Sailor Beware (1956)
Directed by Gordon Parry

Comedy

aka: Panic in the Parlor

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Sailor Beware (1956)

More a depressing sociological document than an enduring piece of film entertainment, Sailor Beware typifies the anodyne lowbrow fare that was popular with British cinema audiences in the 1950s (although today the appeal of such films is totally mystifying). It was based on a successful West End stage play of the same name which brought instant fame to an unknown character actress, Peggy Mount. The film's remarkable performance at the box office made Mount an overnight national star, although she was immediately typecast her for the rest of her career in one kind of role, that of the unsympathetic, cantankerous old battleaxe. Mount is what they call an acquired taste, although some consider her an instrument of torture.

The popular television 1960s sitcom George and the Dragon, in which the blood-spitting Mount starred opposite Sid James, was a virtual spin-off of Sailor Beware, and the character she played in the long-running sitcom You're Only Young Twice is clearly a close relation of Emma Hornett, with the put-upon Esma Cannon replaced by Pat Coombs. Despite being almost as dated as the Dead Sea Scrolls (and only marginally funnier), Sailor Beware has a certain charm on account of its blithe political incorrectness, although Peggy Mount's relentless, take-no-prisoners tirades soon become tiring and ever-so-slightly nerve-racking. Watch very closely and you may just catch a fleeting glimpse of Michael Caine in one of his first film appearances.

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Film Synopsis

When able-bodied seaman Albert Tufnell lands in England, with his chum Carnoustie Bligh, he hopes to combine shore leave with a spot of marriage. His intended is Shirley, the attractive daughter of fastidious, overbearing housewife Emma Hornett. Just when everything appears to be going so well, the groom makes an alarming discovery: his prospective mother-in-law has put down a deposit on a house just a few doors from her own. On the day of the wedding, Albert fails to turn up at the church...

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Film Credits

Director: Gordon Parry
Script: Falkland L. Cary, Philip King
Cinematographer: Douglas Slocombe
Music: Peter Akister
Cast: Peggy Mount (Emma Hornett), Shirley Eaton (Shirley Hornett), Ronald Lewis (Albert Tufnell), Cyril Smith (Henry Hornett), Esma Cannon (Edie Hornett), Gordon Jackson (Carnoustie Bligh), Geoffrey Keen (Rev. Mr. Purefoy), Joy Webster (Daphne Pink), Thora Hird (Mrs. Lack), Eliot Makeham (Uncle Brummell), Fred Griffiths (Taxi Driver), Edie Martin (Little Woman in Church), Margaret Moore (Little Girl), Barbara Hicks (Little Girl's Mother), George Rose (Waiter at Banfield's), Frank Atkinson (Chauffeur), Alfie Bass (Organist), Richard Beynon (Bearded Sailor), Douglas Blackwell (Co-op Man), Michael Caine (Sailor)
Country: UK
Language: English
Support: Black and White
Runtime: 81 min
Aka: Panic in the Parlor

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