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:

John Mills, Michael Caine, Ralph Richardson

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Mills	...	Masterman Finsbury
Ralph Richardson	...	Joseph Finsbury
Michael Caine	...	Michael Finsbury
Peter Cook	...	Morris Finsbury
Dudley Moore	...	John Finsbury
Nanette Newman	...	Julia Finsbury
Tony Hancock	...	Detective
Peter Sellers	...	Doctor Pratt
Cicely Courtneidge	...	Major Martha
Wilfrid Lawson	...	Peacock - the Butler
Thorley Walters	...	Lawyer Patience
Gerald Sim	...	1st Undertaker
Peter Graves	...	Military Officer
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Hackett
Norman Bird	...	Clergyman

Storyline

A tontine is established for twenty boys in 1818 England, a tontine being a kind of insurance wager in which money is invested by each participant, to grow with interest, with the last survivor to get the substantial payout. We watch the group dwindle until only two elderly brothers are left in 1882. 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 perpetually confused grandson. Statues and bodies are switched, in the wrong boxes, until everyone is sure that one (or both) of the brothers has died. Now if they can only make it seem as if the other brother died first, over a hundred thousand pounds (in Victorian England, when a pound was a pound) will be theirs.

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Plot Keywords:

tontine | falling into an open grave | wooden crate | wooden barrel | steam locomotive | 

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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 | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Swahili

Release Date:

1 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

Tony Hancock: As a detective.

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Goofs

In the aftermath of the train wreck scene, the background sounds (i.e., muttering and exclamatory crowd noises) are "looped" mercilessly, the same few seconds of "babble" are repeated at least ten or fifteen times in a few minutes.

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Quotes

Morris Finsbury: Now what we need is a venal doctor.
John Finsbury: But - Uncle Joseph's dead! It's too late!
Morris Finsbury: Not for him, for us! Now, you remember that chambermaid you got into... um...
John Finsbury: ...thing.
Morris Finsbury: Thing. Who was the doctor who did the, um...
John Finsbury: ...thing. Uh, Pratt, Dr. Pratt.
Morris Finsbury: Was he venal?
John Finsbury: I - I didn't like to ask.
Morris Finsbury: Well, did he do the...
John Finsbury: ...thing. Yes.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

"Certain funeral & military airs played by Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Temperance Seven who actually number eight"

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Connections

References Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

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Soundtracks

A Bird in a Gilded Cage
(1900) (uncredited)
Music by Harry von Tilzer
In the score for Michael and Julia's kissing scenes

User Reviews

See it for Peacock

There are many reasons to enjoy this film. It is a catalogue of English comic and serious actors, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore not the least among them. But this show belongs to the bit players. Wilfrid Lawson as Peacock is superb. I hope he garnered enough attention from this role to cap off his career. Bit and character players are a special breed.

The film is vaguely psychedelic. The art nouveau lettering on title cards fits in with the Haight Ashbury tone of the times. The plot is solid and humorous throughout yet it depends on the basic slapstick for its conclusion.

Well-written, well-acted, well-directed, well-conceived. A treat.