Down Among the Z Men
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Down Among the Z Men | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Maclean Rogers |
| Produced by | E. J. Fancey |
| Written by | Francis Charles Jimmy Grafton |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Harry Secombe Spike Milligan Carole Carr Graham Stark |
| Music by | Jack Jordan |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
| Release date(s) | 1952 |
| Running time | 75 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Down Among the Z Men is a 1952 British comedy film starring Peter Sellers.
Down Among the Z Men was one of several films starring cast members of the 1950s BBC Home Service radio hit The Goon Show, where Sellers first came to national prominence. Another popular Goon who went on to greater prominence, Spike Milligan, is also featured in the film.
The plot of the film, which is rather slight, concerns the plight of Harry, who is a clerk in Mr. Crab's general merchantile store and an amateur actor in community theatre, where he is currently playing a Scotland Yard inspector. When a nutty professor contracted to do top-secret work on atomic weapons theory for the Ministry of Defence inadvertently derives his secret formula in Crab's store and then, equally inadvertently, leaves it in the custody of Harry, mayhem ensues. Two suspicious secret agents, who have been shadowing the professor, question Harry. In an attempt to return the formula to the professor, Harry goes to an Army post, Camp Warwell, where he is mistakenly enlisted in the Z Men, obstensibly an elite unit guarding atomic secrets but in reality a ragtag group of reservists, retreads, and others of marginal (at best) competence. The colonel commanding the post, Sellers, has been assigned for security puposes a supposed "daughter" who is in fact a female MI-5 operative. Harry soon becomes smitten with the "daughter". The plot to steal the secret formula is eventually thwarted, but not until the assembled cast is exposed to another of the professor's inventions, a combination laughing-crying gas.
The plot is largely a device to sting together the comedic and variety aspects of the film, which include dancing (in the guise of "physical training" of female soldiers, conducted by Harry), musical numbers, and a post talent show where even the commander has a large role which includes his mocking of American war movies in an American accent, an ability which Sellers was to display in many of his future films.
[edit] External links
- Down Among the Z Men at the Internet Movie Database
- Down Among the Z Men at All Movie Guide
- Down Among the Z Men at Rotten Tomatoes
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| The Goons |
| Michael Bentine • Spike Milligan • Harry Secombe • Peter Sellers |
| Other Contributors |
| Ray Ellington • Max Geldray • Wallace Greenslade • Larry Stephens • Wally Stott • Eric Sykes • Andrew Timothy |
| Radio & TV Series |
| The Goon Show • The Telegoons |
| Films |
| Let's Go Crazy • Penny Points to Paradise • Down Among the Z Men • The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn • The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film |
| Characters |
| Cast members and their Characters • Major Bloodnok • Bluebottle • Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister • Eccles • Hercules Grytpype-Thynne • Count Jim Moriarty • Neddie Seagoon |
| General information |
| Episodes and archiving • Running Jokes |
