Laughter in Paradise

source: Laughter in Paradise

Very enjoyable, especially when Sims is on screen. Here's an astonishing fact: Alistair Sim was nominated for one bafta, never won an award!!!! Was the world such a strange place then that this truly great comedic actor didn't win any awards?

This classic of comedy and drama stars Alastair Sim, the peerless character comedian, and Fay Compton, a versatile stage actor of considerable range. The Laughter coming from Paradise emanates from a recently deceased eccentric (madcap Hugh Griffith) who follows the efforts of his four competitive heirs, for all of whom he has set different but embarrassing tasks to perform to qualify for an inheritance. Alastair Sim and Fay Compton have the choicer roles. Alastair Sim's ludicrous dilemma leads into a bravura comic performance. His bewildered and peeved fiancée is played by the exceptional Joyce Grenfell. Fay Compton's unsympathetic character becomes an occasion for exquisite acting in this film. Young George Cole, one of Mr & Mrs Sim's real-life protégés, handled comedy nearly as deftly as the master, and Cole is still appearing in films 75 years after his celluloid debut. Cole's role as a sincere but insecure lad is the polar opposite of sly and suave Guy Middleton, the fourth of a quartet of prospective heirs. Kudos to supporting players Ernest Thesiger and Eleanor Summerfield. Audrey Hepburn made her English-language movie debut in this film as a cigarette girl in a supper club, and Anthony Steel, on the brink of becoming a star hunk, had a larger and romantic role. Laugher in Paradise defies genre. It offers character studies, by turn hilarious and poignant. An unqualified 10 from this fan

Hugh Griffith is rich British guy Henry Russell. He croaks and leaves his fortune to his family, if they can accomplish certain ironic tasks that they find repulsive. (Griffith was HILARIOUS in "Start the Revolution" in 1970!) Fay Compton had started in the silents and had a long career on stage and film... was in The Haunting. One of Audrey H's early films -- she was only about 22. Only has a small role as a cigarette girl in this one. A whole bunch of "siblings", British actors from way back, who are unfamiliar to most of us. A tad dry, but has a good, steady plot. We watch as the various stories unfold, with varying degrees of success. One just can't get arrested, no matter how hard he tries. Some twists at the end... some are successful in their tasks, some are not. It's entertaining at least. Kind of a precursor to "Easy Money", with Rodney Dangerfield, but this one has a different ending. Directed by Mario Zampi, who worked with writer Michael Pertwee on seven films! Pertwee had written the screenplay for the comedies "A Funny Thing Happened..." in 1966 and "Mouse on the Moon" ! On Turner Classics. Pretty Good !

When the film begins, an elderly man is dying...and he commits a prank on his way out of this world. But it's not his final prank...that comes in his will. When it's read to his four relatives, they're each told they'd receive 50,000 pounds...provided each do something odd and specifically tailored to them. His haughty sister is told that in order to collect, she must become a domestic and serve as one for a year. His cousin, the writer, must act out his dime novels...and get himself incarcerated for 28 days. His meek relative must hold up a bank with a fake gun...and his playboy cousin must marry the first woman with which he strikes up a conversation! And, all of these must be completed without telling anyone why they are doing it! What made this one especially good is that, for the most part, the folks all learned a positive lesson from all this and there were also a few laughs along the way. Worth seeing and clever.

Only saw 'Laughter in Paradise' recently with my godparents as the film of choice, chosen by me from their carefully chosen list of films for one of the evenings when staying with them. Due to being fascinated by the premise, who highly appreciates comedy (if more the older comedies than those now) and being someone who loves Alastair Sim. They love Sim as well so it suited all of us just fine with nobody objecting, not always the case in my family. Had no doubt that 'Laughter in Paradise' was going to be a great film. It absolutely was, to me one of the funniest and most likeable recent film viewings and a real pleasure to watch. Saw a lot of films from all genres and decades and while a lot were decent and more, there were others that were barely average and less. Having seen a lot of wastes of potential recently, where films mess up a good concept and do the talent involved no justice, part of me was starting to feel nervous when seeing a film that intrigued me. 'Laughter in Paradise' though was something of a refreshment. Will admit to guessing the outcome early on, but the film still executed the ending very well and it at least gelled with the zany premise. 'Laughter in Paradise' looks good though, the black and white photography being very pleasing on the eye and transitions from scene to scene are smooth enough. The music score matches the zany tone of the story and is suitably whimsical. The direction handles the different story strands seamlessly, managing to keep the pace energetic but never rushed throughout and making the storylines equally interesting. The script is very funny, with Sim agreed having the best lines, yet also manages some surprising pathos in Agnes' storyline. With Agnes progressing the most in a character change that is touching and sympathetically handled. Perhaps Simon's storyline comes off least, but only because there were funnier (and more of them) moments elsewhere and Agnes' especially had more heart. It is entertaining still though and suave Simon just about avoids being annoying. Although it was entertaining seeing George Cole going through lengths to rob a bank, it's Sim's scenes that brings out the most joy. Have never known any film character to go to prison willfully, while there have been few funnier shoplifting attempts scenes than in 'Laughter in Paradise', loved everything with the brick (and the dog in the car) too. Sim of course is fantastic, one doesn't expect any less though, and is the one that holds 'Laughter in Paradise' together. Fay Compton mixes unsympathetic and sympathetic quite touchingly, while George Cole's earnestness is appealing and Guy Middleton does suave very well. Joyce Grenfell, really liked her chemistry with Sim and her body language, and John Laurie, in full cantankerous mode, are hoots in their supporting roles. In conclusion, great fun. 9/10

