Not Wanted on Voyage * (1957, Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Griffith Jones, Katie Boyle, Fabia Drake, Michael Brennan) – Classic Movie Review 13,045

The unwanted farcical 1957 British comedy film Not Wanted on Voyage is based on a play by married couple Evadne Price and Ken Attiwell, and stars Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Griffith Jones, and Katie Boyle.

Director Maclean Rogers’s 1957 British comedy film Not Wanted on Voyage is based on a play by married couple Evadne Price and Ken Attiwell, and stars Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Griffith Jones, Katie Boyle (Catherine Boyle), with Fabia Drake, Michael Brennan, and Michael Shepley.

The tedious Fifties farce Not Wanted on Voyage, showcasing the Ronald Shiner – Brian Rix team, is not wanted at all, thank you. It is set aboard a Tangier-bound luxury liner on a Mediterranean cruise, where cocky cockney cabin steward Albert Higgins (Shiner) and posher steward Cecil Hollebone (Rix) are after money from the passengers but help to find a stolen necklace and bring the culprits to justice.

The lame script by Michael Pertwee (scenario), Dudley Turrock (an original work by), Evadne Price  (additional situations and dialogue), Roland Pertwee (uncredited), and Jack Marks (uncredited), adapted from a Fifties play, shows its soggy edges and has dated as badly as the star performances. The stars and the capable support cast mostly drown under the weight of the stodgy, stale lines, though Fabia Drake as the wealthy Mrs Brough whose jewels get stolen, Michael Brennan as the exasperated Chief Steward, and Michael Shepley as the demanding Colonel Blewton-Fawcett offer very welcome relief. It’s harmless enough, but always silly and mostly just not funny.

It is made at British National Studios.

Release date: November 1957 (UK).

The cast are Ronald Shiner as Steward Albert Higgins, Brian Rix as Steward Cecil Hollebone, Griffith Jones as Guy Harding, Catherine Boyle (Katie Boyle) as Julie Hains, Fabia Drake as Mrs Brough, Michael Brennan as Chief Steward, Michael Shepley as Colonel Blewton-Fawcett, Dorinda Stevens as Pat, Martin Boddey as Captain, Janet Barrow as Lady Maud Catesby, Therese Burton as Mrs Rose, John Chapman as Mr Rose. Peter Prowse as Strang, Eric Pohlmann as Pedro, Larry Noble as Steward Bleeding, Michael Ripper as Steward Macy, and Hugh Moxey as First Officer.

Not Wanted on Voyage is directed by Maclean Rogers, runs 82 minutes, is made by Byron Films and Ronald Shiner Productions, is released by Renown Pictures (UK), is written by Michael Pertwee (scenario), Dudley Turrock (an original work by), Evadne Price  (additional situations and dialogue), Roland Pertwee (uncredited), and Jack Marks (uncredited), is shot in black and white by Arthur Grant, is produced by George Minter, Henry Halstead and Jack Marks, is scored by Tony Fones and Tony Lowry, and designed by Elven Webb.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,045

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