It is too bad that the two sequels to this little gem were ever attempted. They tarnished what is one of the funniest movies to come out of England during the hey-day of British film comedies, a circumstance that has also blunted the appeal of The Belles of St Trinian's because of the very high level of excellence of the competition. Movies like The Man in the White Suit, The Ladykillers, Passport to Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Importance of Being Earnest, Whisky Galore, The Happiest Days of Your LIfe and Father Brown, among others.
This sort of humor is out of vogue due to the low level of vulgarity passing as humor in the entertainment industry at present. You will probably have to (and want to) watch these movies again and again to fully grasp their dry subtlety. The Belles of St Trinian's is a great place to start if you have not seen any of the movies mentioned. It is more slapstick and camp than cleverly dry, but there is that element too.
Alastair Sim is hilarious as Miss Fritton, the headmistress of a horrifying girls school called St Trinian's. You quickly forget he is a man in drag and see him as a highly plausible, if over the top, Victorian lady who has had to turn her family home into a school in order to stay in the house.
Her staff of teachers is equally funny. There is Joyce Grenfel as the horsey games mistress (who is also an undercover policewoman for the local constabulary investigating a crime wave), Beryl Reid as the county spinster golfer, Hermione Baddeley's drunken French teacher who spends class time sipping claret and having the girls recite the locations of the best vineyards in France and what varietal is grown on them. Joan Sims isMiss June Dawn, the sex education and hygiene instructor who also does fan dances upon request, and Rose Waters, played by Betty Ann Davies resembling Morticia Addams. She teaches scriptures and needle work. The staff is rounded off by the ever-raucous Irene Handl.
The school is really a front for money laundering, bootlegging and racketeering, all managed by Miss Fritton's shady brother, also played by Alastair Sim. George Cole is the oily front man who is the go-between for St Trinian's and the local horse-betting circuit.
The schoolgirls are all marvels of degradation and craftiness. This movie, like all British comedy after the war, contain not a shred of profanity, sexual graphics or violence. It's just very funny and is recommended highly to all lovers of intelligent and farcical humor.
This sort of humor is out of vogue due to the low level of vulgarity passing as humor in the entertainment industry at present. You will probably have to (and want to) watch these movies again and again to fully grasp their dry subtlety. The Belles of St Trinian's is a great place to start if you have not seen any of the movies mentioned. It is more slapstick and camp than cleverly dry, but there is that element too.
Alastair Sim is hilarious as Miss Fritton, the headmistress of a horrifying girls school called St Trinian's. You quickly forget he is a man in drag and see him as a highly plausible, if over the top, Victorian lady who has had to turn her family home into a school in order to stay in the house.
Her staff of teachers is equally funny. There is Joyce Grenfel as the horsey games mistress (who is also an undercover policewoman for the local constabulary investigating a crime wave), Beryl Reid as the county spinster golfer, Hermione Baddeley's drunken French teacher who spends class time sipping claret and having the girls recite the locations of the best vineyards in France and what varietal is grown on them. Joan Sims isMiss June Dawn, the sex education and hygiene instructor who also does fan dances upon request, and Rose Waters, played by Betty Ann Davies resembling Morticia Addams. She teaches scriptures and needle work. The staff is rounded off by the ever-raucous Irene Handl.
The school is really a front for money laundering, bootlegging and racketeering, all managed by Miss Fritton's shady brother, also played by Alastair Sim. George Cole is the oily front man who is the go-between for St Trinian's and the local horse-betting circuit.
The schoolgirls are all marvels of degradation and craftiness. This movie, like all British comedy after the war, contain not a shred of profanity, sexual graphics or violence. It's just very funny and is recommended highly to all lovers of intelligent and farcical humor.