User reviews

Something of a precursor of the swinging sixties "comedy." It still has the makings of the 1940s 1959s British comedies, but some of the silliness of the later 1960s comedy films is starting to creep in.

The performance of the film is probably Lionel Jeffries as the caricature of a Scotsman. (Perhaps even more interesting is not so much his performance as the reactions of the other scavengers to his character. In one scene he asked someone on the set to give him something Gaelic to say. Someone duly did. Lionel Jeffries was not to know that it meant: "Kiss my ass." But it went unnoticed...until the film was shown in Ireland! All in all, it's great fun.

One should not take it too seriously.

The film begins with the superb opening credits by Bob Godfrey, and a Mona Lisa start which is not unlike (and predates) Terry Gilliam, and sets one up for a light hearted typical British affair. It frequently uses the streets of London as a backdrop and is filled with some marvellous cameo roles by numerous character actors. They seem to be all here.

There are quite a few memorable roles but accolades go to Terry Thomas, Lionel Jeffries (that's a first for me), and Denholm Elliot glides through his performance with aplomb. Of course the plot is ridiculous, and the film is not a gem, but I was delighted to catch this film. I even laughed during the film. There's a little bit of 60's saucyness, pop references (The Cavemen), sending up of the upper classes, the obligatory (largely unknown) Amercan actor and cuts that are pure 1960's.

It's not a Carry On film, it's much better, and if you like black & white British 1960's movies and the (now lost) actors from then, you will not be disappointed.

It's somewhat strange how this cheery and pleasing film has been almost totally forgotten today - perhaps in part despite its 'Swinging London' ethos that it was filmed in black & white?

Michael Winner's 1960s films were noted for their vivid and lively style, and it's a pity that when he moved to Hollywood in the early 1970s he seemed to lose that style and his films became defined by being dour, downbeat and often quite nasty.

Back to YMBJ, acting standouts include Lionel Jeffries who steals the film with his funny performance just as he did a few years previously with 'The Wrong Arm of the Law' and Terry-Thomas in a small but typically very amusing performance.

The film's finale is a bit messy and incoherent, but otherwise the film is full of good fun and laughs.

This is one of those twerpy 'swinging 60's' films with cavalier photography, 'swinging' introductory and background music, to get us all in a 'fab' mood to insure us that the everything you are about to endure is not to be taken seriously. It's all the fault of the Beatles wonderful 'A Hard Days Night' that all the others are trying to catch up. However, this film couldn't catch a George Formby film on a bad day. And why-oh-why did it have to have the obligatory American actor in the lead role? To me this lowers the tone completely as we have many, many British actors who would be more than willing to make a complete fool of themselves.

Maybe the best thing about this film is the impressive cast of English actors, but they are not well served by the script. It has an interesting story idea of gathering together items from a list, but the film progresses in a downward spiral of forced "zany" scenes.

I particularly disliked that it did some subtle reinforcement of the British class system- the richest characters with the most high level social connections are the ones who can get things done. The working class character is left digging in the dirt.

Lionel Jeffries gives what seems like a decent impression of Scottish comedian Chic Murray, but the context of his performance is a series of Scottish stereotypes. A recurring joke about "women drivers" is grating.

"you must be joking!",the title says it all.more like you cannot seriously think this woeful rubbish is the slightest bit amusing.just goes to show that once again,a non-stop barrage of star cameos does not compensate for lack of comic material.truly dire.

Film makers often think that if they cram in as many stars as possible, they are bound to strike gold. It rarely works, and this heap of 'zany' rubbish is no exception. The plot is as thin as prison soup and there's far too much running about and people being with-it and 'swinging'. There are a few good points - Terry-Thomas is always good and so is Lionel Jeffries but oh dear, the rest (including Norman Vaughan FGS) seem to have been added as make-weights. Micheal Winner was never the best of directors and this is a long way from his best efforts. Sorry, it's a 4 from me.

This really is an unsung little gem that is well worthy of general release. From start to finish, it is a fast paced film with some excellent scenes involving a superb cast. A feast of British comic actors with American star, Michael Callan, thrown in for good measure. Everyone performs well, and they look like they had a whale of a time making this movie. Special mention must go to the one and only Terry-Thomas as the army phsycologist, who even manages to reprise his famous "hard cheese" retort! Lionel Jeffries is outstanding too, and there's great support from Bernard Cribbins, Denholm Elliott and Wilfred Hyde-White. To anyone who enjoys fun-filled, brisk, British comedies, this is not to be missed.

I like Terry Thomas; its too bad he practically had a cameo role in this film, though. You Must Be Joking!, directed by the competent Michael Winner, is a pleasant British farce in the tradition of the Carry On, gang of Alec Guinness. The pace of the film is not fast; it is ultrasonic. Some of the best bits of the film go by much too fast, while other, more mundane shots last too long.

The idea of a military scavenger hunt is rather unique, except for the fact that It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World had practically the same type of plot; (and that film was not that awfully funny, either). At least this film did not waste tons of money on an A cast. There are several hits and misses in each scene, and the protagonist becomes extremely shallow, as the film develops. Other than that, the film is a passable comedy, and quite watchable.

"You Must Be Joking!" Is a film about 5 Men, all from different armies, going on a scavenger Hunt throughout Britain for 5 different items, and is sort of similar to the movie "It's a mad mad mad mad world". The film was funny at some points and was also fun to watch. It is a bit vague on explaining the plot in the beginning though. All of the acting was good, and I enjoyed Lionel Jeffrie's acting the most. Some of the scenes were a bit bizarre, but these bizarre moments weren't necessarily bad. All the scenes range from average to good. Overall, it was a fun and nice movie to watch. I'd give it 6/10.

