catchy title song, and from there on in the film never lets up the jovial mood created. There's nothing uproarious here, this is a gentle British comedy built to keep the smile on your face, though it does slot in a few laugh out loud moments (double dose of gangplank frivolity, Sid's Vodka hangover, a punch up after a bum squeeze). It's well performed, often sexy (wolf whistles at the ready here for both our lady protagonists) and the water setting is very easy on the eye.

Fans of vintage British comedy are sure to get much from this easy going feel good comedy. 8/10

What a great little film this is! It's a British comedy starring various alumni from the CARRY ON franchise, and one which takes place almost entirely on a houseboat. The film stars the hardworking Ian Carmichael and the elfin Janette Scott as a newlywed couple who through various machinations of the plot decide to go on a short cruise with a friend and his girlfriend; the usual hijinks and hilarity ensue.

Films like DOUBLE BUNK seem to get by on their effortless charm and genuine humour. Certainly there are a few saucy moments here, but the film for the most part belongs to an earlier, cleaner time in which the laughs feel unforced and entirely natural. And when your film is chock full of seasoned comic performers as it is here, it's hard to go wrong.

Inevitably for a film with Sid James in a leading role, he ends up stealing all of the best bits. You can rely on Sid, and he doesn't disappoint. Scott is saddled with a fairly dull 'straight' role although she does have a few good moments - and check out those shorts! - but the best female performance comes from Liz Fraser, playing your usual sex siren. Here, she's a striptease artist, and as well as being breathtakingly gorgeous she's very funny too.

The supporting cast is exemplary. Dennis Price essays the caddish role with ease, while Naunton Wayne's cameo was to be his last performance. Watch out for Miles Malleson as a fishing vicar, and another nice cameo from Irene Handl, who seems to spend all of her screen time in the kitchen! There's plenty of slapstick humour here, and it all holds together very nicely. I think that as a film, DOUBLE BUNK certainly holds its own against the CARRY ONs of the era.

Mismatched British comic stalwarts Ian Carmichael and Sid James chug along the Thames in a barely sea-worthy houseboat with shapely Janette Scott and Lis Fraser in toe in this likeable comedy. Although it's only mildly amusing most of the time, the host of familiar and welcome names and/or faces makes it impossible to dislike. It's worth watching for Scott's hot pants alone.