Purely Joyful Movie!

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.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

This is one funny movie! If you are a fan of Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas or British comedy in general there are a ton of laughs to be found here. Sellers shines as an actor who finds he has to disguise himself in order to foil a black mailer. There are a dozen twists and turns with many great lines. In particular a scene involving Sellers, Thomas and Thomas's wife played by a stunningly elegant Georgina Clarkson. A certain insurance policy is discussed with several mind bending character twists and the immortal line "you mean to say I get all that from such a small premium?" Watch for pre Goldfinger- Bond girl Shirley Eaton in a sexy supporting role. In addition there's a wonderful macabre humour throughout which was a speciality of the British since the days of Agatha Christie. Many fine scenes.

Great cast in this story of a publisher, Dennis Price, who threatens to publish a tabloid magazine spelling out the peccadilloes of many prominent celebrities, including Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount, and Shirley Eaton. Their reputations and happiness are at stake. Price gives them two weeks to come up with a blackmail sum that none can manage.It has its funny moments but the script isn't what it might be. The story is mostly disjointed because the victims don't know one another, so we wind up with four separate threads of victims trying to prevent Price from implementing his scheme.And the humor is all spelled out. Nothing is left to the imagination. If the mystery writer, Peggy Mount, tries to drown the blackmailer, she knocks the wrong man out and tries to drown him in a pond. The attempted drowning is all drawn out and devolves into slapstick. The sprightly musical score tries desperately to underline the comic features of each scene.Among the funnier scenes is Peter Sellers (in one of several disguises) hiding under the bunk he assumes belong to the blackmailer. Instead, a young couple of newlyweds show up and kick off their shoes and kiss voluptuously. Sellers, scooched back against the wall, looks at the two pairs of feet, glances up at the bed, and stares in exasperation at the camera, breaking the fourth wall. (Dissolve.) The show really belongs to Dennis Price, who plays the role of suave villain with aplomb. Even unconscious he seems to wear a superior smirk. He has the cleverest lines too, at times harking back to his splendid performance in "Kind Hearts And Coronets." "I do hope this isn't an appeal to my better nature because I haven't one." It's Sellers who quotes the happy villain of Richard III -- "Why, I can smile, and murder while I smile" -- but it's Price who embodies him.I wish the script had been more taut and the direction less explicit. As it is, it's not a failure, but it's a loose-limbed and lowbrow success.

The tattletale magazine Confidential hit American newsstands like a bombshell in the mid- 1950's. To a star-struck public accustomed to the sanitized fluff of a Photoplay or a Screen Gems, the "real" low-down on celebrity private lives proved both irresistible and a publisher's bonanza. Entries trumpeted steamy innuendo, like Marilyn and Rod Caught Overnight in Room 19. Soon the market was flooded with imitators, while the courts were flooded with lawsuits as bigwigs sought to repair damaged reputations. The flurry proved short-lived, probably because of expenses, and soon the scandal magazines were replaced by supermarket tabloids, a tamer, less libelous version. I mention this bit of cultural history as background to the movie, which is clearly based on that passing fad.It's a funny movie, but then any feature with Peter Sellars is bound to be funny. His cheesy TV show Wee Sonny MacGregor is a hoot, along with the several threadbare disguises. And when he fumbles around as the inept old "barge inspector", there's clearly a Clouseau waiting to break out. I wish he had also taken on Terry-Thomas' role. Yes, Thomas is funny, but he has basically one comedic persona, whereas the super-talented Sellars can deliver all kinds of nuance. But pity poor daughter Ethel (Joan Sims). She's on the edge of a comic nervous breakdown as the tyrannical "Mumsy" (Peggy Mount) pushes her around like a helpless yo-yo. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. And though easily overlooked in a stellar cast, the aristocratic Georgina Cookson makes a deliciously droll straight-woman for hubby Thomas' frazzled highjinks.I guess my only reservation is with the direction (Zampi), which at times fails to come up to the level of the material, especially in the pacing. Perhaps that's one reason the film falls short of classic status. Nonetheless, it does have its moments. And—oh yes—it seems as though blackmailer Dennis (Price) has the goods on a big chunk of the British establishment. No wonder those tell-all magazines passed so quickly out of existence.

Michael Pertwee penned this original screenplay about a British blackmailer threatening to expose celebrity secrets in a new publication inspired by the American scandal sheets. Comedy begins well, but doesn't have an incisive nature...nor a desire to bring out the darkly humorous ideas hinted at in the premise. Peter Sellers--cast as a popular television personality with blue-hairs--has his patented maniacal gleam and nervous smile, but not many jokes to work with, while hammy Terry-Thomas is mostly held in check (both actors might have been better used portraying the blackmailer). Supporting players are equally at a loss, though everyone tries hard. Picture doesn't look especially good, and it fails to give us a persuasive sense of time and place, falling apart after 20 minutes in. Released Stateside as "Your Past Is Showing". *1/2 from ****