Dimitri44 Once again, from, more or less, the last decade of quite serious films, in black and white, we have what may be described as a "sleeper" similar to the American film from that period, A Face in the Crowd. Perhaps like Gulliver's Travels, on the surface we have comedy, but fundamentally, a deepest insight? A significant point that can be made is that to this day, the differences between management and employees seems to be the issue; but nobody wants to consider that maybe they are to a considerable extent, both wrong, and the actor Ian Carmichael, until the end, affable; unexpectedly and gloriously shows us, in the finale, what may very well be wrong.One way to see what is wrong is to consider the track records of economic swings throughout the century just gone by, the twentieth century. Under Franklin Roosevelt, the American economy went up, but during and after Ronald Reagan it is still going down. For example, before he shut down the Interstate Commerce Commission, semi-truck drivers were allowed adequate sleep times, were well paid, and generally courteous on the road. Since then, a disaster. In Britain, almost as predicted by this film, the media during 1984 scoffed at the coal miners, whose work conditions were otherwise shall we say, always deplorable.This whole situation, moving from the American situation to the situation, European style, is really quite simple. During the 1960's and 1970's the recovery from World War II, the European Economic Miracle took place. Then, Margaret Thatcher came along, and now it is 2013.

moonspinner55 An intellectual from Oxford--so studious he has become a naive rube in the real world, and unable to find his niche in the working place--takes a manual labor position at his nefarious uncle's factory, where he stirs up a tempest with the labor relations team. Screenwriter Alan Hackney, co-adapting his book "Private Life" with Frank Harvey and director John Boulting, hit upon a certain observant ridiculousness in the British class system with his then-trenchant satire. While Hackney's targets are scattered (and obvious or dated by now), the supporting performances from Peter Sellers (well-disguised as the middle-aged labor leader), Terry-Thomas, Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Liz Fraser, and Margaret Rutherford are certainly worth a look. ** from ****

Bill Slocum Ah, progress. Never mind that tosh. "I'm All Right Jack" is a hilarious send up of the 20th century very much on point today, an anything-goes capitalist-meets-socialist system where workers and owners are equally victimized.Peter Sellers won the British Academy Award for Best British Actor for his performance as union leader Fred Kite, beating out a field that year which included Laurence Olivier, Laurence Harvey, Richard Burton, and Peter Finch. Ian Carmichael is the actual lead actor in "I'm All Right Jack", and Kite doesn't even show up until after the first 20 minutes, but Sellers makes Kite a compelling and comedic character worth remembering as a symbol of organized labor run amuk.A kind of sequel to "Private's Progress", also featuring Carmichael in the role of Stanley Windrush, "I'm All Right Jack" is a swinging social satire. Two factory owners (played by Dennis Price and Richard Attenborough) conspire to create a labor strike at a munitions factory to get a higher price. To do that, they need someone to create a bit of friction. Enter Windrush, a total innocent upper-class twit who only cares about earning his pay, no matter how much that offends Kite and other labor leaders."We're living in the welfare state," says the middle manager Hitchcock (Terry-Thomas). "I call it the farewell state.""I'm All Right Jack" starts out very cheeky indeed, with a surprising eyeful of female nudity circa 1959 and cracks at religion and the military. Later, a stuttering character sees an array of photographers and asks: "Why don't you tell them to f-f-f-photograph something worthwhile."The only major problem with "I'm All Right Jack" is the slowness of the film right up until Windrush arrives at Missiles Ltd., after which the comedy becomes a kind of classless class comedy, where shrapnel flies thick and fast and no one is immune. Sellers' performance is brilliant, giving you a character who's likable even as he plays the antagonist. You can scorn his love of Stalinist Russia, which he boils down to cornfields and ballet, but you empathize with his fairness (not wanting to fire Windrush is his undoubted downfall) and his sensitivity for the feelings of Mrs. Kite (Irene Handl) and their daughter (Liz Fraser). He's just a bit extreme."We cannot and do not accept the principle that incompetence justifies dismissal," Kite argues. "That is victimization."The real bad guys are the bosses guying the system, though John Boulting, who directed and co-wrote this with Alan Hackney and Frank Harvey, wants you to see the union abuses that make such a scam not only possible but desirable to the upper classes.Sellers also appears at the film's outset as "Sir John", a men's-club inhabitant who witnesses the end of World War II as an unpleasant upending of the old social order, before disappearing in the postwar wake. "A solid block in what seemed the edifice of an ordered and stable society," is his postscript.Contrast him with the very hip, 60s-sounding Al Saxon theme song that sticks its post-war, pre-Beatles attitude in your face as smartly as flipping the bird to Churchill (something else we get to see in the first few minutes), and you find yourself watching what had to be for 1959 a very mod film. It still stands up today as one of the best labor-management comedies, even if the British class system it addresses is no more.

Bucs1960 How insane is a movie that begins and ends in a nudist colony? That just sets the stage for this brilliant British comedy/satire of labor troubles at Missiles Ltd. All is not what it appears in management as the less than honorable Director and his cronies arrange for conditions that cause the workers to strike, thereby benefiting the bosses in their nefarious plans.Ian Carmichael is the wide eyed innocent, penniless but upper class young man who is the catalyst for the madness that ensues. Carmichael is spot on in his characterization and those who only know him as Lord Peter Wimsey, will be surprised at his light comedic touch. Even his name, Stanley Windrush, is whimsical.Peter Sellers is a standout as Kite, the Union boss who has delusions of grandeur and sports an Adolph Hitler moustache. His use of the Queen's English is less than perfect and his long-winded pronouncements are priceless. The supporting cast is unparalleled........Terry-Thomas is hysterical (as always) as the head of the Works Committee and his reading of the contents from the suggestion box is a small highlight of the film..........Liz Frazer as Kite's very blonde daughter, who asks "Who do you think you are, Diana Dors?".........Dennis Price, always the sophisticate, and Richard Attenborough as his oily partner in crime, are delightfully dishonest and also sport strange moustaches....John LeMesurier as the twitchy time management expert. The list goes on and on.You don't want to miss this film. It is a showcase for some of Britain's finest film actors and is truly a delight.