I’m All Right Jack (1959) - film review

Stanley Windrush is an enthusiastic upper crust Englishman who, having completed his stint in the army and at Oxford, is eager to make his mark on the world.  He begins by applying for managerial positions in various companies, but when this ends disastrously, Stanley agrees to start work as an unskilled labourer at a munitions factory owned by his uncle, Bertram Tracepurcel.  Stanley’s posh accent immediately draws the suspicion and mistrust of his colleagues, who mistake him for a time-and-motion expert.  Trades union shop steward Fred Kite takes the matter up with his personnel officer, Major Hitchcock.  When the latter offers to sack Stanley, Mr Kite, a fervent believer in workers’ rights, relents and befriends the newcomer, even offering him a room in his house.  But then Stanley triggers a strike when he unwittingly demonstrates to the bona fide time-and-motion expert that he can perform his job much more efficiently than his colleagues.  The strike serves the interests of Tracepurcel, who intends to profit by the transfer of a large Middle East export contract to another company, owned by his friend Sidney De Vere Cox.  Unfortunately, the scheme backfires when Cox’s own workers all come out in sympathy...

One of the all-time classics of British cinema, I’m All Right Jack is a hilarious satire of trade unionism and corporate malpractice which still resonates today.  It is a direct sequel to the Boulting Brothers’ earlier comedy Private’s Progress (1956) and brings back many of the players of that film.  Ian Carmichael reprises the role of the gauche accident prone Stanley Windrush, Terry-Thomas returns as the tetchy Major Hitchcock (armed with his familiar catchphrase "What an absolute shower!"), whilst Dennis Price and Richard Attenborough are the villains, exuding oily nastiness from just about every orifice.  With such a strong cast it seems all the more remarkable that the star of the film is none of the above but a then relatively unknown young actor called Peter Sellers.   

This is the film that set Peter Sellers securely on the road to international stardom.  Previously, he had made some memorable appearances in supporting roles, notably in The Ladykillers (1955), and was known for his work on the BBC radio programme, The Goon Show.   I’m All Right Jack gave Sellers ample opportunity to demonstrate his talent as an actor and a comic performer, and he excelled in both departments.  His portrayal of the bolshy yet sympathetic trades union rep Fred Kite earned him critical acclaim and won him the Best Actor BAFTA in 1960.  Unlike his co-stars, who give highly caricatured performances, Sellers delivers a convincing character turn, which is as poignant as it is amusing.

I’m All Right Jack has been described as anti-union film.  In fact, as the title implies, its target is not the unions but a society which has somehow lost its way in the aftermath of post-war austerity.  Even as early as the late 1950s, the me-first society had sprung into being, with every man, woman and child eternally occupied with getting one over on his neighbour.  This sorry reality is perfectly encapsulated in the sequence where spectators at a civilised debate (hosted by the then ubiquitous TV personality Malcolm Muggeridge) end up scrambling for a few bank notes, like wild animals fighting over scraps of meat.   Welcome to the human race.  What a shower.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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