Review of I'm All Right Jack (1959) by Jonathan G — 11 May 2008

Uneasy viewing: there's no doubt that this is a tendentious film, with a distinctly repulsive prejudice against working people (no-one in this film works except the upward-aspirational Mrs Kite and Windrush), and while it flays Big Capital, it does so in Carry On style, while real venom is reserved for Kite and the comical trade unionists.

However, the cast is great - Terry-Thomas, Sellers, John Le Mesurier (with a bizarre facial tic) and Dennis Price are all perfect casting, and there's even a fine cameo from Malcolm Muggeridge as himself.

Surrealism is evident in the involvement of some stage vikings near the end, and of course the film itself begins and closes in a nudist colony, throwing in a Benny Hill chase scene along the way. Don't buy into the lies - management in the UK wasn't professionalized until the late 1970s, and was a root cause of our poor productivity - but do sit back and enjoy the performances.