6.6
Life is not going well for the Huggetts. Father has lost his job. Jimmy and his wife cannot get to South Africa where he has a new job. So the family decide that they should go to South Africa by truck. With their travelling companion they travel across the desert which includes a brush with the law.
Jack Warner
Joe Huggett
Kathleen Harrison
Ethel Huggett
Dinah Sheridan
Jane Huggett
Susan Shaw
Susan Huggett
Petula Clark
Pet Huggett
Jimmy Hanley
Jimmy Gardner
Peter Hammond
Peter Hawtrey
Hugh McDermott
Bob McCoy
Amy Veness
Grandma Huggett
John Blythe
Gowan
Everley Gregg
Miss Phipps
Esma Cannon
Brown Owl
Brian Oulton
Travel Clerk
Olaf Pooley
Straker
Martin Miller
Customer
Meinhart Maur
Jeweller
Philo Hauser
Egyptian
Peter Illing
Algerian Detective
Frith Banbury
French Doctor
Marcel Poncin
Commander of the Fort
Fred Griffiths
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Director
Ken Annakin
Screenplay
Denis Constanduros
Screenplay
Mabel Constanduros
Screenplay
Ted Willis
Screenplay
Gerard Bryant
July 9, 2022
5
Easily the most far-fetched outing for our stoical post-war British family, this one sees them embark on a trans-African trip after "Father" (Jack Warner) loses his job and "Jimmy" (Jimmy Hanley) manages to get himself one - in Johannesburg. Needless to say, they haven't two farthings to rub together, and when poor old daughter "Jane" (Dinah Sheridan) can't get a visa to accompany her husband the whole family (with varying degrees of willingness) decide to decamp - by truck - and drive the 4,000-odd miles. Luckily (or not) they have the slightly iffy character of "Bob" (Hugh McDermott) to help (?) them so off they go. It's preposterous, from start to finish - even if back then, Britain still controlled great chunks of Africa. The comedy is absurd and the normally reliable leadership of Warner and on-screen wife Kathleen Harrison is subsumed into an almost episodic lesson in rather poorly written and executed slapstick. The charm and cheeriness of these films was always their selling point. This has neither, really, and at 90 minutes is far too long, too.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00