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A Coming-Out Party

Original title: Very Important Person
  • 1961
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
656
YOUR RATING
A Coming-Out Party (1961)
ComedyWar

A somewhat happy-go-lucky bunch of Brits in a German POW camp find their new acerbic fellow prisoner is a key officer who must be got out at all cost.A somewhat happy-go-lucky bunch of Brits in a German POW camp find their new acerbic fellow prisoner is a key officer who must be got out at all cost.A somewhat happy-go-lucky bunch of Brits in a German POW camp find their new acerbic fellow prisoner is a key officer who must be got out at all cost.

  • Director
    • Ken Annakin
  • Writers
    • Jack Davies
    • Henry Blyth
    • John Foley
  • Stars
    • James Robertson Justice
    • Leslie Phillips
    • Stanley Baxter
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    656
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ken Annakin
    • Writers
      • Jack Davies
      • Henry Blyth
      • John Foley
    • Stars
      • James Robertson Justice
      • Leslie Phillips
      • Stanley Baxter
    • 21User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos26

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    Top cast63

    Edit
    James Robertson Justice
    James Robertson Justice
    • Sir Ernest Pease KBE FRS…
    Leslie Phillips
    Leslie Phillips
    • Flying Officer Jimmy Cooper DFC
    Stanley Baxter
    Stanley Baxter
    • 'Jock' Everett…
    Eric Sykes
    Eric Sykes
    • Willoughby, Sports Officer
    Richard Wattis
    Richard Wattis
    • Woodcock, Entertainments Officer
    Godfrey Winn
    • Self
    Colin Gordon
    Colin Gordon
    • Briggs
    John Le Mesurier
    John Le Mesurier
    • Piggott, Escape Officer
    Norman Bird
    Norman Bird
    • Travers, Senior British Officer
    Jeremy Lloyd
    Jeremy Lloyd
    • Flt Lt. 'Bonzo' Baines DFC
    John Forrest
    • 'Grassy' Green
    Jean Cadell
    Jean Cadell
    • Lady Telling Story on TV show - Opening Scene
    Peter Myers
    Peter Myers
    • P…
    Ronnie Stevens
    Ronnie Stevens
    • Hankley
    Ronald Leigh-Hunt
    Ronald Leigh-Hunt
    • Clynes
    • (as Ronald Leigh Hunt)
    Steve Plytas
    Steve Plytas
    • Luftwaffe Officer
    John Ringham
    John Ringham
    • P…
    Mark Hardy
    • Director
      • Ken Annakin
    • Writers
      • Jack Davies
      • Henry Blyth
      • John Foley
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews21

    6.7656
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    10

    Featured reviews

    6Libretio

    Light-hearted comedy-drama, with excellent cast

    VERY IMPORTANT PERSON

    (USA: Coming-Out Party)

    Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

    Sound format: Mono

    (Black and white)

    Internees at a German POW camp plot the escape of a high-ranking British scientist (James Robertson Justice) who has fallen into enemy hands.

    Entertaining mixture of comedy and drama, directed with cut-throat efficiency by Ken Annakin (later responsible for blockbusters like BATTLE OF THE BULGE and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG), and headlined by some of the most popular names in contemporary British cinema, including Leslie Phillips and Jeremy Lloyd as upper-class comic relief, and Stanley Baxter playing dual roles as a temperamental Scottish prisoner and an unpleasant Nazi officer (when the German calls him a 'British swine', Baxter retorts with haughty pride: "SCOTTISH swine!"). Robertson is at his most gruff and lovable here, initially appalled by the company he's forced to keep in the POW camp, then quietly appreciative of the lengths these 'idiots' will go to secure his safety. The tone is pretty low-key, which means the film isn't always as funny or as suspenseful as it could have been, but it's a hugely enjoyable treat nonetheless. Eric Sykes, Richard Wattis and John Le Mesurier are featured in supporting roles.
    7hitchcockthelegend

    It's the crackpot Great Escape.

    Sir Ernest Pease is sucked out of an aeroplane and captured by the Germans, and promptly interred at a POW camp. Naturally he refuses to give the Germans any information, and carrying his surly approach into his bunking quarters doesn't endear him to his fellow prisoners. But word comes thru from the hierarchy that Pease is so important on account of his scientific knowledge, he must escape at all costs. Thus this odd group of people must unite to get the old curmudgeon free.

    Written by the men behind some of Norman Wisdom's most well known offerings {Henry Blyth & Jack Davies} and starring such British comedy luminaries like James Robertson Justice, Leslie "Hello" Phillips, Stanley Baxter, John Le Mesurier and Eric Sykes. Well it isn't rocket science to work out what type of film you are in for. Competently made at Beaconsfield Studio for Independent Artists,Very Important Person is practically a goofy version of the Great Escape {made two years later I hasten to add}. The Germans are of course portrayed as clueless dunderheads, and the British prisoners get by with a stiff upper lip and using humour as ultra sharp defence mechanisms.

