''Carlton-Browne of the F.O.'' (U.S. title: ''Man in a Cocked Hat'') is a 1959 British
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
made by the
Boulting Brothers
John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
and starring
Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...
,
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
, and
Luciana Paluzzi
Luciana Paluzzi (born 10 June 1937) is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, '' Thunderball'', but she had important roles in notable films of the 1960s and 1970s in ...
. It centres on an inept
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
(F.O.) diplomat who is sent to re-establish good relations with the island of Gaillardia, an obscure former British colony that attracts the attention of both the UK and the USSR for its mineral deposits.
Plot
A
title sequence
A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with visu ...
prologue details Britain's accidental acquisition of the island of Gaillardia (located somewhere on the
33rd parallel south
The 33rd parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 33 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America.
Around the world
Starting at t ...
) during the 18th century, the feud between the two halves of the island and Britain's granting Gaillardia
self-rule
__NOTOC__
Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
in 1916. When independence was granted, the Foreign Office (F.O.) failed to notify its representative, who was still there forty years later. He writes a letter to the F.O. informing them of suspicious Russian activity.
After some research, the F.O. decide the matter falls under the responsibility of Carlton-Browne, head of the Department of Miscellaneous Territories. Brutally inept, he had only gained the position due to the distinguished career of his father. He suggests sending out two British geologists under the cover of a
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
Morris dancing
Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...
troupe putting on a show for the king of Gaillardia. At the show, the king is assassinated and his young
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
-educated son Loris flies out to accede to the throne. On the flight, travelling incognito as 'Mr Jones', he talks to a beautiful young woman who happens to be from Gaillardia. Carlton-Browne is sent out to see to British interests under the new king, accompanied by his
military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
Colonel Bellingham of the
Bays.
Loris and his prime minister Amphibulos stall the British, hoping to start a bidding war between them and the Russians for the country's mineral wealth. Amphibulos hopes to get rich, but Loris hopes to modernise his country and benefit its people. The two are then visited by Loris's uncle
Grand Duke
Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...
Alexis and the veiled Princess Ilyena, whom Alexis and his rebels are backing as the true claimant to the throne.
To settle the struggle between Loris and Alexis, the British persuade the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
to
partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
the island (to save costs, this is accomplished by little more than painting a white line across the island with a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
pitch marking trolley). Soon afterwards, the British mineralogists arrive back at the F.O. to announce they have discovered rich
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...
deposits, on what is now Alexis's half of the island. Loris comes to Britain for talks, but the F.O. refuse to meet him, instead negotiating with Alexis so Britain can seize the mineral wealth. Loris discovers this and also overhears Amphibulos giving Alexis his support and planning to overthrow Loris in favour of Ilyena.
Disgusted, Loris leaves his hotel and meets Ilyena, who is attempting to avoid an unintelligent British suitor Carlton-Browne has set up for her. Loris recognises her as the young woman from the plane but only discovers her true identity when they duck into a
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
and see a
newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
of her arrival in Britain. Initially angry that she has hidden her identity from him, he soon falls in love with her and starts to discuss with her how to outwit both Amphibulos and Alexis. The F.O. receive news of a revolution in Gaillardia, withdraw their support for the partition and send Bellingham at the head of a party of
parachutists to put down the revolution.
After the parachutists mistakenly attack their own
HQ, Bellingham and Carlton-Browne are captured and taken to see the leaders of the revolution, Loris and Ilyena, now engaged to be married. Loris pretends that Carlton-Browne is not in Gaillardia to intervene in the revolution, but to give his congratulations on the engagement, which Carlton-Browne goes along with. Gaillardia is reunited, the Russians, British and Americans leave and Carlton-Browne is granted orders of chivalry by both Gaillardia and Britain for his services to world peace. The credits roll on a scene of a team of workmen painting out the white line.
Cast
*
Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...
as Cadogan De Vere Carlton-Browne
*
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
as Prime Minister Amphibulos
*
Luciana Paluzzi
Luciana Paluzzi (born 10 June 1937) is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, '' Thunderball'', but she had important roles in notable films of the 1960s and 1970s in ...
as Princess Ilyena
*
Ian Bannen
Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in '' The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965), the first ...
as the young King Loris
*
Thorley Walters
Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in ''Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''.
Early life
Walters was born in Tei ...
as Colonel Bellingham
*
Raymond Huntley
Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' as the pragmatic family so ...
as Tufton-Slade, foreign secretary
*
Miles Malleson
William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...
as Davidson, Resident Advisor
*
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...
as the Grand Duke
*
Marie Lohr
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...
as Lady Carlton-Browne
*
Kynaston Reeves
Philip Arthur Reeves (29 May 18935 December 1971), known professionally as Kynaston Reeves, was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.
Early life
Reeves was born in London on 29 May 189 ...
as Sir Arthur Carlton-Browne
*
Ronald Adam
General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...
as Sir John Farthing
*
John Van Eyssen
John Van Eyssen (born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen, 19 March 1922 – 13 November 1995) was a South African born actor, agent and film production executive. He moved to Britain following the Second World War, attending the Central School of ...
as Hewitt
*
Nicholas Parsons
Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...
as Rodgers
*
Irene Handl
Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films.
Life
Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...
as Mrs. Carter
*
Harry Locke
Harry Locke (10 December 1913 – 7 September 1987) was an English character actor.
He was born and died in London. He married Joan Cowderoy in 1943 and Cordelia Sewell in 1952. He was a good friend of the poet Dylan Thomas. Their friendship in ...
as Gaillardian commentator
*
Basil Dignam
Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor.
Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...
as Security Officer
*
Sam Kydd
Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...
as Signaller
*Robert Bruce as Major Miller
*
John Glyn-Jones
John Glyn-Jones (28 August 1908 – 21 January 1997) was a British stage, radio, television and film actor.
His father, William Glyn-Jones, was a Member of Parliament and he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Oxford University. He ...
as Newsreel Interviewer
*
Marianne Stone
Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...
as Woman in Cinema
*
Kathryn Keeton as Dancer
*
Margaret Lacey
Margaret Brackenbury Lacey (26 October 1911 – 4 October 1988) was a British character actress and ballet teacher. She appeared in over 30 films between 1957 and 1985, usually playing a sweet old lady or motherly figure in minor roles.
Early ...
as Onlooker
See also
*''
Gaillardia
''Gaillardia'' (common name blanket flower) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was an enthusias ...
'', a relative of the sunflower
External links
*
{{Jeffrey Dell
1959 films
1959 comedy films
1950s English-language films
British black-and-white films
British comedy films
Films directed by Roy Boulting
Films directed by Jeffrey Dell
Films scored by John Addison
Films set in the Caribbean
Films set on islands
1950s British films