Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This follow-up comedy to "The Belles of St. Trinian's" is not too bad, considering that most sequels aren't usually too good. It is a good thing that Terry Thomas is given "leading man" status as he was an effective lead. Alastair Sim reprised his role of Miss Fritton from the previous film and only has a few minutes of screen time. For those who know the plot, the girls of that notorious school manage to con their way into going on an exchange trip to Italy. Once there, the usual shenanigans result. Lionel Jefferies does well as the convicted father of one of the schoolgirls. George Cole and Joyce Grenfell reprise their respective roles and it's good to see them. The laughs are a bit thin but the cast make this one worth the viewing.

This film seems to be a sequel to "The Belles of St. Trinian's." Most of the characters repeat, except that Alastair Sim has barely a cameo appearance. In his place, Terry-Thomas becomes the lead character. He is Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts, whose dilapidated tour service is selected to take the St. Trianian's girls on a tour of Europe.Besides Thomas, the bulk of the humor comes from George Cole who reprises his role as Flash Harry; and Joyce Grenfall who is, again, an undercover cop. She is police sergeant Ruby Gates. Lionel Jeffries has a nice part in this film as Joe Mangan.The girls break into the ministry of education, falsify their test results and win a contest to represent England at a gathering in Rome. So, the school goes on a semi-ambassador goodwill tour of many Western European countries.The script and plot are just OK and the humor is so-so. Those who like Terry-Thomas and these other performers will likely enjoy this film. But others may not. The film has nothing special to recommend it.

This is the second installment in the St. Trinians set of films and it deals with the girls wanting to win a contest to go to Europe, specifically Rome, to meet a handsome bachelor prince. They creatively find a way to win the contest and they are on their way. The reason this film is not as immediate as the first is because it takes a while for them to finally make the trip. There is a story attached concerning stolen jewels also, which is germane to all this, but I didn't think it was all that interesting. However, there is better acting in this film. Terry Thomas is good and Joyce Grenfell returns as the sargeant, once again going undercover. So, not as good as "The Belles", but you'll want to see it because you want to see the films in the series.

This is remarkable stuff. It has the normal amount of silliness, but the discriminating thing with this series is the notion of the girls school.Its absolutely amazing, what they have done with this notion. The school is a girls' school that destroys every location it visits. Lots of jokes: newspapers reports that Paris is scandalized by these girls. The idea is that half of these "girls" are adult women win miniskirts with stockings and girders. Most of the scandalous behavior (which we never see) is supposed to be sexual in nature. Oh, there's a plot about stolen jewels and a prince seeking a bride. But the story is purely there as an excuse to parade these girls around.And these are tough broads. They beat people up.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.