I'm All Right Jack
After a decade on radio, Peter Sellers set out on the road to international stardom in 1959'sI'm All Right Jack. Sellers played both Sir John Kennaway and, unforgettably, the trade union leader Fred Kite (he had taken multiple roles inThe Mouse That Roaredand would do so again inDr. Strangelove). The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge, lampooning the then-burning issue of industrial relations. Bertram Tracepurcel (Dennis Price) plans to make a fortune from a missile contract, a scheme that involves manipulating his innocent nephew Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) into acting as the catalyst in an escalating labor dispute, from which the socialist Mr. Kite is only too keen to make capital. Management and labor both have their self-serving hypocrisy dissected in this ingenious comedy, which is actually a sequel to the military comedyPrivate's Progress(1956), but stands independent of the earlier film. Both films were made by the brothers John and Roy Boulting, directors and producers of such British classics asBrighton Rock(1947),Seven Days to Noon(1950),Carlton-Browne of the F.O.(1959), andHeavens Above(1963). The superb cast ofI'm All Right Jackalso features Richard Attenborough, John Le Mesurier, Margaret Rutherford, and Terry-Thomas.--Gary S. Dalkin