Two Way Stretch

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This is a not particularly famous comedy starring Peter Sellers. It's rather sad that all Sellers is known for today, for the most part, are the Pink Panther movies, as he made many lovely small-time movies in the UK that are hardly ever seen in the United States. Most were made before the Panther movies and sadly, other than Panther films, most of what we do seem to see here are his lesser films from the 60s and 70s. Thankfully, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF FU MANCHU is seldom seen on American television (uggh). Unlike so many of these little films, however, Sellers plays a role that is relatively "normal"--without the odd accents or flamboyant acting. Instead, while a comedy, he plays his part of a prisoner rather straight. This isn't bad, however, as the film is a very low-key comedy and many of the supporting actors help out quite a bit with the comedy--particularly Lionel Jeffries, who plays a rather uptight guard. The film begins with Sellers and his buddies incarcerated in one of the worst prisons in the UK. Colonel Klink of "Hogan's Heroes" did a much better job of running a tight prison compared to the Governor (Maurice Denham)! Despite being a con-man and habitual crook, Sellers is made a trustee and practically every sort of vice occurs right under the guards' noses. In fact, it's so lax there that when an old partner (Wilfrid Hyde-White) of Sellers arrives (disguised as a minister), Sellers and his friends agree to sneak out of prison a day before their discharge to commit a crime and then sneak back--guaranteeing them the perfect alibi. All looks like it will go like clockwork until the head guard is replaced by a martinet played by Lionel Jeffries. They are ready to abandon their plans when they realize that they can get past Jeffries--it will just take a lot more patience and planning. There's a lot more to the film than this, but I don't want to spoil it. The bottom line is that the script is just lovely and it's no wonder that the film works so well. A nice little almost forgotten gem.

I first saw "Two Way Stretch" when I was about 8 years and it is still one of my favourite films. I don't understand the criticism that it is deja vu of Porridge when it came out more than a decade earlier but maybe I'm just not that bright. One point which interests me is that for all his abilities as a character actor mimic and impressionist Peter Sellars is far more believable and as Dodger Lane than he ever was as Inspector Clouseau, any of the Americans he ever played or anyone else with the possible exception of "Pearly" Gates in Wrong Arm of the Law. Is this because at heart actors - no matter how talented - are significantly better at characters and accents they grew up with. I've no doubt that Bob Hoskins would have done a workmanlike Al Capone in the Untouchables but how could a Londoner compare with New York Italian American Robert De Niro. Similarly Anthony Hopkins did a perfectly good Nixon but Jason Robards was Nixon. Would it have been better if Peter Sellars had stuck more to his roots playing Brits rather than trying to become the man of a thousand voices and increasingly artificial, self indulgent and boring in all of them?

(Small SPOILERS):Now why can't we Brits make films like this any more. Hilarious. Peter Sellers is a prison inmate and along with his 2 buddies they plan a robbery with the ultimate alibi; they break out of jail, do the deed and then slip back in before anyone's the wiser. At least, that was the theory. Lionel Jeffries plays a deliciously horrible "screw" and the whole caper is masterminded by Wilfred Hyde White (RIP) as "Soapie Stevens", a fake vicar. I don't want to give away any details which might spoil it, however, the scene where Chief Officer Crout finally recognises Soapie at the rail station is an absolute classic. No one in the history of cinema has EVER uttered "Cor Blimey" with more conviction :) I agree with what others have said, that this movie probably inspired the - equally wonderful - tv series Porridge, 14 years later. It's a shame that all the reviews of this film have come from British folks. I'd like to see what Americans make of it? Anyway, a lovely classic British comedy. Look out for Warren Mitchell in a small early role as the prison's slimey tailor. Who'd ever guess Alf Garnett was actually Jewish?

A trio of convicts, Dodger, Jelly and Lennie, get involved in a diamond heist with the ultimate alibi - they plan to break out of prison, nick the swag, and then break back in. However, their plans are given a serious setback when the kindly chief guard retires and is replaced by the pathologically meticulous Sidney "Sour" Crout ... This is a classic British comedy, with a fantastic script by John Warren and Len Heath. The central idea, the characters and the dialogue are all brilliant, as is the wonderful cast. Sellers is tremendous, at that perfect point in his career where he was totally focused but not yet overcome with international stardom, and Jeffries gives the quintessential ramrod-back, no-nonsense, bark-at-everything, British comedy authority figure ("Silence when you're talking to me !!" he screams at a prisoner). White, Cribbins and Handl are especially terrific - there's a lovely visiting-day scene where Handl is berating Cribbins for bringing the family name into disrepute by not attempting to escape more often. The movie is full of wonderful banter ("Close the window Lennie, there's a bit of a George Raft coming in."), and each sequence builds beautifully into a wonderful comedy heist picture. This film, which I always consider a companion piece to the equally brilliant The Wrong Arm Of The Law, represents the very best of British film comedy, nestling somewhere between Ealing and Monty Python. Magic.

