''Who Goes There!'' I (U.S. title: ''The Passionate Sentry'' )is a 1952 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Nigel Patrick, Valerie Hobson and George Cole. It was written by John Dighton based on his 1950 play ''Who Goes There!''. The film depicts the farcical activities of the various inhabitants of a grace and favour house near

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, England. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

Plot

Sir Hubert Cornwall is a member of the royal household and lives with his adult children Miles and Alex in a grace and favour house. One weekend, noticing the house is empty, Queen's Guard sentry Arthur Crisp installs his ex-girfriend there while she recovers from an accident. Miles returns unexpectedly and assumes Christina is a burglar, and soon falls in love with her. Alex appears and tries to reunite Christina with Arthur, who has been caught leaving his post and faces a court martial. When Sir Hubert returns he frees Arthur by telephoning Buckingham Palace, and Arthur and Christina are reunited.

Cast

* Nigel Patrick as Miles Cornwall * Valerie Hobson as Alex Cornwall * George Cole as Guardsman Arthur Crisp * Peggy Cummins as Christina Deed *

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and also ap ...

as Major Guy Ashley * A. E. Matthews as Sir Hubert Cornwall *

Joss Ambler Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both ...

as tour guide

Production

The film was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...

with some location filming around the Palace in London. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Wilfred Shingleton.

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938) for Alfred Hitchcock, and '' Nig ...

claims that

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)

directed the film but gave credit to someone else.

Release

For the United States release the American censors removed two uses of the word "Cripes!".

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Made in the canned style of '' Home at Seven'', this traditional British farce is a rather more competent exampie of much staple fare in the '30s, It s all very larkish and class-conscious, charaded to the manner born by Nigel Patrick, Valerie Hobson, and A. E. Matthews, and with distinct unease by Anthony Bushell, Peggy Cummins and George Cole." '' Kine Weekly'' wrote: "Streamlined farcical comedy. ... Clean, brightly burnished fun smoothly put over by an attractive cast and a resourceful director. It's admirably equipped to amuse all types of audiences." '' Variety'' wrote: "First-class escapist fare. Dialog is crisply written. Picture is smoothly directed and a good compact all-round cast extract every ounce of fun. ... Good camera work and smart editing round out the technical qualities."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Very British romantic farce, dully and quickly filmed from a West End success." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Well-oiled class-distinctions farce; a popular success."

Radio version

A version of ''Who Goes There!'' was broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

''Saturday Night Theatre'' on 25 March 1954.

References

External links

* 1952 films 1952 comedy films British black-and-white films British comedy films British films based on plays Films directed by Anthony Kimmins Guards Division (United Kingdom) Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot at Shepperton Studios Military comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Fictional soldiers {{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub