LAUGHTER IN PARADISE (A 1951 BRITISH COMEDY MOVIE)

Directed and Produced by Mario Jampi, Music by Stanley Black, Cinematography by William Mc Leod.
Starring : Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, George Cole, Guy Middleton.
A 1951 British classic comedy movie which marks the introducing role of Audrey Hepburn as a cigarette girl who later matures to receive many Oscar awards in her later life a star heroine.

Storyline:

A wealthy practical joker called Henry Russell leaves a ‘Will’ to his four cousins Deniston (Alastair Sim), Agnes (Fay Compton), Herbert (George Cole) and Simon (Guy Middleton).
The will mentions that the law abiding, fictitious writer, Deniston has to commit a crime and stay in jail for 28 days, the arrogant Agnes needs to work as a maid servant for 30 days, the timid and good natured banking clerk, Herbert, has to surprise the bank manager with a toy pistol and the playboy Simon has to marry the first single woman whom he speaks to after hearing the will. The story unfolds into a hilarious episode where all the four try and achieve their respective assignments which are quite opposite to their natures, for the sake of the fortune of 50,000 pounds, to be inherited after completion of their respective tasks.
In the process of doing so, Deniston had to break the marriage with his fiancé, a constable in Police department and the arrogant, snobby Agnes finds a new kind nature inside her by helping her master’s daughter to get married to her lover. George Cole becomes the Manager of the bank he is working in after accidentally foiling a bank robbery, and Simon gets cheated in marriage to his butler’s niece. Eventually, the movie ends with a loud and hearty laughter from everyone on screen, when the final page of the Will is read out to mention that there is no such money to be given to anyone and it happens to be another practical joke from Henry.

Pros: A classic comedy of the yesteryears wherein the beauty of script and screenplay coordinated to the best output to produce a clean and healthy entertainment for the viewers. Utmost care has been taken on the makeups and outfits of the actors to result in a classy outlook. The best of the action has come from Alastair Sim who stands out among the rest in giving one of his best comic performance. A truly hilarious movie even todate, that can be watched again and again. Kudos to the cinematographer and Director for bringing the best of the talents out of the actors and actresses.

Cons: As per Simon’s task in the Will, he needs to marry the first single woman he comes across after hearing the Will. He happens to talk to Frieda (Audrey Hepburn), the cigarette girl in the bar first, but marries Beatrice, whom Simon meets later on the road. I feel that this is the technical mistake the Director missed.

My rating is 4 out of 5