The Pure Hell of St Trinian's
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's | |
---|---|
Official poster | |
Directed by | Frank Launder |
Produced by |
Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat |
Written by |
Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat Val Valentine |
Starring |
Sid James Cecil Parker Joyce Grenfell George Cole Eric Barker Thorley Walters |
Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
Cinematography | Gerald Gibbs |
Edited by | Thelma Connell |
Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 min. |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's was a 1960 British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School. Directed by Frank Launder and written by him and Sidney Gilliat, it was the third in a series of five films.
Plot
The girls burn their school to the ground, and subsequently are found guilty at the Old Bailey. The judge, however, is keen on leggy blonde Rosalie (Julie Alexander), and under her influence the girls are freed when Professor Canford of the University of Bagdad (Cecil Parker) claims he can rehabilitate the girls with the tutelage of teacher Miss Harker-Packer (Irene Handl), and requests they be placed in his custody for a 12-month probationary period. Canford’s real scheme is not so benevolent, and he has ulterior motives for sending the St. Trinian’s Sixth Form girls, along with Flash Harry (George Cole) and police Sgt. Ruby Gates (Joyce Grenfell), on a bogus cultural tour of the Greek Islands aboard a luxury yacht.
Canford and Alphonse O'Reilly (Sid James) intend to take the girls to a Middle Eastern harem as wives for a sheik and his many sons. O’Reilly discovers Canford, Gates and Flash Harry hiding under a lifeboat tarpaulin, and without their knowledge sets the boat adrift at sea. All three end up stranded on a deserted island. They arrive at the sheik's palace and the sons try to have their pick. But the kidnapped girls fight back in a madcap climactic brawl when the Fourth Form comes to the rescue. In a final scene the girls, back in Britain, burn down the new school.
Cast
George Cole as "Flash Harry", Cecil Parker as Professor Canford, John Le Mesurier as the Minister of Education, Joyce Grenfell as local policewoman Sergeant Ruby Gates, and Lloyd Lamble as Superintendent Kemp-Bird, the reluctant fiancé of Ruby Gates.
Raymond Huntley appeared as the Judge, Cyril Chamberlain as the Army Captain, Sid James as Alphonse O'Reilly (nicknamed 'Wyatt Earp' by the girls), and Irene Handl as headmistress Miss Harker-Packer.
The civil servants of the Ministry of Education were played by Eric Barker as Culpepper-Brown, and Thorley Walters as Butters.
- Cecil Parker as Professor Canford
- George Cole as Flash Harry
- Joyce Grenfell as Sergeant Ruby Gates
- Eric Barker as Culpepper-Brown
- Thorley Walters as Butters
- Irene Handl as Miss Harker-Packer
- Dennis Price as Gore Blackwood
- Sid James as Alphonse O'Reilly
- Julie Alexander as Rosalie Dawn
- Lloyd Lamble as Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird
- Raymond Huntley as Judge
- Nicholas Phipps as Major Hargreaves
- Lisa Lee as Miss Brenner
- John Le Mesurier as Minister of Education
- George Benson as Defence Counsel
- Elwyn Brook-Jones as Emir
- Basil Dignam as Army Officer
- Cyril Chamberlain as Captain Thompson
- Michael Ripper as Eric the liftman
- Mark Dignam as Prosecuting Counsel
- Monte Landis as Octavius
- Warren Mitchell as Tailor
- Clive Morton as V.I.P.
- Wensley Pithey as Chief Constable
- Bill Shine as Usher
- Harold Berens as British Consul
- Liz Fraser as WPC Susan Partridge
- Maria Lennard as Millicent
- Dawn Beret as Jane
External links
- The Pure Hell of St Trinian's at the Internet Movie Database
- The Pure Hell of St Trinian's at AllMovie
- St Trinians Net
|
|