The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960)

Simply Perfect

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It has some hilarious moments - particularly the opening trial sequence and the striptease to the soliloquy from "Hamlet" - but it's on the same level as the first two films. As I said yesterday, Alastair Sim's virtual absence from "Blue Murder at St. Trinian's" was a blow to the film while his complete absence from this one is a major blow to it. Considering the importance of Miss Fritton to the first film and the fact that the school burns down, it's bizarre that she isn't even mentioned.The idea of the sixth formers being kidnapped and becoming a sheik's harem is a belter but the script isn't as well developed as it could be. Miss Harker-Packer and Alphonse O'Reilly are established as important characters but they both just disappear from the film. The fact that Miss Harker-Packer was only recently released from a mental institution could have led to some fantastic jokes but, like herself, it's more or less forgotten about. One thing about the film that bothered me was that it focused on the adults as opposed to the students. Those criticisms aside, however, there is a steady stream of good jokes throughout the film, such as Flash Harry's unique way with words.In Sim's absence, Cecil Parker - a wonderful character actor who is best known for his role as Todhunter in "The Lady Vanishes", which was also written by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat - is a very worthy substitute as Professor Canford (who is not a woman). He is hilarious in the role and has great chemistry with Joyce Grenfell as Ruby Gates, who makes her third and final appearance in the "St. Trinian's" film series. The same is true of Lloyd Lamble as Sammy Kemp-Bird, her characteristically and increasingly reluctant fiancé. As well as those already mentioned, the film has a great cast, particularly George Cole, Thorley Walters (who played a major in "Blue Murder at St. Trinian's"), Dennis Price, Sid James, Raymond Huntley, John Le Mesurier and Michael Ripper.

I just watched this on TV, and it was great to see so many well known actors looking young ! This film is very interesting as a part of our British cultural heritage, and a window on a time when Pythonesque humour was developing.The idea of a British schoolgirl being a stripper in a club called "Mohammed's" in "Arabia" may seem awfully non-PC today, but the other characters are also caricatures of British types. I particularly enjoyed the British Officer in the "Bath" unit and his preoccupation with Scotch. But as another reviewer has said, George Cole is outstanding.Great fun.

I can't claim to be an expert on THE ST TRINIAN series . I have some vague notion that it's about some hellcat girl pupils which in today's political climate would probably never been considered as a film seriesStrangely enough the film starts with a liberal agenda after the pupils have burnt down their school and are shown compassion , but at this point the film deviates from what you'd expect . The title is THE PURE HELL OF ST TRINIANS right ? so why does the film then revolve around Flash Harry and a couple of other characters being stuck on a desert island with the naughty schoolgirls absent for most of the narrative . It's also difficult to work out what the plot is since the movie feels rather episodic . It is interesting to see foreign office types going to a city called Bahgdad with some of the comedy coming out of this situation but this makes the film feel even more dated than it already is No doubt made for a British commercial market THE PURE HELL OF ST TRINIAN is something of a reminder of more innocent times but that's probably its only reason to watch as entertainment in 2005 . Compare this with the CARRY ON films of the early 1960s and see what series has aged better

This is the final of the three original St. Trinian's films. Alastair Sim doesn't appear in this one, which leaves quite a space but is filled well by new characters and extensions of existing ones. The plot is a lot different from the 2 before, in that it's more surreal. In the other 2, the fact that Flash Harry, a police woman and a professor would become stranded on a desert island wouldn't have happened. Neither would the storming of an Arab sheiks palace. The charceters of Sergeant Ruby Gates (Joyce Grenfell) and Flash Harry (George Cole) are explored much more, with us learning things like Harry's middle name and where Ruby's mother lives. Fantastic performances form the whole cast but I think Cole and Grenfell steal the show. Comedy at its best. Watch out for the scene in the strippers club. Watch Harry's face. Probably the best comedy without words ever.