I'm giving this ten out of ten, one, because it's so good, and two, because it doesn't get the appraisal it deserves! A bunch of crooks, already in the nick, plan the perfect alibi for a 'blag'. To break out, do the job and break in again is the plan of course,(especially as they're at the end of their sentences in a couple of weeks' time to enjoy the booty (diamonds)). Thinking they'll be aided indirectly by the laid back and naive George Woodbridge (The prison chief), he announces his retirement, so the boys have to think again, especially as he's replaced by the 'most vicious screw' Crout, played brilliantly by Lionel Jeffries. Peter Sellers, as 'Dodger' Lane, heads the gang aided well by both Dave ('Jelly Knight') Lodge and Bernard ('Lenny the Dip') Cribbins. The boys manage to still steal a march nonetheless helped along with the 'outside' work being done by Wilfrid Hyde-White (The excellent 'Soapy Stevens' posing as the boys' 'vicar'!), Liz Fraser and Irene Handl. The 'relaxed' attitude of the prison, run by the Governor, Maurice Denham,("Come in Chief, the door ain't locked"), plenty of ahead-of-the-time double-entendres (regarding the governor's marrow, for one!) all contribute for a really good old-fashioned British romp that set Sellers up for the king of comedy of this era. Plenty of laughs and very familiar supporting faces, including one from 'Jones' played by Mario Fabrizi who sadly committed suicide owing to not getting much work as an actor. Warren Mitchell also makes a small but worthwhile appearance. This really is worth keeping in your video/DVD collection and watching every now and then for a golden age of plot, script and character acting of the very best calibre!

I found this film hilarious when I first saw it on general release as a small boy, and if anything I find it even funnier now. This film is listed as an early Peter Sellars vehicle, but his fans should be warned that the great Lionel Jeffries steals every scene he is in, starring as the disciplinarian Chief Prison Officer Sidney Crout, "The most evil twisted screw that ever crept down a prison corridor". Great performances too from David Lodge, Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Irene Handl and Wilfred Hyde-White make this a real repertory ensemble production. And what a witty script. Definitely one of my top ten favourite films of all time (and I bet it didn't cost more than £25,000 to make). Edit How could I omit to mention the ravishing Liz Fraser? Funny and gorgeous!

An excellent film with well acted parts by all the actors, especially the supporting cast. Also an original ending to get around the UK Censor requirements of the day, that criminals can't be seen to profit from their crimes. Lionel Jeffries is excellent as the hard disciplined prison officer, who is eventually caught out by the criminals.

A trio of prisoners, aided by outsiders, plan and execute an elaborate escape plan from under the nose of militant prison guard (Jeffries) and the gardening fanatic warden (Denham). Sellers is superb as the mischievous Dodger, with David Lodge and bumbling Bernard Cribbins his cohorts on the inside. Criminal mastermind Soapy Stevens (Hyde-White) who engineered Sellers' incarceration is top of the wanted list, and Sellers is determined to get him his comeuppance. Also hilarious is Irene Handl and Liz Fraser as the 'girls', using their collective skills (brains and beauty, respectively) to aid and abet Sellers' escape plan. Jeffries is the real sleeper here; his comical, gestapo like prison captain, continually tortured by Sellers' antics, earns him the ire of the usually passive warden Maurice Denham (Denham more concerned with the quality and size of his garden produce than Jeffries' constant bleating about Sellers). The bane of his existence, Jeffries promises to catch Sellers out, but of course, he only ends up with egg on his face, again and again. Poor Lionel. Liz Fraser is a voluptuous beauty, and her thick cockney accent and dumb-blonde demeanour make her the ideal vice. Her knack for these type of parts earned her recurring roles in several "Carry On" films later in the sixties, a series that excelled at 'accentuating' her talents, you might say. The mercurial Bernard Cribbins, a relative newcomer in this picture, also had the good fortune to team up in a couple of "Carry On" films, as well as several other Sellers' vehicles. Not just a Sellers picture, all the cast succeed with their timing and delivery, but it's Lionel Jeffries who showed here his diverse ability to express humour, in addition to the straight roles he played throughout his long and distinguished career. Slapstick and farce, simple to enjoy, highly recommended.