La folle mission

"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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.