This movie is the definition of over-acting. Very very forced comedy and a stupid so-called plot that is not even that funny from mostly over the hill British actors. A few chuckles here and there but no side-splitting laughter like you get with great British comedies/comics like George Formby, Benny Hill, Fawlty Towers or Monty Python.

Smashingly funny and character driven film with a scavenger hunt leading to the stealing of the Lord's of London bell. Shown primarily as a second biller in the 60s, at least in the US, and hasn't been seen much since. An all-around-good flick (Laurie "Avengers" Johnson did the music) with a bit of Richard Lester vibe.

I saw this film at the cinema when it first came out and was not able to catch up with it again until I watched a recording that I had made of it this morning. It had been on Talking Pictures several weeks ago.

Despite some of the other reviews that I have read, I found it to be a great film, with some good comic formulas - a sort of British answer to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", with different twists and plot devices.

If none of the film critics of the time found this film funny, I remember the cinema being "standing room only", with the audience rocking with laughter.

Some of the actors in the film probably were not particularly well known in 1964, but by today's standards, it had nearly as many actors and actresses in cameo performances as "Around the World in 80 Days". I remember half- expecting Norman Vaughn to take out a box of chocolates and say: "Roses Grow on You!".

The only thing that seemed to disappoint most of the audience - especially the girls - was where, in the end, the lead actor went off with the beautiful French singer, instead of his loyal English girlfriend. Maybe there was a reason for such an ending, which was probably misunderstood by cinema audiences at the time.

Of course, the acting honors would have gone to Lionel Jeffries as the Royal Scots Guards Regimental Sergeant Major, dressed throughout the film in a regimental kilt, swapping his bearskin helmet for a mismatching cloth cap.

It is debateable as to whether the British could make a film like this nowadays. With so many stars in cameo performances, the production would go way over budget; and the part where Graham Stark plays a drunken pilot of a charter aircraft would not be politically correct for today's audiences.

On a sad note, it is a pity about Patricia Viterbo, who played the part of the beautiful French singer, Sylvie Tarnet. It was a shame for such lovely actress to be taken at such an early age. She would have had such a glittering career ahead of her.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I wish I could give it 12, but 10 out of 10 will do for now.

Quite a lot of old movies don't live up to their animated credits. Not this one, even though they were the work of Bob Godfrey.

In 1968 Andrew Sarris rated Winner higher - among The 'Oddities, One-Shots and Newcomers' - in 'American Cinema' than Stanley Kramer ('Miscellany'). At the time Sarris seemed not to have seen (and probably never bothered to catch up with) this low budget but very funny imitation of 'It's a Mad Mad Mad World' from a mildly satirical script by the author of 'I'm All Right Jack'. It was also Michael Winner's last film in black & white, in those very far off days when even he couldn't help making a decent film.

Energetically shot entirely on location (94 in all) in and around a very wintry looking London and then frenziedly cut together (NERD NOTE: Winner's used of hard-edged wipes probably seemed very 'nouvelle vague' at the time but were actually a common feature of quota quickies thirty years earlier). It depicts a world in which audiences would have known the significance of plaster flying ducks and Trechikoff's 'Green Woman', now as impossible to revisit as the planet Jupiter itself. Shot by '2001's director of photography and featuring a Who's Who of British supporting actors past and future, most of them on good form, with Bernard Cribbins the victim of a hilarious running gag; English actor Lionel Jeffries playing a mad Scotsman would however probably offend today's politically correct sensibilities.

(In smaller parts, James Robertson Justice looks incongruous as a supercilious librarian who makes no attempt to keep his voice down; while the ubiquitous Marianne Stone looks even more striking than usual forging signatures in a collar & tie.)

April 2021

I only got to see this for the first time just a couple of years ago, what a surprise, i actually put it in that little genre, including "Its a mad mad mad mad world and midnight madness", along with 4 or 5 others.

I love all these scavenger hunt films, and this one has a great comedy cast including Terry Thomas and Lionel Jefferies.

A real surprise this.

9 out of 10.

sixties comedy at its best in the same vein as the fast lady and please turn over its similar to the carry ons where they try to get out of certain situations love the film it must have been filmed late in the year because of the weather some of the things are no longer made good director in michael winner there was a load of great comedies in the 50s and 60s this rates greatly in my top ten he did some great work later on some of the stars should have been more recognised then they were to me it is comedy at its best as i said there was a lot of great films comedy and drama films i wonder why it has not been remade it would be interesting to see who would have portrayed all the parts it is one of my favourite all time filmsthis is not rubbish I think it is very funny it could have been adapted to be a carry on

A surprisingly splendid early one from Michael Winner. It is really funny with an amazing number of comedians. Well directed and if the story is a bit silly the film is really fast and if there are a few odd bits it moves along quickly. With the great credits animation from Bob Godfrey and on with the music from Laurie Johnson and the script of Alan Hackney from I'm All Right Jack (1959) we are off. Winner seems clear what's to not work in the studio if he can help it. We start off at RAF Northolt, some shots in Carshalton and then it might have been Kew Gardens but then we realise we are at Avery Hill, near Greenwich and then we are off to Mayfair, then Pimlico and Knightsbridge and even Piccadilly Circus, goodness knows how Winner manages to do that in the day time. There are some shots of the Thames and we can see the docks and even Billingsgate. Some wonderful locations and some good jokes, an amazing number of people like Terry-Thomas, Wilfred Hyde-White, Bernard Cribbins, Denholm Elliott, Lionel Jefferies, the lovely Irene Handl, many others and the American Michael Callan from stage and film.