Rent The Admirable Crichton (1957)

Class Allegory. - The Admirable Crichton review by Steve

Delightful comic parable adapted from JM Barrie's play from 1902 which uses the classic shipwreck scenario to critique Victorian attitudes to social class. An entitled upper class family must survive on a desert island, and discover their resourceful butler is best able to to take charge in such altered circumstances.

But when they return to London, rigid class conformity dictates that relationships return to normal. Kenneth More is most winsome as the admirable Crichton who is governor on the faraway shore, but must become a servant again. Lewis Gilbert directs the sunny, frictionless comedy with a featherlight touch. It's all utterly charming.  

It would be mean-spirited to go looking for flaws... Yes, the characters are schematic, but that's often the nature of allegory. The performances are broad and genial but too much realism would kill the magic. It's still quite emotional, with Diane Cilento affecting as the cockney maid in love with Crichton. But everyone is excellent.

It's an adventure, like the Swiss Family Robinson, but the playful meditation on class means it is more than a family film. Still, the mod cons Crichton introduces to the island are fun- and anticipate The Flintstones! This is sublime entertainment. Though the film concludes that inequality is natural, so it's not as subversive as it first seems.