Le scandaleux Mister Sterling

Just another case of Hollywood pinching an idea from British comedies. Seven years after the release of "Will Any Gentleman," Hollywood come up with "The Nutty Professor". Not an exact remake but the idea is not far removed.

Will Any Gentlemen...? is adapted from the stage play by Vernon Sylvanie. Where the play was apparently joyous in its farcical ideals, this adaptation struggles to convince as a farcical whole. The plot revolves around George Cole's spineless bank clerk, Henry Sterling, who whilst attending a music hall show, falls under Mendoza the hypnotist's spell (Alan Badel looking like Satan!). This brings about a complete character change in Henry, he is now a womanizer and shifty in the extreme, this of course causes much consternation to Henry's wife, who enlists Mendoza to track down Henry and snap him out of this dubious spell.

Some solid laughs come about as the farce rate ups during the final third, but some of the dialogue is terribly twee and the cast in the main struggle to deliver fun lines with any great conviction, with Jon Pertwee as Charley Sterling particularly looking out of place. However, the picture is not a total waste of time, it has a certain charming appeal and at the least it does put a smile on ones face from time to time. Ultimately, though, a better cast and a stronger director could have made this into a British treasure. 5/10

A romping Technicolor farce vaguely indebted to Jeckyll & Hyde adapted by Vernon Sylvaine from his own West End hit of 1950, that basically extends to feature length the section in 'Laughter in Paradise' in which George Cole is forced to publicly make a fool of himself.

A once-in-a-lifetime supporting cast ranges from Alan Badel to Richard Massingham (and two future Doctor Whos); and there are some quite naughty jokes like the provenance of the paper used to replace the banknotes (while what George Cole does to Joan Sims, in her film debut, would get him fired and ostracised today...)!

While this film version of a then popular stage show never quite gathers the momentum to be a full success, it's likable and fitfully amusing.

The biggest weakness is how the key plot function of George Cole's character turns from a meek bank clerk to an unstoppable force of nature in an instant. There's no trigger for this to occur so it seems like it only exists when it's convenient for the plot and therefore feels contrived and forced. As a lot of humour and narrative is reliant on this, it's a significant problem for the film.

Still, after a slow start the film becomes increasingly fun. This is mainly due to an excellent cast. Cole is good, but some of the supporting performances are even better. Joan Sims is a delight as Cole's maid and Alan Badel - completely unrecognisable from his usual upper- class persona - is a delight as the hypnotist who begins all of Cole's problems.

Worth a look.

I wonder if the director of this film went to see a stage performance of this film and decided to keep all the stage directions and mannerisms in the film.It seems that every line is shouted and the actors indulge in the most cringe worthy mugging.perhaps the only actor exempt from this criticism is George Cole.Incidentally the poor put upon member of the audience in the music hall sitting next to George Cole is none other than Richard Massingham who made public information shorts.There is a good cast including John Pertwee,James Hayter,Sid James,Diana decker but they are all wasted.It is woefully unfunny,although the technicolour photography gives a certain freshness to the picture.