Bottoms Up

This movie has stayed fondly in my memory since I saw it as a kid. The sight of a hoard of school kids destroying a platform that was meant to be used for a mass caning was unforgettable. I'm sure a lot of people would pay to see it again - where is an entrepreneur to convince the studio to release it on video or DVD?

Sadly neglected, this film proves to be one of the best of British comedies, with a superb script by Muir and Norden,based on their hit TV series "Whacko", that produces endless laughs from fine comic performances from Jimmy Edwards as the rascally headmaster ,from Arthur Howard as the put-upon "Mr Pettigrew" and from the rest of the supporting cast of British character actors and actresses. The battle by the headmaster to wring money out of the finances at Chiselbury School for his own hedonistic ends and at the same time bully,connive and cheat the pupils led by the wily "Wendover" gives rise to some classic comedy situations exploited to the full by the script and rich comic talents of Jimmy Edwards, who was born to play the outrageous headmaster. This film is home-grown British comedy at its best and is better than "The Belles of St.Trinian's" and "The Happiest Days of Your Life", other excellent comedy films based on school-life. Most films made from successful TV comedies have proven to be great disappointments, this film is the exception.

'If....' was a shameless plagiarism of 'Zero de Conduite', but Mario Zampi had already anticipated the anarchistic shenanigans of Anderson's film (aided and abetted by his regular collaborator Michael Pertwee, whose abrasive cynicism had already complemented Zampi's genial good humour on several previous occasions and who's script here manages to reference both Castro and the volatility of the Middle East) with far less conceit and self-regard in this big screen version of the TV series 'Wacko!'

Jimmy Edwards' venal and sadistic headmaster with a taste for corporal punishment was already a long-established comic figure in a tradition that extended back at least as far as Beachcomber's Narkover stories and the films of Will Hay (to whom the presence of Martita Hunt provides a direct visual link).

One of the most under - rated of 1950s British film comedies, 'Bottoms up', is a spin - off from the TV series 'Whacko', and an early example of the new fast developing genre, television, spawning a 90 minute offering for the cinema, the latter sadly in decline at the time.

'Bottoms up' must have delighted the beleaguered cinema goers of 1959, and is still a delight to watchers on DVD six decades later. The central characters are perfectly cast. 'Professor' Jimmy Edwards (an Oxbridge MA in real life) reprises his role of the blustering, cane - welding headmaster who only succeeds in whacking his Assistant Headmaster, the latter played to hapless, dithering perfection by Arthur Howard. Martita Hunt is the new Chair of Governors who threatens a 'regime change' unless there is a marked turn around in the school's fortunes, another memorable 'battle axe' performance by the screen's best Miss Havisham.

The plot is the hoary old chestnut of a foreign prince enrolling in the school, an idea lifted from 'The Belles of St Trinians', five years earlier (naturally a princess on that occasion). However, its treatment in this film is hilarious, Melvyn Hayes as a fake prince with a marked cockney accent, caped in oodles of brown face paint. Naturally, the real prince turns up!

In truth, the rather wobbly storyline doesn't really matter: a sparkling script (Muir and Norden much in evidence), extremely effective interactions of the characters, and first rate, highly authentic sets all contribute to an eminently watchable film. It's also a fascinating experience for imdb aficionados. Look out for future comedy great Richard Briers, as the new master, and take a good look at the 'leader' of the boys - yes, it really is Mitch Mitchell, legendary drummer for Jimi Hendrix, aged 12, sporting a short back and sides!

When this film was shown recently on TV there was an apologetic announcement before the start, to say that it contained some racist elements which would be frowned on today. Fortunately I wasn't put off. In fact the fake Arabian prince, who is in reality a Cockney, is a thieving little bully, while the real prince is polite and charming; how this is racist, I fail to understand. That apart, all I can say is that I laughed out loud all through the film, which is witty, entertaining and fast-paced, as well as an excellent showcase for Jimmy Edwards's comic talents and those of the rest of the cast. Strongly recommended.