Captain's Paradise

This film is a treat! It is the tale of an English sea Captain (Alec Guiness) who thinks he has devised the perfect arrangement for paradise. He has a wife in two ports - each one half his idea of the perfect woman. His English wife (Celia Johnson) is the dutiful, domestic wife, whilst his Latin wife (Yvonne De Carlo) provides the excitement which he craves. All three play their roles well - Alec Guinness is a delight to watch, making you root for him and at times losing sympathy for him. The two wives appear to be stereotypical characters - but neither is quite as they seem! The script is witty and perceptive and the plot always engaging. I can recommend setting sail for the Captain's Paradise!

I enjoyed this comedy, which demonstrates that one can't have one's cake and eat it too. Alec Guiness has found that he has a perfect recipe for happiness by being a bigamist. He has one wife in Gibraltar (Celia Johnson) and one in Ceuta (Yvonne De Carlo). As his business is running a ferry service between the two cities he has reason to be gone at least a night or two from either wife. He chooses Celia to mirror the perfect domestic spouse, and Yvonne for the perfect excitement spouse. But in truth both women are increasingly unhappy by the uneven state of their marriages. Johnson wants to go out with her husband to night spots, and De Carlo wants to cook him a dinner, and maybe play some bridge or charades with him. Instead of willingly switching the formula, Guiness foolishly prevents both women from getting their desire, and looses them both. Ironically they never discover he committed bigamy.

It is not as good as "The Lavender Hill Mob", or "The Ladykillers", or "The Man in the White Suit" or "The Horse's Mouth", but it is as good as "The Card". Although admittedly second tier Guiness it is popular. It is also the only film of Guiness's to be mentioned in the television series "Car 54 Where Are You?". Lucille Toody thought it was so romantic. Imagine Gunther with two wives in the Bronx and Queens?

One of the more modest comic efforts done during his Ealing Studios period, it features a side of Guinness that his fans have never seen. Dancing the bolero with Yvonne DeCarlo in a North African nightclub, he displays such amazing footwork that it's hard to believe that he didn't have a stunt double. He didn't. This film is a small delight for true Guinness aficianados and well worth the price of a video rental

Amusing film with excellent cast and a rather 'modern' comedy situation of a bigamous sea captain who keeps a wife in each port-racy stuff for 1953.Those puzzled by the Moroccan Spanish-speaking wife should note that the nearest Moroccan port to Gibraltar is Ceuta-which is actually a Spanish territory.

Ship's captain Alec Guinness seems to have a dull life, he's had the same job for years, taking his ship back and forth between Gibraltar and Morocco. Little does anyone know, that the Captain has worked out his idea of a paradise, he has a wife at either end of the line! In British Gibraltar Cecia Johnson gives him all the comforts of domesticity and respectability, and in Morocco sexy Yvonne DeCarlo gives him... you know. Of course, such a life is doomed to complications, and thereby hangs the plot of the film.

A subtly wicked comedy, a lesser "Kind Hearts and Coronets".

Never really belly-laugh funny, but highly witty and great fun. And I love the ending, it's perfect.