The Wrong Box (1966)

In Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other... or can be made to have seemed to do so!

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (suggested by a novel by), Lloyd Osbourne (suggested by a novel by),

Stars:

Jeremy Lloyd, John Mills, Michael Caine

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Lloyd	...	Brian Allen Harvey
James Villiers	...	Sydney Whitcombe Sykes
Graham Stark	...	Ian Scott Fife
Nicholas Parsons	...	Alan Frazer Scrope
Willoughby Goddard	...	James Whyte Wragg
Valentine Dyall	...	Oliver Pike Harmsworth
Leonard Rossiter	...	Vyvyan Alistair Montague
Hamilton Dyce	...	Derek Lloyd Peter Digby
Hilton Edwards	...	Lawyer
Timothy Bateson	...	Clerk
Donald Oliver	...	Gunner Sergeant
Totti Truman Taylor	...	Lady at Launching
Jeremy Roughton	...	Bugler
Frank Singuineau	...	Native Bearer
Michael Lees	...	Young Digby

Storyline

A tontine is established for a dozen children, a tontine being a kind of bet/insurance, money is put in for each to grow with interest and the last survivor is to get the lot. We watch the group dwindle until only two brothers are left. One brother is watched by his nephews who will keep him alive at all costs, the other lives in ill health and poverty as the only support of his fairly stupid grandson. Statues and bodies are switched, in the wrong boxes until everyone is sure someone has died. Now if they can only make it seem as if the other brother died first, hundreds of thousands of pounds (in Victorian England when a pound was a pound) will be theirs.

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Plot Keywords:

tontine | queen of england | canon | ornithologist | wooden barrel | 

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Taglines:

Virtuous maidens...cunning cousins...dastardly deeds...bodies in barrels...and boxes and boxes of boxes!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Swahili

Release Date:

4 July 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

13.000.000 dollaria zitoun klironomo

Filming Locations:

Englefield Green, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Salamander Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patrick Cargill was cut out of this film

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Goofs

Just before the train crash you can see the smoke and steam going back into the engines, signifying the trains were in reverse and the film played backwards.

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Quotes

Detective: [barging into a funeral] Alright, come on, come on, what's going on, what is it, come on, come on!
Clergyman: Please, sir, I beg of you. There's a dead man here!
Detective: Alright, no one move!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are divided into sections, each preceded by an explanatory phrase as follows: for cast positions 1-9 "members of the tontine who came to untimely ends (in order of disappearance)"; for positions 10-17 "assisted by"; for positions 18-24 "The Finsbury Households"; for positions 25-53 "rest of cast in order of appearance"

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Connections

References Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

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Soundtracks

"Minuet in G"
(uncredited)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Played briefly on piano by Nanette Newman

User Reviews

Timeless English comedy, superbly done.

Little known in the United States, THE WRONG BOX is an absolute must-see for serious students of comedy. The plot revolves around a tontine, a lottery established by the well-heeled fathers of a class of English schoolboys, the proceeds to be awarded after many years to the last surviving member of the class. The story picks up at the point where only two of the classmates are still alive: the brothers Masterman and Joseph Finsbury, who rather detest one another. The plot is full of Finsburys, all of whom want one or the other to die first so they can get a piece of the loot.

Bryan Forbes's direction is first rate, visually exquisite, and even though the convoluted plot is a bit slow to get started, nicely paced. Forbes has a notable cast of experienced actors, and he gives them free reign to perform comedy as only the British can do. The climax chase comes to a head at exactly the right time and is hilarious, the more so because it is marvelously unforced. The actors involved give the impression they're delighted to be in the film, as they should be.

THE WRONG BOX is one of Michael Caine's earlier films and he performs creditably, and Peter Sellers shines in an excellent bit part. Nevertheless, my hat goes off to three other actors who give the performance of their careers: Ralph Richardson, as the quintessential pedant Joseph Finsbury, the world's most boring narcissist; Peter Cook, as Joseph's incessantly scheming nephew who wants to see his uncle die a few seconds after Masterman croaks; and most especially, Wilfrid Lawson as the wondrously torpid Peacock, Masterman's dignified but disheveled butler whose peculiar grunts and malapropisms remain fresh with every viewing of the film. I would put Lawson's performance on a par with Humphrey Bogart's in THE CAINE MUTINY or Fred MacMurray's in DOUBLE INDEMNITY -- it is truly that good.

THE WRONG BOX ranks on a par with THE LIFE OF BRIAN as one of the finest British comedies ever. Enjoy it!