Escapade

This is quite a fun little gem stolen, as usual, by Alastair Sim as the headmaster "Dr. Skillingworth". This time, though, he is not in his "St. Trinians" guise - here he has to manage three typically mischievous brothers who have a grand design. That plan is not so much anti-education, but aimed at their ever rowing parents: pacifist John Mills and the kindly, but at the end of her tether Yvonne Mitchell whose marriage appears to be teetering on the edge of divorce. It's quite a clever premiss - do parents who send their kids away to school gain or lose from their respective experiences? Mills isn't up to much, sadly - he over-acts the role, but the boys do well as does their pal "L. W. Hartley" (Jeremy Spenser) and Colin Gordon's meddling journalist "Deeson". I hadn't heard of this until yesterday, but I'm glad I watched it.

The action in this charming (yes) Cold War comedy centers around the brilliant, extraordinary son of Mills - a son who is never seen, but who has become a school hero, then a national, and finally, an international hero! At turns moving and hilarious, this film is how a highly civilised people react to the dread of atomic war - I refer to the writers. The enemy is hardly the West, of course, but amongst the freest of humanity, complacency and lassitude reign. But in this wonderful tale, one boy ignites (almost literally - you will know what I mean) the minds of young Britons.

John (John Mills) is an idealistic yet clueless man. He's dedicated himself to the pacifist movement to the detriment of his family. Because he's often gone, his sons and wife are nearly strangers to him...and he has no clue that the kids are in trouble at school and his wife is considering leaving him. And, when the wife tells him she's leaving AND the school contacts them to tell them the boys are in trouble, John refuses to accept any of this. Is there any getting through to this idiot? And, when his sons disappear on a crazy outing, does this get him to accept that there are serious troubles? Probably not, as he IS a complete idiot and terrible family man.

This film kept my interest but the finale, when you learn WHY the boys disappeared...well, it comes off as rather preachy and difficult to believe. In other words, the acting is very good but the overly idealistic ending left me a bit cold when the story concluded. Not terrible...but one that could have been better.

Only the Brits could make such a sentimental film without making it seem 'corny'. The story is nothing less than hilarious yet reverberates with an optimism and endorsement concerning the idealism of youth. Even without that, the immaculate acting of screen giants like John Mills and Alistair Sym make it nothing less than a film masterpiece. No serious film viewer can afford to miss this one.

In the mid-1950s (as the British film industry was going through yet another crisis), independent producer David Angel turned out a series of modest but extremely intelligent films, of which the best are this one, "The Sea Shall Not Have Them" (with Michael Redgrave), "Cast a Dark Shadow" (with Dirk Bogarde), and "Carve Her Name With Pride" (with the underrated Virginia McKenna). These films boasted top-notch scripts and actors, but were hampered somewhat by their production values.

In the case of "Escapade," we have a fine cast and plot: John Mills plays a professional pacifist who can't seem to control the violence simmering within his own marriage to Yvonne Mitchell. Fearing a divorce, their sons concoct a plan to put their father's ideas into more pragmatic action; they steal a small airplane, which they plan to fly to Vienna in a calculated stunt that will bring attention to their own pacifist values and that will bring their family closer together. All of this causes much consternation for their school's headmaster, the great Alastair Sim.

In my opinion, Sim makes this movie. So fantastic was his comic timing that he steals every scene he's in -- even from the usually reliable John Mills. Two of Mills' sons are played by Andrew Ray (of "The Mudlark") and Peter Asher (brother of the more famous actress Jane Asher). One of their schoolmates is played by Jeremy Spencer (who would go on to appear in "Summertime" and "The Prince and the Showgirl"). Fans of British cinema should also keep a sharp look-out for character actor Richard Wattis who appears uncredited early on.

Such a cast makes it impossible for any movie to be bad, and indeed, "Escapade" is about 3/4 of a really good movie. Everything is fine while director Philip Leacock keeps a light touch, portraying the ease with which the schoolboys outsmart their parents and teachers. But the final act of the film loses its sense of humor and turns a little mawkish and sentimental. Writer Donald Ogden Stewart (who had already been blacklisted in Hollywood and wrote this screenplay under the pseudonym Gilbert Holland) tries to cram too many serious statements into the last 15 minutes: we get comments on the values of the press, on the potential for world peace, on the idealism of youth and the cynicism of adults, etc. As a result, the finale takes itself too seriously. What we really need is a director like Billy Wilder at the helm -- someone who could undercut the seriousness in order to curtail the sentimentalism. Part of the problem is probably due to the origins of the story as a play, and although Stewart manages to "open" the play successfully, the central gimmick (the fact that we never see Mills' eldest son) is what keeps me from being won over by the film's finale. I just have no reason to idolize/idealize the 16-year-old maverick we never see.

But these few complaints shouldn't stop you from watching this movie. In fact, these weaknesses are admirable because they illustrate just how intelligent the movie is.