Penny Points to Paradise (1951)

Harry Flakers is a pools winner who is targeted by a forger.

Director:

Anthony Young

Writer:

John Ormonde

Stars:

Harry Secombe, Alfred Marks, Peter Sellers

Cast

Credited cast:
Harry Secombe	...	Harry Flakers
Alfred Marks	...	Edward Haynes
Peter Sellers	...	The Major / Arnold Fringe
Paddie O'Neil	...	Christine Russell (as Paddy O'Neil)
Spike Milligan	...	Spike Donnelly
Bill Kerr	...	Digger Graves
Freddie Frinton	...	Drunk
Vicki Page	...	Sheila Gilroy
Joe Linnane	...	Policeman
Sam Kydd	...	Porter / Taxi Driver
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hazel Jennings
Patience Rentoul

Storyline

Harry Flakers is a pools winner who is targeted by a forger.

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Plot Keywords:

low budget film

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1951 (UK)

Also Known As:

Penny Points

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Advance Productions, PYL Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 55 min (recut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was shot in three weeks.

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Connections

Referenced in The Unknown Peter Sellers (2000)

User Reviews

Half a success

This film is an odd mixture of about fifty/fifty success and failure, but manages to remain quite enjoyable withal: Monty Python, however, it ain't.

It's a somewhat odd experience for those, such as myself, with only a passing acquaintance with the Goons, to see them in person rather than just as radio voices. I had no idea that Harry Secombe was so short, for instance, or Spike Milligan could be so unexpectedly good-looking. And they take advantage of the new medium to experiment with some purely visual comedy, for example Secombe's mimed surgical operation. The hit rate for this, though, is about the same as for the verbal humour: about half of it worked for me and the other half didn't.

The most consistently impressive performer is Alfred Marks, who appears to be channelling Alistair Sim in his role as a smooth criminal mastermind; his derogatory relationship with the sidekick he calls 'Laddie' is almost invariably hilarious. The statuesque Paddy O'Neill's impression of Bette Davis is also wickedly apt, while she and Vicki Page as Sheila have a good double-act going. The Goons have a tendency towards being manic just for the sake of it (epitomised in the speeded-up sequences, a form of Keystone Kops comedy that just doesn't work for me at all) but come up with some nice sequences.

The history of the print we saw was chequered, the picture having been cut for re-issue under the title "Penny Points" with some of the footage surviving only in 16mm format (and apparently extra footage of Peter Sellers interspersed to take advantage of his increased fame!) The differing quality of certain scenes did, however, provide the opportunity to see just what had been cut; largely plot-development and dialogue scenes between the set-piece gags, by the look of it, and certainly the restoration gives the impression of being an improvement.

By and large I found this film about as funny as the average Goon Show episode (which were always a bit haphazard), although not as funny as the best of them... but then I'd been told to expect the worst by two separate people before the screening started, and was consequently quite pleasantly surprised! Provided you don't expect too much this film is quite enjoyable, and manages to avoid being tedious or annoying throughout.