I watched this film last night and found some of the film very amusing while other parts a bit cringy,for instance the many times women drivers were mentioned,which i know was very typical of that era, the only woman character driving in the film {Anabella) was portrayed as being very incompetent and was crashing into everything and everyone every time you see her behind a wheel which i found a bit annoying especially when you are kind of lead to believe that she is only on the road because she is upper class and privileged to be able to.In reality women drivers back then were usually very cautious and careful,if not slower drivers than the men.
Onto the characters ,Lionel Jeffries was funny in his Scotsman role although his accent did keep slipping from time to time so not entirely convincing .Terry Thomas and Wilfried Hyde White were brilliant as always.I feel James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips were badly underused and for me the actor who stole the movie for me was Denholm Elliot who i thought dominated every scene he was in and was sadly underused .
The ending for me was very disappointing as the American character who you were kind of rooting for as he did get more screen time than everyone else, turns into a complete shallow user and a creep in the last 3 minutes of the film ,by this point you were hoping he would get disqualified or something.
This film is not a class British comedy and doesnt hold up to the Ealing films or even the early Carry ons of the time . It is amusing at times but just dont expect too much as a classic it isnt even though the great star cast may make you think otherwise.
Review of You Must Be Joking!
