The Wrong Box (1966)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (suggested by a novel by) and
Lloyd Osbourne (suggested by a novel by) ...

Release Date:

4 July 1966 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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!

Plot Keywords:

Tontine | Brass Bed | Reward | Funeral Dirge | Tuba

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Jeremy Lloyd	...	Brian Allen Harvey
James Villiers	...	Sydney Whitcombe Sykes
Graham Stark	...	Ian Scott Fife
Richard Gregory	...	Leicester Young Fielding (as Dick Gregory)
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

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Swahili

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U | USA:Approved | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Englefield Green, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Salamander Film Productions

Trivia:

Peter Cook's wife, Wendy was nine months pregnant when filming began. Director Bryan Forbes promised them that he would let Peter leave the set as soon as Wendy went into labor. He kept his word and Peter made it to the hospital just in time for the birth of his daughter, Daisy. Forbes, Dudley Moore, Michael Caine and Peter Sellers filled his dressing room with flowers and champagne in celebration of Daisy's birth when he returned to work.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The Union Flag planted by Graham Stark's mountaineer "In the name of the Queen" is upside down.

Quotes:

[Recounting the railway accident]
Joseph Finsbury: I was in the water closet of the Bournemouth express when it quite unaccountably exploded, thereby extensively damaging the rest of the train. I can't really think that I was to blame, although at the time I was smoking.

Movie Connections:

References Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Soundtrack:

A Bird in a Gilded Cage

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!