Any film with Alastair Sim is worth watching, but this must rank as one of his best. Here he really displays his comic genius; his scenes can rightly be described as a masterclass in the art of comedy. Not before time, this has now become available on DVD, although, as yet, only part of a box set. Since Alastair Sim appears in the other films offered, this is not a great drawback. The other main characters in the film are also very good, particularly Fay Compton, and the supporting roles are filled well, with the always reliable Joyce Grenfell giving great satisfaction. The plot, too, is a cut above the usual, and it all adds up to a very satisfying experience, and one which I have watched many times, and hopefully will watch many more times.

Screenright Michael Pertwee and helmer Mario Zampi had two bites at the cherry some six years apart and now Talking Pictures have acquired both Laughter In Paradise (1951) and The Naked Truth (1957) and screen both every few weeks. What emerges from this is that Laughter In Paradise retains all its freshness and stands up far better than The Naked Truth (which, nevertheless) is still well worth seeing. As pedants have pointed out here on imdb the plot does nod to Brewster's Millions but if anyone DOES find something new under the sun perhaps they'd be kind enough to share it. The premise is both simple and effective and actually plays fair with the audience inasmuch as Hugh Griffith is identified as a celebrated practical joker from moment one so we shouldn't be surprised when - after bequeathing £50,000 each to four relatives on condition that each performs a bizarre task well out of his or her comfort zone, and they comply - he turns out to have spent the money before he died. The fun, of course, is watching how the legatees deal with the terms of the will. Well written, cast and directed there is still lots of pleasure to be extracted sixty-odd years later.

What a great British comedy. First of all it was cool to see Fay Compton from "The Hauting" and "Orson Welles' Otello" again. The script is original and very funny in a lighthearted and intelligent way and the actors are all just great. I liked the writer and his funny secretary best. His spouse was really funny, too and her character made me wonder what Hollywood would make out of it in a contemporary comedy: I guess they would turn her character into "a lesbian", you know, one of their silly clichés. This movie is so much better than those dumb primitive comedies Hollywood treats its viewers to! See it if you have the chance.

Hugh Griffith, a terribly rich prankster, dies and splits his fortune up between four of his relatives on the condition that they fulfill certain obligations. In general, they must disclose the elements of the will to no one. And then there are specific requirements for each beneficiary. Fay Compton, Griffith's cousin, is a prune-like, bitter woman who dominates her friends and excoriates her maid for slight infractions. Her job is to find work as a maid for one week without being fired. She winds up in the household of the cantankerous, bossy, hypochondriac John Laurie, who does a fine number on the fast-talking sadist. He was the Scottish farmer in "The 39 Steps" who asked, "Do ye eat the herring?" George Cole is the mousy bank teller who must don a mask and pretend to hold up a bank with a water pistol. Guy Middleton is the picaresque moocher and ladies' man who must marry the first woman he talks to after the reading of the will is complete. Alistair Sim, the survivor-in-chief, is a respectable retired Army captain who writes Mickey Spillane novels under various noms de plume in order to preserve his dignity. His job is to commit a crime that causes him to spend 28 days in prison. All four of the beneficiaries undergo complications of one sort or another. Some are funnier than others. Cole earns respect by accident at his bank. Compton's story is meant to be heartwarming. Middleton ends up the victim of a plot himself. All of them learn something about life and about themselves, and find their situations improved, despite the final prank of the great prankster. Sim's story is the funniest and he handles the comedy flawlessly. Like Charles Laughton in that O. Henry story, he can't seem to get himself into jail. His attempt at shop lifting is foiled when the expensive item he steals is stolen from him by pickpockets. The most amusing scene in the film is Sim's trial for breaking a window and bopping a cop with his umbrella. The magistrate turns out to be a friend of his and is reluctant to prosecute him. But Sim prods him mercilessly and offers no defense. Very well, he gets 14 days in the slams. That's not enough. He needs 28 days. So he calls his friend a pompous ass. The sympathetic magistrate becomes insulted and adds another 7 days. That's still only 21 -- not yet enough. Sim affirms his insult and adds that the judge isn't fit to conduct a bus let alone a courtroom trial. Boiled down like this, it probably sounds less amusing that it appears on screen. It's not hilarious. It's not a masterpiece of the sort that Ealing Studios were turning out in the 1950s. It shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as a side-splitting comedy like "The L_________s." But you'll find it diverting.