I'm All Right Jack (1959)

Director:

John Boulting

Writers:

Alan Hackney (novel)
Frank Harvey (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 April 1960 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Three of England's Top Comedians...One Big Laugh Riot!

Plot:

A naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labour union.

Plot Keywords:

Union | Strike | Factory | Bribery | Nudist Camp

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ian Carmichael	...	Stanley Windrush
Terry-Thomas	...	Major Hitchcock
Peter Sellers	...	Fred Kite / Sir John Kennaway
Richard Attenborough	...	Sidney De Vere Cox
Dennis Price	...	Bertram Tracepurcel
Margaret Rutherford	...	Aunt Dolly
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Kite
Liz Fraser	...	Cynthia Kite
Miles Malleson	...	Windrush Snr.
Marne Maitland	...	Mr. Mohammed
John Le Mesurier	...	Waters
Raymond Huntley	...	Magistrate
Victor Maddern	...	Knowles
Kenneth Griffith	...	Dai
Fred Griffiths	...	Charlie
Donal Donnelly	...	Perce Carter
John Comer	...	Shop Steward
Sam Kydd	...	Shop Steward
Cardew Robinson	...	Shop Steward
Tony Comer	...	Shop Steward
Bruce Wightman	...	Shop Steward
Bill Rayment	...	Shop Steward (as Billy Rayment)
Ronnie Stevens	...	Hooper
Martin Boddey	...	Num Yum's Executive
Brian Oulton	...	Appts. Board Examiner
Malcolm Muggeridge	...	T.V. Panel Chairman
John Glyn-Jones	...	Detto Executive
Pauline Winter	...	Miss Forsdyke
Maurice Colbourne	...	Missiles Director
Jeremy White	...	Young Chemist
Robin Ray	...	Young Chemist
Michael Bates	...	Bootle
John Van Eyssen	...	Reporter
Robert Bruce	...	Reporter
Michael Ward	...	Reporter
Stringer Davis	...	Reporter
Tony Spear	...	Reporter
Arthur Skinner	...	Photographer
William Dexter	...	Photographer (as William Peacock)
Eynon Evans	...	Truscott
Esma Cannon	...	Spencer
Robert S. Young	...	Owens (as Robert Young)
Roy Purcell	...	Police Inspector
Marianne Stone	...	T.V. Receptionist
Terry Scott	...	Crawley
Marion Shaw	...	Tea Girl
Wally Patch	...	Workman
Alun Owen	...	T.V. Producer
Muriel Young	...	T.V. Announcer
Frank Phillips	...	B.B.C. Announcer
Ian Wilson	...	Evangelist
Margaret Lacey	...	Empire Loyalist
George Selway	...	Union Jack Workman
Alan Wilson	...	Union Jack Workman
David Lodge	...	Card Player
Keith Smith	...	Card Player
Kenneth J. Warren	...	Card Player (as Kenneth Warren)
Basil Dignam	...	Minister of Labour
Harry Locke	...	Trade Union Official
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
E.V.H. Emmett	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
John Leyton	...	Recruit to Detto (uncredited)

Directed by
John Boulting

Writing credits
Alan Hackney		(novel "Private Life")
Frank Harvey		(screenplay) &
John Boulting		(screenplay) and
Alan Hackney		(screenplay)

Produced by
Roy Boulting	....	producer

Original Music by
Ken Hare		(music composed by)

Cinematography by
Mutz Greenbaum		(director of photography) (as Max Greene)

Film Editing by
Anthony Harvey

Art Direction by
William C. Andrews		(as Bill Andrews)

Makeup Department
David Aylott	....	makeup artist (as Dave Aylott)
Barbara Ritchie	....	hair stylist
Eric Allwright	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Adrian D. Worker	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Shipway	....	assistant director
Denis Johnson Jr.	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Julian Mackintosh	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Hutchinson	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Peter James	....	set dresser (uncredited)
James Sawyer	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
A.J. Van Montagu	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Tony Woollard	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Chris Greenham	....	sound editor
Red Law	....	sound recordist
George Stephenson	....	sound recordist
Jack Davies	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Allwork	....	camera operator
John Jordan	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Laurie Ridley	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Jack Sullivan	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
Trevor Wrenn	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John McCorry	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Poyner	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	music arranger
Ron Goodwin	....	music director

Other crew
Olga Brook	....	continuity (as Olga Brooke)
David Ffolkes	....	title designer (uncredited)
Michael ffolkes	....	titles (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Charter Film Productions

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1959) (UK) (theatrical)
• Lion International Films (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Bravo! Television (2008) (Canada) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1989) (UK) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Charter Film Productions

Trivia:

When Mrs Kite and Cynthia are reading the newspaper reports about the strike, Mrs Kite briefly turns a paper over while setting it down. The bottom half is blank - the prop papers were made up only on the side that would be seen in the shot.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Dennis Price, properly noted in the closing credits for his role as Bertram Tracepurcel, has his given name spelled with only one "n" (Denis) in the opening credits.

Quotes:

[talking about Windrush]
Major Hitchcock:He's a new man. He hasn't got used to the natural rhythm of the other workers.
Waters:What you call their natural rhythm of work is neither natural, rhythmic, or anything very much to do with work.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Pink Panther Story (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Land of Hope and Glory

Benchmark British satire

Along with Alexander Mackendrick's "The Man in the White Suit," this is THE great satire of management-labor relations: less allegorical and more cheerfully crass. In a way this movie seems like a sort of crossroads in British comedy, poised between the warmer eccentricities of the Ealing films and and the screw-'em-all pop irreverence of the rising New Wave.

These days the film seems to be primarily remembered for Peter Sellers' magnificent caricature of socialist sanctimony, Fred Kite, but the whole gallery of players, many reprising roles from the earlier "Private's Progress," is excellent. Carmichael, all inane, wild-eyed grins, is Woosterish as ever as the brainless but well-intentioned Windrush. Terry-Thomas produces a very funny sketch of middle-class middle management. It's a perfect picture of lazy hypocrisy: the man who settles into a do-nothing job, knowing exactly how awful it is but not caring so long as he gets through the day. He had a face made for contempt; watching his mustache curl as he reads an entry in the workers' suggestion box ("Filthy beast," he mutters, as he tucks it away in a pocket) or as he picks his way through the rubbish of Kite's wifeless home is a joy. Price and Attenborough are, as always, first-class rotters, the iciest of the moneyed class, and Handl, Le Mesurier and Rutherford add vividly funny moments. As the war over Windrush expands from workplace to societal to domestic spheres, watching the various characters bounce and interact provides some of the movie's best-observed moments, such as the brief tea scene between Rutherford and Handl, who, though inhabiting utterly different worlds, seem to interact perfectly in mutual obliviousness.

And there is Sellers, of course, pitch-perfect whether marching around the factory like the lead float in a parade or rhapsodizing about Russia or going hilariously blank on live television. It's memorable work that might overbalance the movie's double-edged attack if it weren't human enough to be sympathetic as well.

All in all, silly, clever, raucous fun.