ComedyWar

Private's Progress

- The film that is respectfully dedicated to all those who got away with it !

Stanley Windrush has to interrupt his university education when he is called up towards the end of the war. He quickly proves himself not to be officer material, but befriends wily Private Percival Cox who knows exactly how all the scams work in the confused world of the British Army. And Stanley's brigadier War Office uncle seems to be up to something more than a bit shady too - and they are both soon working for him, behind the enemy lines.

Release Date : 1956-02-17

Language :JapaneseEnglishRussianGerman

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Charter Film ProductionsBritish Lion Film CorporationBoulting Brothers

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Pte. Stanley Windrush

Original Name : Ian Carmichael

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pvt. Percival Henry Cox

Original Name : Richard Attenborough

Gender : Male

Character Name : Major Hitchcock

Original Name : Terry-Thomas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Psychiatrist

Original Name : John Le Mesurier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sgt. Sutton

Original Name : William Hartnell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Brig. Bertram Tracepurcel

Original Name : Dennis Price

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Horrocks

Original Name : Ian Bannen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Arthur Egan

Original Name : Peter Jones

Gender : Male

Character Name : Major Schultz

Original Name : Christopher Lee

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Windrush Sr.

Original Name : Miles Malleson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Prudence Greenslade

Original Name : Jill Adams

Gender : Female

Character Name : Private George Blake

Original Name : Victor Maddern

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Dai Jones

Original Name : Kenneth Griffith

Gender : Male

Character Name : Padre

Original Name : George Coulouris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Sugden

Original Name : Marianne Stone

Gender : Female

Character Name : Doctor at Medical

Original Name : Ronald Adam

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Spottiswood

Original Name : Henry B. Longhurst

Gender : Male

Character Name : Catherine

Original Name : Sally Miles

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gerald

Original Name : David King-Wood

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pat

Original Name : Derrick De Marney

Gender : Male

Character Name : M.O. at Gravestone Camp

Original Name : Brian Oulton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Col. Fanshawe

Original Name : Michael Trubshawe

Gender : Male

Character Name : Captain Bootle

Original Name : Thorley Walters

Gender : Male

Character Name : SgtMaj. Gradwick

Original Name : John Warren

Gender : Male

Character Name : General Tomlinson

Original Name : Robert Raglan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Art Expert

Original Name : Henry Oscar

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Officer

Original Name : Nicholas Bruce

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Agent

Original Name : Theodore Zichy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pvt. Green - Driver

Original Name : Patrick Westwood

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Officer (uncredited)

Original Name : Jack Carter

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

What a shower you really are. Upper class toff Stanley Windrush gets called to join the Army half way thru his university eduction, keen he may be, but he really is a fish out of water. Brought to us from the greatly talented Boulting brothers, is this most adored of British comedies. It's fish out of water plot has been {and will forever be} done to death, but driving this one on is the sly digs at the British class system so evident in the Armed forces from yore. Windrush can't cut it as the officer his standing suggests he should be, so he is promptly sent down amongst the working class, and it's here that the film appeals mainly on the comedy front. Windrush is in with a group of dodgers and bluffers, the army has taken them in, but they are going to take what they can from the army in the process, legal or not! Yet it's here that Windrush learns the most about affinity, friendships and trust, where the classes being broken down provides scope for real good comedy, to which the meeting of the different classes works so well as the makers keenly prod the inside of the cheek with a sharp tongue. Ian Carmichael is not the most gifted actor to have strode out for Britain, but in the right comedy role he could excel, such is the case here as he delivers the goods as the hapless Windrush. Across the cast list we have got Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, William Hartnell, Ian Bannen and the sublime Terry-Thomas, all names that are familiar with British movie fans from the black and white period. Private's Progress is a very British picture, the humour isn't of the sledge-hammer kind, it's very subtle and very knowing. But it's a film that I'm sure will go down well with anyone who is willing to invest some good, right frame of mind, time with it. Not quite the shower Terry-Thomas would have us believe actually. 7/10