The Amorous Prawn

I first saw this film at the Odeon Temple Fortune in 1962,when I thought it be funny with a silly ending. Now it's no laughing matter. Difficult to realise that the play upon which this film is based fan for 900 performances in the West End.

Sadly not a Twitter despite a very strong cast. Cecil Parker at his dithering best. Joan Greenwood with her voice which just oozes sex. Ian Carmichael in an unethical role.as a corporal and butler. Dennis Price,with his handlebar moustache. He should have been a big star but his alchoholism meant that would never happen. Finish Currie,into his eighties,being a typical Scottish character,but alas all in vain.

General Cecil Parker's last posting is somewhere in the remotest part of Scotland. He and his wife, Joan Greenwood, are looking forward to their retirement, but the government has gotten niggardly with its superannuated heroes, and their are trying to come up with extra money to make their post-army life more comfortable. Miss Greenwood suggests selling off some army equipment and pocketing the ready, which shocks the general. He's off to America to witness some tests, so while he is gone, she turns the estate they are living on into a guest house, with the connivance of Corporal Ian Carmichael as majordomo, and giggling Liz Fraser as the housemaid. Various other army personnel fill in roles, and the tips from lecherous Americans keep everyone happy.

It's hard to tell whether this Bilko-like service comedy is meant to satirize the peacetime army, the ugly American, or the venality of modern society. Perhaps it's all three. The mechanical farcical elements are well handled, and Miss Greenwood's posh accents contrast beautifully with her mercenary attitude. Antony Kimmins' direction is snappy and silly, and that, at its heart, seems saddest of of. Still, viewed as a heartless comedy, it is certainly funny.

It is always a source of wonder to me that witty films find almost no audiences today, and the reason simply must be the ham-fisted, unsubtle, miles over-the-top Junior High School-level humor that is so much in vogue these days. Modern audiences must be so jaded by amateurisms that when something genuinely funny comes along their dulled senses simply can't get the jokes.

THE AMOROUS PRAWN is a case in point. Its humor is subtle and sophisticated and discerning audiences will appreciate the clever writing and directing. If your in the mood for a light, entertaining spoof with plenty of wit then you should have no trouble enjoying this energetic little farce. Don't be put off by some of the downright weird reviews of this little charmer that have thus far appeared on this site. See it and enjoy it.

The title has very little to do with anything. The "amorous prawn" is a character who appears late in the story and acts as a catalyst to solve the rather silly plot strands. The film probably kept the title because the comedy had been a long-running West End hit. The plot is quite thin: a general's wife, desperate to raise a few hundred to buy a retirement cottage, takes advantage of her husband's absence on official business to take in two Americans as paying guests. Her military staff dress up as butlers, maids etc and remove giveaways like the sentry box at the gate. The Americans are caricatured: though friendly and warm, they molest the staff and hand out huge tips and even require (the cads!) central heating. There's a lot of running about, giggling and flashes of underwear. The real enjoyment is provided by the comic skills of Ian Carmichael doing a butler act, Liz Fraser as his girlfriend, Cecil Parker and Joan Greenwood as the general and wife, and Derek Niimmo as a less than 100 per cent he-man chef. Back in 1962 homosexual acts were still criminal and gay characters were a big joke. When Niimmo gets engaged to one of the girls, Carmichael shakes his hand (which is obviously limp) and says "I didn't think you were the marrying kind!" Mr Prawn is another "comic" stereotype of the time: ex-RAF with bristling moustache, well-off, dressed smartly in blazer and gold cufflinks, middle-aged but still chasing young girls. It's all a bit naughty, ho ho! The shenanigans end abruptly with the help of some Scots waving salmon. Well, the West End audience must have had trains to catch. xxxxx

The title sequence is phemomenally literal . We see an animated prawn wooing a mate and the sequence finishes with the mummy and daddy prawns herding their off spring away from camera . You can imagine the sequence designer being told the title of the movie by the producer and nothing else so you can't blame the guy for being so literally minded . Come on with a title like THE AMOROUS PRAWN what did you think this film was about ?

As for the rest of the movie there's little I can recall apart from Ian Carmichael being cast against type as a working class corporal and since I only saw it a few hours ago that probably tells you something of its quality . It's one of those British " Blimey where'd I leave my trousers ? " type farces featuring a bunch of squaddies pulling a scam on American tourists , too gentle to be compared to the CARRY ON franchise and too slapstick to appeal to sophisticated audiences . It's this type of unambitious movie made by studios that quickly killed off the British film industry since this years British success story was DOCTOR NO , a film that was produced and financad by Americans and appealed to a world wide audience