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I'm All Right Jack [1959]
![I'm All Right Jack [1959]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416AVnA0ewL._SL160_.jpg)
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The Evergreen British Classic
Review date: 2008-05-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
Would be on most people's top 50 British films ever made list. It is way up there on entertainment value, and as a critique of 1950s life at work it is as good as a documentary. Very astute, very cleverly plotted, magnificently played, this is a film that seems to get even better with age, possibly because most of the practices satirised here are nostalgic memories now, however damaging they were. It takes you back to a day when jobs seemed safe for life, and even being sacked for incompetence was fairly rare if you belonged to one of the big unions. That the unions remained really powerful for another twenty years after this very critical film was made shows just how strong they were - Oh how things have changed! To be fair, this film attacks both sides, showing the silver spooned bosses to be amoral insider dealers and totally detached from their lowly and troublesome 'workers'. Of course it is caricature, but if the reputation hadn't been very much there in the first place then such a movie wouldn't have had such a treasure trove of targets to send up and satirise and generally have a good old dig at. This fine movie really fills its boots. And I haven't even mentioned the performance of a lifetime from Peter Sellers.
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Reviews
A British Comedy Classic!
Review date: 2007-01-11 Rating: 10 out of 10
I recall seeing this film during 1959 at the local Odeon, and to this day, remains one of my favourite comedy films of all time.
Ian Carmichael plays an upper class twit who after leaving University, fails to find employment due to his incompetance and niavety during various visits to factories and offices. Some of these scenes are quite hilarious, especially the one in the cake factory. His Uncle Tracepercil(Denis Price) finds him a job in a local warehouse where unknowingly he causes a strike with the local workforce which escalates into a national strike almost shutting down the British economy.
This is one of those rare British comedies which suceeds on every level, mainly due to the various actors around at the time, everyone of them being a household name. Peter Sellars is brilliant as the shop steward Fred Kite; Terry Thomas is the Personnel Officer, and Richard Attenborough plays Cox a rival manufacturer who is actually in league with Tracepercil (Denis Price) by causing industrial unrest so that a rival company would obtain a working contract from a foreign buyer.
Irene Handl, Liz Fraser, Victor Maddern, Kenneth Griffith, and the wonderful character actress Margaret Rutherford all contribute to this laugh a minute comedy. Although it is often shown on television, a new generation of viewers should see this because it does give an insight into the British Class system of the 1950s. Wonderful entertainment.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Irene Handl
John Le Mesurier
Richard Attenborough
Peter Sellers
Ian Carmichael
Creators:
Ian Carmichael (Primary Contributor)
Peter Sellers (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034576501
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2007-02-05
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 101 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1959
Language: English (Original Language)