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	...	Capt. Romney Carlton-Ricketts (as Terry Thomas)
George Cole	...	'Flash' Harry
Joyce Grenfell	...	Sgt. 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:

italy | headmistress | jewel theft | playboy | army unit | 

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Taglines:

A NEW mad comedy

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1957 (UK)

Also Known As:

Fric-Fracs à gogo

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Harvel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75: 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alastair Sim (Miss Fritton) appears in two scenes and has only five lines.

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Goofs

In The Belles of St. Trinian's, the headmistress is Miss Millicent Fritton, whereas in this film her name is Miss Amelia Fritton, despite being the same character and being played by the same actor.

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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 St. Trinian's (2007)

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Soundtracks

Rock an' Roll
(uncredited)
Music by Dave Shand

User Reviews

Excellent family entertainment

In the days before political correctness reared its ugly head, boys were boys and girls and girls, and ne'er the twain should meet - except for St. Trinian's where small girls were boys, at least in their behaviour, and large girls were rather pretty, in Sabrina's case voluptuous. The main characters were all well drawn with a splendid supporting cast and all very British. Alastair Sim was perfect as the headmistress, George Cole was the Cockney geezer, Joyce Grenfell the ever spurned policewoman while Eric Barker as Culpepper Brown and Richard Wattis as Bassett were truly superb archetypal education ministers. As for Terry-Thomas - well? Even a coach driver could be posh in those days! Stiff upper lip what, even with St. Trinian's on board. All good clean fun which had family audiences flocking to the local cinema. What a pity they don't show films like this any more on television because they beat the modern rubbish hollow for entertainment value.