Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)

To further the aims of the St Trinian's Marriage Bureau run by Flash Harry, the school contrives to win a competition with a European "Goodwill" trip as prize, to the horror of the Ministry... See full summary »

Director:

Frank Launder

Writers:

Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder,

Stars:

Terry-Thomas, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Terry-Thomas	...	Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts (as Terry Thomas)
George Cole	...	'Flash' Harry
Joyce Grenfell	...	Sergeant Ruby Gates
Alastair Sim	...	Miss Amelia Fritton
Sabrina	...	Virginia
Lionel Jeffries	...	Joe Mangan
Lloyd Lamble	...	Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird
Raymond Rollett	...	Chief Constable
Terry Scott	...	Police sergeant
Ferdy Mayne	...	Italian police inspector
Thorley Walters	...	Major
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Captain
Ronald Ibbs	...	Lieutenant
Judith Furse	...	Dame Maud Hackshaw
Michael Ripper	...	Eric - the liftman

Storyline

To further the aims of the St Trinian's Marriage Bureau run by Flash Harry, the school contrives to win a competition with a European "Goodwill" trip as prize, to the horror of the Ministry of Education. Joe Mangan, father of a sixth former and hiding out at the school after a Hatton Garden diamond robbery, is persuaded to travel with the girls as their new headmistress, leaving the real one trussed up in the belfry. At least her arrival had allowed the remains of the Army unit sent in to keep order to evacuate.

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Plot Keywords:

sequel | schoolgirl | sergeant | uniform

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1957 (UK)

Also Known As:

Kauhukakarat tappotuulella

Filming Locations:

All Nations College, Easneye, Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Harvel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film of Terry Scott.

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Goofs

During the water polo scene, the Union Flag is flying upside down.

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Quotes

Sergeant Ruby Gates: You see, I'm here on a special case
Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts: What sort of case?
Sergeant Ruby Gates: Must I tell you?
Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts: I should jolly well think you should! You give me all that guff about being an interpreter, lead me up the garden path...
Sergeant Ruby Gates: Oh, please don't talk to me like that, Romney! I'm such a crazy, mixed-up policewoman!
Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts: Well, how do you think I feel? One second we're swapping sweet nothings to a Neapolitan love song, and the next moment we're up to our nostrils in Agatha Christie. A chap doesn't know where he stands!

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Connections

Followed by The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Rock an' Roll"
(uncredited)
Music by Dave Shand

User Reviews

A must-see for any British comedy fan

By sheer accident I recently saw the worst of this generally well-regarded British series (the 1980 "Wildcats of St. Trinian's"), so I thought to be fair I'd check out the best. Well, this is A LOT better. This is a genuinely hilarious film, not just in the jokes but in the absurd situations. It starts with the notorious title girls' school under military occupation, resulting in heavy casualties (for the military). The older "sixth form" girls decide they want to travel to Rome to meet a wealthy Italian count so they work with the younger "fourth form" hellions to break into the Ministry of Education and rig the results of a UNESCO exam. But when no respectable tour bus company will take this collection of monsters and minxes to the continent, they hire a shady operator (famed British comedian Terry-Thomas). Their "chaperone" meanwhile is the fugitive diamond-thief father of one of the girl's who is disguised as the new headmistress (they "disappear" the real headmistress), which turns the whole thing into a hilarious comedy caper film.

It is a little disconcerting, as other reviewers have noted, that this film mixes the family-friendly scenes of the "fourth-form" ragamuffins with the scenes of the sexualized and sexually-predatory "sixth formers". But let's be honest--the first females most men sexually experienced or fantasized about were probably 16-18 years old, and those who claim to have no lingering attraction to girls that age are either lying or senile. Moreover, the "sixth formers" here are obviously played by somewhat older actresses, who are naturally pretty sexy. The most recognizable actress, for instance, is Italian sex bomb Lisa Gastoni. Now if you're sexually attracted to the "fourth formers", I'd say you have problems, but otherwise. . .

But I digress. These British comedies would get a lot more racy moving into the 70's, but they were rarely as funny as this one. This ranks with the best of the "Carry on" series (i.e. "Carry on Camping", "Carry on Spying") and should be a must-see for any British comedy fan.