A rib-tickling comedy - although muted by Ealing standards - that was the last collaboration from the fantastically successful team of Ealing Studios and Alec Guinness. It was written by T E B Clarke, who also scripted Hue and Cry, Passport to Pimlico, The Blue Lamp and The Lavender Hill Mob. And Guinness's talents for comedy and disguise were rarely better displayed than in this witty story that pokes fun at local government and other institutions. Playing Captain Ambrose, who has the sea in his blood but is the world's worst sailor, Guinness also portrays the hero's six ancestors, all of whom die hilariously heroic naval deaths. Not top-notch Ealing, but studded with joyous moments.

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