Summary
With headmistress Miss Fritton taking leave at her Majesty’s pleasure,
St Trinian’s has descended into a state of total anarchy. Not
even the British army is equipped to maintain order until a replacement
head teacher is found. As his schoolgirl chums battle it
out against the hopelessly ill-prepared soldiers, Flash Harry pays a
visit to an Italian prince, hoping to sell one of the more attractive
sixth formers through his illicit marriage brokering agency. The
prince insists on seeing the goods before he makes his purchase, which
presents Harry with a problem: how is he to get the girls to Rome
before the end of term? A UNESCO essay writing competition
offering a prize tour of the continent provides the solution. By
their usual skulduggery, the girls win the contest and are about to
invade an unsuspecting Europe when another setback comes their
way. The new headmistress, Dame Maud Hackshaw, intends to veto
the expedition. Just before Dame Maud arrives, the school is
visited by a jewel thief Joe Mangan, who is looking for somewhere to
hide out after his latest heist. With the police net closing in
on him, Mangan is forced to impersonate Dame Maud, who is now safely
locked up in the bell tower. With some barely roadworthy
transport supplied by a crooked ex-army captain, Romney
Carlton-Ricketts, the girls are soon on their way, unaware that their
translator is Ruby Gates, a police sergeant who is determined to unmask
the jewel thief. The atrocities of Attila and his ravaging hordes
are nothing compared with the onslaught that Europe faces from the
demonic rabble of St Trinian’s...
Review
The second gloriously silly outing for the St Trinian’s mob suffers
from an acute deficit of Alastair Sim (who appears in only two short
scenes) but this is at least partly compensated for by the addition of
Terry-Thomas as a characteristically caddish womaniser. The
victim of Tel’s machinations is a deliciously wimpish Joyce Grenfell
who, along with George Cole, provide very welcome reprises of their
roles from The Belles of St. Trinian’s
(1954). The one false note is Lionel Jeffries, who is
out-performed and out-classed by his co-stars and fails to deliver the
comedy goods, even when he is dragged up to the nines. This is the
film that gave us the famous St
Trinian’s battle song, an anti-authoritarian rallying cry to
adolescent rebellion that was particularly well-suited to the time.
Although somewhat less satisfying and polished than the first St Trinian’s film, this makes a better than average follow-up, even if the humour does descend to the level of an early Mack Sennett comedy, with pantomime policemen charging about the corridors of the school, subjecting themselves to the usual barrage of schoolgirl pranks. The character humour is much more effective than the boisterous farce and gives the film the backbone it badly needs to avoid looking like Ruby Gates. From Richard Wattis, the put-upon schools official, to Michael Ripper, the sympathetic lift attendant, there is hardly a character that is not cast and played to perfection. What makes the film so memorable is not the anarchic antics of the devilish schoolgirls, nor the devious machinations of Flash Harry, but the exquisite, and quite poignant, rapport between Terry-Thomas and Joyce Grenfell, who bring more than a glimmer of emotional realism to their scenes together.
© filmsdefrance.com 2010
Write a review for this film...
Although somewhat less satisfying and polished than the first St Trinian’s film, this makes a better than average follow-up, even if the humour does descend to the level of an early Mack Sennett comedy, with pantomime policemen charging about the corridors of the school, subjecting themselves to the usual barrage of schoolgirl pranks. The character humour is much more effective than the boisterous farce and gives the film the backbone it badly needs to avoid looking like Ruby Gates. From Richard Wattis, the put-upon schools official, to Michael Ripper, the sympathetic lift attendant, there is hardly a character that is not cast and played to perfection. What makes the film so memorable is not the anarchic antics of the devilish schoolgirls, nor the devious machinations of Flash Harry, but the exquisite, and quite poignant, rapport between Terry-Thomas and Joyce Grenfell, who bring more than a glimmer of emotional realism to their scenes together.
© filmsdefrance.com 2010
Write a review for this film...
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Related links
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Credits
- Director: Frank Launder
- Script: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder, Ronald Searle (concept), Val Valentine
- Photo: Gerald Gibbs
- Music: Malcolm Arnold
- Cast: Terry-Thomas (Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts), George Cole (’Flash’ Harry), Joyce Grenfell (Sergeant Ruby Gates), Alastair Sim (Miss Amelia Fritton), Sabrina (Virginia), Lionel Jeffries (Joe Mangan), Lloyd Lamble (Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird), Raymond Rollett (Chief Constable), Terry Scott (Police sergeant), Ferdy Mayne (Italian police inspector), Thorley Walters (Major), Cyril Chamberlain (Captain), Ronald Ibbs (Lieutenant), Judith Furse (Dame Maud Hackshaw), Michael Ripper (Eric – the liftman), Kenneth Griffith (Charlie Bull), Richard Wattis (Manton Bassett), Peter Jones (Prestwick), Lisa Lee (Miss Brenner), Guido Lorraine (Prince Bruno), Alma Taylor (Bruno’s mother), Peter Elliott (Equerry), Charles Lloyd Pack (Prison governor), Lisa Gastoni (Myrna Mangan), Jose Read (Cynthia Meadows), Dilys Laye (Bridget Strong), Rosalind Knight (Annabel), Patricia Lawrence (Mavis), Marigold Russell (Marjorie), Vikki Hammond (Jane Osborne), Nicola Braithwaite (Daphne), Janet Bradbury (Mercia), Mandy Harper (Tilly), Moya Francis (Bissy), Eric Barker (Culpepper Brown)
- Country: UK
- Language: English
- Runtime: 86 min; B&W
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