Folly to Be Wise (1953)

Film details

Featuring

Alastair Sim Roland Culver Elizabeth Allan
Country

United Kingdom
Year

1953
Genre

Comedy
Type

Film
Category

Fiction

Synopsis

Comedy. Captain Paris, the new chaplain on an English army base, is responsible for the soldiers' entertainment, which has lately been woeful. On hearing of an artist, George Prout, and his wife Angela, who live locally and who have a professor friend visiting (who is a regular on a BBC 'brains trust' broadcast), Paris decides to invite them to take part in a similar panel question-and-answer evening alongside some local personages (a viscountess, Lady Dodd, a doctor and the Labour MP). Unfortunately, the Prouts are going through a difficult phase, with the professor attempting to woo Angela away from George, and a question (asked by Paris's secretary, Jessie) about whether marriage is a good idea becomes becomes uncomfortably personal, and leads to some explosive emotion and wild behaviour.

Cast & Credits

Cast
- - Captain William Paris
    
    Alastair Sim
  - George Prout
    
    Roland Culver
  - Angela Prout
    
    Elizabeth Allan
  - Professor James F.X. Mutch
    
    Colin Gordon
  - Viscountess Dodd, 'Lady Dodd'
    
    Martita Hunt
  - Private Jessie Killegrew
    
    Janet Brown
  - Walter, Paris's batman
    
    Peter Martyn
  - Dr Hector McAdam
    
    Miles Malleson
  - Joseph Byres, M.P., 'Joe'
    
    Edward Chapman
  - drill sergeant
    
    Cyril Chamberlain
  - drill corporal
    
    Michael Ripper
  - intellectual corporal
    
    Robin Bailey
  - staff sergeant
    
    Michael Kelly
  - [barmaid]
    
    Charlotte Mitchum
  - [landlord]
    
    Leslie Weston
  - [soldier in pub]
    
    Harold Lang
  - [soldier in pub]
    
    Patrick Westwood
  - [soldier in pub]
    
    Gilbert Harrison
  - [W.R.A.C.]
    
    Jo Powell
  - [W.R.A.C.]
    
    Catherine Finn
  - [W.R.A.C.]
    
    Enid McCall
  - [W.R.A.C.]
    
    Maria Charles
  - [visiting brigadier]
    
    Martin Boddey
  - [appreciative soldier in Brains Trust audience]
    
    George Cole
Credits
- Unknown:
  - Director
    
    Frank Launder
  - [Production Company]
    
    London Film Productions
  - Produced in association with
    
    British Lion Film Corporation
  - Producer
    
    Frank Launder
  - Producer
    
    Sidney Gilliat
  - Production Manager
    
    Jack Swinburne
  - Assistant Director
    
    Streeter, Sydney
  - Continuity
    
    Olga Brook
  - Screenplay
    
    Frank Launder
  - Screenplay
    
    John Dighton
  - From the play 'It Depends What You Mean' by
    
    James Bridie
  - Director of Photography
    
    Jack Hildyard
  - Camera Operator
    
    Peter Newbrook
  - Editor
    
    Thelma Connell
  - Assistant Editor
    
    Tony Lower
  - Art Director
    
    Arthur Lawson
  - Miss Allan's costumes designed by
    
    Anna Duse
  - Wardrobe
    
    Ivy Baker
  - Make-up
    
    Michael Morris
  - Hairdressing
    
    Fordyce, Ann
  - Music
    
    Temple Abady
  - Music played by
    
    The New Symphony Orchestra
  - Conductor
    
    Royalton Kisch
  - Sound Supervisor
    
    John Cox
  - Sound Recording
    
    Peter Handford
  - Sound Recording
    
    Red Law
  - Sound Editor
    
    Bert Rule
  - Studio
    
    Shepperton Studios