The Magnificent Six and and a Half were a group of children, mainly young teenagers, who were involved in a series of adventures that formed the basis of short films in the late 1960s (and later with a rather different team in 1972). I feel this is probably the best and certainly the funniest of these short films.
In this one the gang are trying to do good deeds. These involve such things as retrieving a child's balloon, resetting a TV aerial and helping a woman who has been locked out of her house. Each time they need a ladder and they borrow what they think is a spare one - however it is actually being used by a painter and decorator who finds himself in all kinds of mishaps as a result.
The Magnificent Six and a Half films were always very focused on visual humour and this is very much to the fore here with the emphasis very much on slapstick. In many ways slapstick is the most primeval form of humour - something that can appeal to people of all types at any time - but that doesn't mean that it's easy to do. Here it is done very well with Cardew Robinson in excellent form as the hapless decorator, well-supported by .George Roderick as an over-eager policeman who gets caught-up in the colourful exploits.
These films are interesting in their own right. At a time when film and TV was still very studio-bound they were shot on location on 16mm film and there are many scenes of the outer London surburbs, generally not far from the base of Shepperton Studios, so they can provide some nostalgia value of changing locations. However they are also important as the basis of the very popular 1970 TV show "Here Come the Double Deckers". The same production team were involved and the team of (mainly) male children plus a teenage tomboy and much younger girl were retained although the cast aside from Michael Audreson and Brinsley Forde (not in this film) changed. The style of humour with a strong emphasis on visual gags (especially slapstick) backed by jaunty incidental music and sound effects with a little dialogue remained. The chief difference was the TV series had much bigger funding, more American influence and more emphasis on song and dance (including a very memorable singalong theme tune).
While "The Double Deckers" is slicker and better-remembered these short films deserve not to be overlooked and are a fascinating insight into late 1960s children's entertainment.
