Three Edwardian men (odd trio Jimmy Edwards, David Tomlinson and Laurence Harvey) seek to escape their domestic woes, by whiling away some hours on a boat...
Many fine films have hung on flimsier hooks than this. It is the idiotic slapstick, the relentless jolliness, the faux hyper-poshness, the bonnets and all the cringeworthy cherchez-la-femming that make this such an ordeal.
As a dedicated lover of the Ealing Comedies and indeed British cinema of the 1950s in general this adaptation of a celebrated comic novel is just too silly to appeal today even if it's viewed as a precursor of the Carry On series. Essentially a farce with some comedy of manners thrown in it's a daft story told in episodic form of three 'gentlemen' in early 20th Century England escaping from their various strifes by going on a boating holiday on the Thames. They are thoroughly inept at all aspects of the trip from pitching tents, cooking and generally cause mayhem everywhere they go even when pursuing three lovely sisters who they meet en route. Laurence Harvey is the nominal star, a surprise casting choice as this is far too light for the serious films he is more famed for. British comedy star Jimmy Edwards and later Disney stalwart David Tomlinson are his companions. Shirley Eaton and a young Jill Ireland make up the cast in a this British comedy that is more interesting for it's bold technicolour presentation than it's place in the comedy genre that has many more far better films. Flimsy with too much slapstick sequences but one to check out from an interest perspective.
Over-acted, and with rather heavy humour - too much slapstick and not enough wit. A cast as talented as this is really wasted. Good clean fun, but not nearly as good as the book! Time for a remake?