    So nothing new here for those that have sat thru many a 50s and 60s British war comedy, but the cast and writing is so engaging it's easy to forgive the familiarity of it all. Carried easily by the broad presence of James R Justice as Pease {fans of the Doctor franchise will love him here}, it's a film that knows it's a simple piece. It exists purely to induce a giggle, maybe even stir a bit of pride, and with its ending-actually has something to say as regards its main character. It's real light stuff that isn't the least bit dramatic {as some on line reviewers have suggested}, kind of like like a light wafer biscuit, you know it's a snack and that's really all you need to make you temporarily fulfilled. 6.5/10
    7intelearts

    478th Review: James Robertson Justice: curmudgeon at its best

    Very Important Person is a well-written, and enjoyable British comedy that really belongs with other classic 1950s films. 1935 - 1962s British Comedies are my absolutely favourite genre as they hold their charm and wit even now and Very Important Person has a great deal of the essentially British humour in tough straights.

    The plot of the genius scientist - JRJ - who ends up in a POW camp and must escape at all costs is a good vehicle to hang some nice character acting from Stanley Baxter and let Leslie Philips do his bounder at play act.

    There are a ton of recognisable faces from John Le Mesurier to Eric Sykes, and the terrific part actor Richard Wattis, who everyone in Britain would recognise but few can name, all making the time fly by to perfection.

    Above all, there's James Robertson Justice. Justice ironically nearly always played characters that looked and sounded true Tory but was the child of two of Britain's better Socialists (They did a lot in educational reform). He, himself, stood for parliament in Scotland as a Labour MP. Thank goodness he lost! His curmudgeon, which he had already perfected as Sir Lancelott Spratt in the Doctor series, is at its best here; he takes rude to a comic art form - and we love him for it.

    Ken Annakin directs, and given that his list include Battle of the Bulge and Those Magnificent Men in their FLying Machines and Monte Carlo or Bust you know you're in excellent hands.

    All in all, this is very reminiscent in style to The Wooden Horse but with laughs, a classic of its style and one that will still bring a wry smile to the face.
    8Spondonman

    Tickety-boo

    Avoid the book of the same name clumsily written by John Foley if you ever see it, based on the film's screenplay by Jack Davies. The main thing here is that the film was a showcase for the mammoth personality of James Robertson Justice, it would be virtually nothing with someone else in his role of frosty crusty portly professor. The book is nothing without him; get the DVD.

    In WW2 acidic high-up professor (JRJ) has to get into Nazi-occupied Europe to try out some scientific experiment but gets captured and sent to a POW camp in Germany to his disgust. Then he has to get out again with the help of his room-mates who eventually discover just how important he is – to Winnie in London at least. A lot of old British actors were paraded here, but particularly manic Stanley Baxter (x2), lascivious Leslie Phillips and poncey Jeremy Lloyd, all making for a comfortable familiar ride. JRJ surpassed himself, evincing stoical but disdainful contempt for everyone British or German and his surroundings, barking orders to all lesser mortals and generally displaying an organisational brainpower not usually found this side of Mount Olympus. Favourite bits: Phillips immortal impatient leg-crossed line when JRJ as a Red Cross Inspector is imperturbably wasting time in front of the German guards; and almost everything JRJ uttered during the film.

    All in all, a typical British comedy from the time but turned into something special by a tour-de-force performance, and one I've seen umpteen times since the late '60's. What an original the man was – to me indeed, a Very Important Person.
    8hedgehog-10

    Funny film about an unpopular POW trying to escape.

    A funny film which has maintained its humour since being made in 1961. James Robertson Justice is excellent as an morose and unfriendly POW who must be helped to escape back to England. Well made and with some excellent exchanges between James Robertson and the other POWs.

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    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Band of Brothers (2001)
    War

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When James Robertson Justice's character shouts at the Lageroffizier, it translates as "You can kiss my arse, you filthy Nazi!" Possibly, James Robertson Justice, who spoke fluent German, ad-libbed this, certain that the rest of the crew probably wouldn't understand it, most of the audience wouldn't and the censors undoubtedly wouldn't (or get the jokes).
    • Goofs
      When the Times Crossword is first introduced to the prisoners, the clue for 1 Across is stated as "What did Jupiter drop?" However, when Farrow has completed it, we see the 1 Across clue as "Preserve of Fiction" (solution:"ramjam"). Furthermore, the crossword is numbered #4548 whilst the solution to the previous day's crossword = #9547 - the leading "9" having been amended to a "4".
    • Quotes

      Sir Ernest Pease KBE FRS: Cooking requires no intelligence. Were it otherwise women would be no good at it.

    • Connections
      Featured in War Stories (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Dance of the Cuckoos
      (uncredited)

      Music by Marvin Hatley

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 11, 1961 (Sweden)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Very Important Person
    • Filming locations
      • Beaconsfield Film Studios, Station Road, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Studio, uncredited)
    • Production company
      • Independent Artists
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 38m(98 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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