Barnacle Bill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the 1957 comedy film. For the sailor known in folklore as "Barnacle Bill", see William Bernard.
| Barnacle Bill | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Charles Frend |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by | T.E.B. Clarke |
| Starring | Alec Guinness |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Editing by | Jack Harris |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
| Running time | 87 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Barnacle Bill (released in the U.S. as All at Sea) is a 1957 comedy, starring Alec Guinness, playing an unsuccessful navy man as well as six of his maritime ancestors.
[edit] Plot
William Horatio Ambrose (Guinness) wants desperately to live up to the proud family tradition; the Ambroses had always been mariners. In six humorous vignettes, Guinness portrays some of them, starting with a confused caveman pioneer and ending with his own father's ignominious demise at the Battle of Jutland. Ambrose has a debilitating problem however: he gets violently seasick at the slightest excuse. As a result, his contribution to World War II consists of testing cures for the malady.
When he retires from the Royal Navy as a captain, he purchases a dilapidated amusement pier (the closest thing to a command of his own) with his life savings. The workers are an apathetic bunch, led by an insolent Figg (Victor Maddern), who quits as soon as the new owner begins imposing some semblance of discipline. With the assistance of his new second in command, Tommy (Percy Herbert), and much hard work, Ambrose soon has the pier repaired.
Then he has to deal with the local town council, headed by the crooked Mayor Crowley (Maurice Denham) and the hostile Arabella Barrington (Irene Brown), who mistook him for a peeping tom when they first met. Every time he comes up with an ingenious way to make his business profitable, they see to it that the council outlaws it. When Crowley decides to confiscate and demolish Ambrose's pier and Barrington's bathing huts (under compulsory purchase) to further his own business interests, she resigns from the council and informs Ambrose. He counters by registering his property as a "foreign" naval vessel (christened the Arabella), under the flag of the easygoing country of Liberama, which puts it outside the town's jurisdiction. He soon attracts many happy, paying passengers for his stationary inaugural "cruise".
Thwarted, Crowley hires Figg to take his dredger and demolish the structure late at night. Ambrose foils the scheme (with his ghostly ancestors watching approvingly), but in the process, part of the pier is detached and floats away. He remains aboard to prevent salvagers from claiming it and ends up in France, where he is hailed as a great naval hero.
[edit] Trivia
- This was the last film Guinness made for Ealing Studios. By coincidence, the first Ealing movie he starred in was Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which he also played numerous roles.
- Guinness actually served in the Royal Navy in World War II.
- Donald Pleasance has a small role as a bank teller at the beginning of the film.
