The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960)

The hellions of St. Trinians are recruited to a sheik's harem. Little does he know what he's letting himself in for.

Director:

Frank Launder

Writers:

Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder,

Stars:

Cecil Parker, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cecil Parker	...	Professor Canford
George Cole	...	'Flash' Harry Cuthbert Edwards
Joyce Grenfell	...	Sergeant Ruby Gates
Eric Barker	...	Culpepper-Brown
Thorley Walters	...	Butters
Irene Handl	...	Miss Harker-Parker
Dennis Price	...	Gore Blackwood
Sid James	...	Alphonse O'Reilly (as Sidney James)
Julie Alexander	...	Rosalie Dawn
Lloyd Lamble	...	Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird
Raymond Huntley	...	Judge
Nicholas Phipps	...	Major
Lisa Lee	...	Miss Brenner
John Le Mesurier	...	Minister of Education
George Benson	...	Defence Counsel

Storyline

When the school burns to the ground there's clearly been some arson around. The pupils are found guilty and the judge hands them into the care of a pretty dubious child psychiatrist. The sixth form are soon kidnapped and on their way to Arabia with the Ministry of Education, Barchester police, and an Army Bath Unit after them. But real rescue is at hand in the shape of Britain's finest fighting force - St. Trinian's fourth form.

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Plot Keywords:

school | sequel | schoolgirl | uniform | independent film

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1960 (UK)

Also Known As:

Satanades tou parthenagogeiou

Filming Locations:

Littleton House, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Lion Film Corporation, Hallmark Productions, Tudor Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shirley Anne Field and Judy Cornwell auditioned for schoolgirl parts.

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Connections

Followed by St Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

User Reviews

Badly Dated And Plot less

I can't claim to be an expert on THE ST TRINIAN series . I have some vague notion that it's about some hellcat girl pupils which in today's political climate would probably never been considered as a film series

Strangely enough the film starts with a liberal agenda after the pupils have burnt down their school and are shown compassion , but at this point the film deviates from what you'd expect . The title is THE PURE HELL OF ST TRINIANS right ? so why does the film then revolve around Flash Harry and a couple of other characters being stuck on a desert island with the naughty schoolgirls absent for most of the narrative . It's also difficult to work out what the plot is since the movie feels rather episodic . It is interesting to see foreign office types going to a city called Bahgdad with some of the comedy coming out of this situation but this makes the film feel even more dated than it already is

No doubt made for a British commercial market THE PURE HELL OF ST TRINIAN is something of a reminder of more innocent times but that's probably its only reason to watch as entertainment in 2005 . Compare this with the CARRY ON films of the early 1960s and see what series has aged better