''Bottoms Up'' is a 1960 British comedy film. It stars

Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early lif ...

in a spin-off of his TV comedy series ''

Whack-O! ''Whack-O!'' is a British sitcom TV series starring Jimmy Edwards, written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and broadcast from 1956 to 1960 and 1971 to 1972. The series (in black and white) ran on the BBC from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 19 ...

'', playing the seedy, alcoholic, cane-wielding headmaster of Chiselbury School, a fictional

British public school In England and Wales (but not Scotland), a public school is a fee-charging endowed school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profess ...

. Screenplay was by

Michael Pertwee Michael Henry Pertwee (24 April 1916, Kensington, London – 17 April 1991, Camden, London) was an English playwright and screenwriter. Among his credits were episodes of '' The Saint'', ''Danger Man'', '' Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', '' B-A ...

, with additional dialogue by

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wro ...

and

Denis Norden Denis Mostyn Norden (6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the ...

. The cast includes juvenile actor John "Mitch" Mitchell (as Wendover), who in the late 1960s was the drummer in

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, using his adult stage name,

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

, and it also marks the first film appearance of

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

Plot summary

Professor Jim Edwards is the headmaster of Chiselbury School, a

private boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for boys. A new head of the school's Board of Governors threatens to replace him as headmaster unless he can drastically improve the school's performance. When Edwards is also confronted by his bookmaker demanding money he owes and which he cannot pay, he devises a plan to deal with both problems by agreeing to accept into Chiselbury the bookmaker's son who will impersonate the heir to the throne of an oil-rich (fictional) state in the Middle East, which he hopes will persuade other parents to enrol their sons.

Cast list

as Professor Jim Edwards *Arthur Howard as Oliver Pettigrew *

(billed as John Mitchell) as Peregrine Wendover *Martita Hunt as Lady Gore-Willoughby *Sydney Tafler as Sid Biggs *Raymond Huntley as Garrick Jones *Reginald Beckwith as Bishop Wendover *Vanda Hudson as Matron (as Vanda) *Melvyn Hayes as Cecil Biggs *Donald Hewlett as Hamley *

as Colbourne

Critical reception

*''TV Guide'' called the film an "inane slapstick comedy set in an English boarding school ... Forced humour from a slapdash script and direction." *Allmovie wrote: "producer/director Mario Zampi knows where the laughs are and knows how to get them in full measure." *Sky movies wrote: "it could have been a lot funnier, but, even so, it's a useful record of Edwards in his element."

References

External links

* 1960 films British comedy films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films shot in Hertfordshire 1960 comedy films Films based on television series Films directed by Mario Zampi Films set in schools 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-comedy-film-stub