The Wrong Box (1966)

Memorable, crazy movie

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A different way of telling a story

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

If you like comedies where adults behave like children, "The Wrong Box" (based loosely on a yarn co-written by TREASURE ISLAND's Robert Louis Stevenson) is at the top of that genre's heap.British stage and screen stalwarts John Mills and Ralph Richardson play warring brothers named Finsbury, the final members of a tontine (for the purposes of this movie, a "game" where the last survivor snags all the loot). Young Michael Caine is Mills' grandson, in love with Richardson's ward Julia (Nanette Newman). Comics Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are Richardson's rapscallion nephews, desperate to keep the old man ticking until he cops the lolly (when they think he's won, they refer to him in the past tense). Wilfred Lawson, alcoholic actor who famously never forgot a line no matter how much he imbibed, is Mills' doddering butler. For various reasons, they each want their side to win (Lawson's butler, for instance, hasn't been paid in seven years).But when a body in a barrel (the wrong box) rolls up to the Mills/Finsbury residence in error, characters already in a heightened sense of excitement rush about frantically trying to hide, recover, or identify it. Peter Sellers is the "venal" Doctor Pratt. Inundated with cats, the pixilated doctor dispenses death certificates (and poisons) for a fee. Tony Hancock, practically unknown in America but a long-time favorite comic in England, pulls out all his well-worn stops in his last-gasp movie as the Inspector who tries valiantly to tie up the loose ends of a case where nearly all the suspects have the same surname. Choreographer/dancer/actor Tutte Lemkow turns in one of his best menacing performances in a small but pivotal role as a minor-league Jack the Ripper.Other members of the tontine, who meet suitably (and sometimes hilariously) gruesome ends, include a roll call of rising British talent (Jeremy Lloyd, James Villiers, Graham Stark, Nicholas Parsons) and veterans (Valentine Dyall, radio's "Man in Black").Amusing vignettes are also essayed by John Junkin (as an engine driver), Thorley Walters (as a fey lawyer) and Cicely Courtneidge (leader of a Salvation Army wanna-be band which wears an S on their collars almost like the old German national socialist police force; I suppose that's the filmmakers' statement against charity).The romp is full of twists like a good mystery, but the mystery (such as it is; the viewer is always in command of the facts) is merely a skeleton on which to hang the actors' humorous escapades. The final scene is thrilling, seeing so much talent gathered together in a cemetery (Mills, Richardson, Caine, Cook, Moore, Newman, Lawson, Walters--and Irene Handl, who jumps in at the eleventh hour. And Hancock has pride of place, strutting before them while desperately trying to work out which Finsbury is which.If you prefer humor served up dark but not bitter by the best in the business, roll a sip of this over your palate.

At some point the brothers Finsbury must have had some second thoughts about entering that lottery for life which is what the Tontine is. And it's true as Ralph Richardson reminds us in the film that the concept is named after the 17th century Italian banker who came up with the idea.Essentially a Tontine is a life's lottery, several folks put up an initial investment and we of course presume it is in the hands of some really conservative bankers who don't go into something wildly speculative. If that's done the winner of the Tontine is the last survivor among the initial investors.Wouldn't you know it, but the last survivors as it turns out are a pair of feuding brothers, the Finsburys played by John Mills and Ralph Richardson. These two guys don't speak on general principles to start with, but with over 100,000 in pound sterling up for grabs, these two old coots are at each other and if not them, their respective heirs.Worst of course is Dudley Moore and Peter Cook who are Richardson's nephews, presumably on his wife's side. They hear Mills is dying and Mills is one of those characters who's been dying for a couple of generations and buries everybody around him. But in order for them to inherit Mills has to go first and then Richardson and it's all their'sThus the black comedy begins with the two schemers trying to work out a pair of deaths in the correct order. It may be black comedy, but it's also Murphy's law comedy, but Murphy never dealt with some of the situations thrown at the cast.Best in the film in my opinion is Ralph Richardson. He's one of those pedantic scholarly types who has learned a lot on just about everything and who doesn't hesitate to show off his knowledge and bore everyone around him to tears. It's no wonder Mills rises from what is thought to be his deathbed to strangle him, just to shut him up. It's the best scene in the film, marvelously played by two of the best from the British cinema. So if you think your family has problems just think about the Finsbury brothers and what they and their relations go through in The Wrong Box.

THE WRONG BOX begins with a sort of prologue. A group of wealthy men have entered their young sons in a tontine--a lottery, of sorts, where the one who dies last receives the entry fee paid by everyone--plus, years and years of interest on this principal. I read a set of novels by Thomas Costain about such a contest but always wondered who would bother with such an arrangement? After all, the surviving member would almost certainly be too old and infirm to enjoy it.The next portion of the film is the most humorous, as one by one you see the crazy ways that many in the tontine die. It's all done with a black sort of humor that I really enjoyed--and felt this was, by far, the best portion of the movie.Eventually, there are only two members of the tontine still alive--two brothers who can't stand each other. One brother (Ralph Richardson) is the single most boring man on the planet. How he survived this long without someone killing him is beyond me, as the guy just talks and talks and talks--boring the daylights out of anyone unfortunate enough to come near him. His two nephews (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore) also can't stand him and begin scheming how they can get their hands on the money. There also is a niece and she's an oddball--part ultra-prude and part seething cauldron of passion. The other surviving brother (John Mills) seems to be in the worst health, but he, too, hates his brother and, if possible, he'd like to kill him--and he tries repeatedly. His grandson is played by Michael Caine--and he really, really likes his prudish (but hot) female cousin.While I noticed some of the the reviewers absolutely adored this film (one declared it among the 10 best films ever made), my praise is much more muted. While I like dark comedies, this one seemed very uneven. Apart from showing all the funny deaths at the beginning, I really liked Richardson's character. He was so awful he was pretty funny. Likewise, I really liked the big part played by Peter Sellers as the demented doctor. The less than stellar portions were Cook and Moore (yes, I know they are a bit of an institution in the UK due to their TV work together) and the unnecessary and distracting intertitle cards. Also, some times the humor just seemed a bit flat here and there. Plus, in the end, there really wasn't any real resolution! Overall, a good comedy but not a great one in my estimation.

If this is British humor, forget it.I thought I had seen miserable films and then I found the definition of miserable-this film. This is an absolute colossal bomb.In 1963's 'The Mad World' we saw what people would go through for money. This film reminded me of the old adage-Where there's a will, there is family.This daffy film begins with children being drawn into a lottery. The last survivor wins. It then proceeds to show how many of these youngsters grew and met untimely deaths-through wars, mountain climbings, cave-ins, duels gone wrong,etc. This in itself became ridiculous and absolutely tedious to view.Two old brothers survive-John Mills and Ralph Richardson. The problem is not only with these 2 nit-wits but their grandsons. When one brother is thought to be killed in a train wreck, the other part of the family things they will fool the other brother's family by chicanery and therefore obtain the money.While all this misery is going on, there's a strangler in London on the loose.The best part of this film was when the screen lit up-The End.