Most Ealing comedies championed consensus, but Alexander Mackendrick's revelled in conflict. The ‘Maggie’ is a decrepit Clyde 'puffer' boat, whose wily captain dupes a wealthy American businessman to ferry his possessions to his new Scottish island home - then proceeds to delay, hinder and endanger his hapless client. This third of Mackendrick's four comedies for Ealing may be the least known, but it has all the mischief and moral ambiguity of his more celebrated predecessors, Whisky Galore! and The Man in the White Suit.
When a corporation threatens to take over a small railway line, a group of villagers decide to try and run it for themselves. The final collaboration between director Charles Crichton and writer T.E.B. Clarke, The Titfield Thunderbolt is a stunningly scenic gem in Ealing's repertoire. Anarchic an...
When he's invited to a headmasters' conference in order to make his inaugural speech as chairman, Brian Stimpson (John Cleese), a man obsessed with punctuality, sets off with time to spare. However, numerous unexpected obstacles lead him into a race against the clock to arrive on time.
In Huntleigh prison, a group of cellmates (Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins and David Lodge) plan the perfect burglary. By escaping the day before their release, then breaking back in again, they will have the perfect alibi when they rob a maharajah's palace of its diamonds - they will seemingly n...
