It's always a good idea in a film with a serious topic that might depress the audience to get them in by making it into a comedy, and with the presence of Terry-Thomas in the lead, a guaranteed hit is ensured. Add in a chimpanzee, and you got double the recipe for a hit black comedy that the British really knew how to do as evidenced by the Ealing films that starred Alec Guinness. The topic of this film involves the possibility of a smallpox epidemic, with a prestigious passenger aboard a plane on his way back to England just one of many victims of this, possibly the result of germ warfare. There's also a chance that the epidemic has been started for a much different reason involving a prestigious oil deal. Sounds ripe for a comedy, yes? Well maybe the plotline is it, but the way it is presented certainly becomes droll and amusing, and keeps the viewers interested.
The wife of the ailing oilman (Sonja Ziemann) is quite a bit younger than him, and is a bit suspicious in her mannerisms and in the way that she evades questioning. Alex Nicol, Richard Briers and Honor Blackman have other pitoval roles in this comedy thriller. Meekah is the chimp in its only film appearance, and of course, it's adorable. Ziemann is an alluring femme fatale, dressed to the nines, and indeed, she is an intriguing it's suspicious character in the film, going after the American Nicol seemingly to find out what he knows and keep him at bay. Good location footage and editing and music helps out with the witty dialog. Pretty relevant film 60 years after its release, and not the first film that I've discovered that deals with epidemics or pandemics that were made long before the current one.
The wife of the ailing oilman (Sonja Ziemann) is quite a bit younger than him, and is a bit suspicious in her mannerisms and in the way that she evades questioning. Alex Nicol, Richard Briers and Honor Blackman have other pitoval roles in this comedy thriller. Meekah is the chimp in its only film appearance, and of course, it's adorable. Ziemann is an alluring femme fatale, dressed to the nines, and indeed, she is an intriguing it's suspicious character in the film, going after the American Nicol seemingly to find out what he knows and keep him at bay. Good location footage and editing and music helps out with the witty dialog. Pretty relevant film 60 years after its release, and not the first film that I've discovered that deals with epidemics or pandemics that were made long before the current one.