Blue Murder at St. Trinian's

Gap-toothed bounder Terry Thomas joins in the fun for this second cinematic outing for the troublesome girls of St. Trinian's. Thomas plays supreme bounder Capt. Romney Carlton-Ricketts, owner of the (clapped out) buses hired by the infamous girl's school to transport its pupils to Rome, where the sexiest of the sixth-formers have a date with wealthy Italian Prince Bruno (Guido Lorraine), as arranged by the marriage bureau run by cheeky spiv Flash Harry (George Cole).

Also along for the trip is Sgt. Ruby Gates (Joyce Grenfell), working undercover to try and catch elusive diamond thief Joe Mangan (Lionel Jeffries), who has disguised himself as Dame Maud Hackshaw, the new headmistress of St. Trinian's (it wouldn't be a British comedy without cross-dressing).

It's a slow start and Thomas doesn't show up until midway, when the girls finally set off for Rome, at which point the film definitely picks up in terms of laughs and uproarious fun. After brief visits to several other countries (the most enjoyable involving the St. Trinian's school band playing a swinging tune at a Mozart festival), the unruly mob arrive in Rome, and the hunt is on for Joe's swag (now hidden inside a water polo ball), the reward for which is £10,000.

With lots of knockabout comedy performed by a great cast (Hammer regular Michael Ripper and Carry On star Terry Scott also make an appearance), plus plenty of sexy sixth-formers in stockings and suspenders (the more shapely students are all of legal age, so don't feel bad for leering), Blue Murder is another very enjoyable, very British St. Trinian's caper.

This follow-up comedy to "The Belles of St. Trinian's" is not too bad, considering that most sequels aren't usually too good. It is a good thing that Terry Thomas is given "leading man" status as he was an effective lead. Alastair Sim reprised his role of Miss Fritton from the previous film and only has a few minutes of screen time. For those who know the plot, the girls of that notorious school manage to con their way into going on an exchange trip to Italy. Once there, the usual shenanigans result. Lionel Jefferies does well as the convicted father of one of the schoolgirls. George Cole and Joyce Grenfell reprise their respective roles and it's good to see them. The laughs are a bit thin but the cast make this one worth the viewing.

This sequel is even better than the original notwithstanding the fact that Alistair Sim only makes a cameo appearance or that they use the jewels in the ball gag which was used 20years earlier in Boys Will Be Boys.A great cast including Terry Thomas and Joyce Grenfell.The water polo climax is a hoot.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Blue Murder At St Trinians. Before we get into it, here are my ratings:

Story - 1.25 Direction - 1.25 Pace - 1.50 Acting - 1.25 Enjoyment - 1.50

TOTAL - 6.75 out of 10

Though this romp isn't as satirical as previous and subsequent movies in the series, it still pulled a laugh a three from me: This was chiefly to do with the sight gags.

Blue Murder is a misleading title. There is no real outcry to speak of - not enough to warrant it being in the title, and nor is there a murder. A more apt epithet would be A Marriage At St. Trinians. As expected, the plot calls for the girls to get into loads of joyful trouble, which they do with wicked merriment. There's a Prince in Italy who is interested in some of the girls in the St Trinians Mariage Bureau. But for Flash to get them there before the deadline, the girls must win a schools contest, which they've already taken. Before the results are marked, the girls break into the Department of Education and swap out their answers for the correct ones, which leads to a terrific ongoing skit about council workers and their preference for a cuppa. Once the results are in, the girls are off to Europe, finishing in Italy. Throw into the mix a bank robber who's committed a jewellery heist and has decided to hide out at his daughter's school - St Trinians. Gilliat and Launder weave these elements into a rollicking good time.

Launder and the team even come up with some superb sequences. The best of which is the switching of the headmistress. In order for the Jewel thief to remain hidden, the girls dress him as the headmistress. When the real head arrives, the young ladies give her a resounding welcome. They sing the school song and parade her through the school and up towards her room. However, halfway up the stairs, a secret panel opens and the head is butterfly-netted away into the shadows. A couple of seconds later, the hellions responsible come from the opening and start singing as the disguised crook is escorted downstairs. The swap is complete. Next, we see the headmistress tied to a chair and hoisted upwards into the belfry. Brilliantly structured and executed. Such lovely fun.

Comedy is not always about the jokes, it's about their delivery and timing. Launder is a master at filming sight gags, while the cast proves they are just as skilled at vocal and slapstick delivery. Once again, we have a team of actors and actresses that cannot be faulted. Everyone who reprises their roles are just as crisp and fresh as in their first outing. It's also charming to see Alister Sim reprise his role as Miss Fritton, if even for a short time. Sim always makes me smile. Lionel Jefferies is awesome as the thief on the run. And Terry Thomas is Terry Thomas - hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Should you want an hour or so of fun and high-jinx then Blue Murder at St Trinians is a worthy watch. And luckily, the BBC have it on IPlayer along with The Pure Hell Of St Trinians, April-2022. I would happily recommend the original St Trinians film series. They never fail to put a smile on my face.

Please feel free to visit my Just For Laughs list to see where I ranked Blue Murder At St Trinians.

Take Care & Stay Well.

In the days before political correctness reared its ugly head, boys were boys and girls and girls, and ne'er the twain should meet - except for St. Trinian's where small girls were boys, at least in their behaviour, and large girls were rather pretty, in Sabrina's case voluptuous. The main characters were all well drawn with a splendid supporting cast and all very British. Alastair Sim was perfect as the headmistress, George Cole was the Cockney geezer, Joyce Grenfell the ever spurned policewoman while Eric Barker as Culpepper Brown and Richard Wattis as Bassett were truly superb archetypal education ministers. As for Terry-Thomas - well? Even a coach driver could be posh in those days! Stiff upper lip what, even with St. Trinian's on board. All good clean fun which had family audiences flocking to the local cinema. What a pity they don't show films like this any more on television because they beat the modern rubbish hollow for entertainment value.