Review of Very Important Person (1961) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

Directed by Ken Annakin (Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)), this is a very entertaining Prisoner of War comedy, with a cast which reads like a who's who of British comedy of stage, screen and TV.

It also has a brilliant lead from a bombastic British actor who was brilliant at these kinds of roles. During World War II, scientist Sir Ernest Pease (James Robertson Justice) is sent on an RAF mission to see how on of his inventions works, however for security reasons, no-one has to know who he is, so he goes in as Lieutenant Farrow.

But, when the plane is attacked over Germany, Pease manages to bail out, but is captured by the German's. He is sent to a POW camp, mostly occupied by RAF officers, led by Senior British Officer Travers (Norman Bird), who susses out that Pease isn't really Farrow.

Pease comes clean, and confides in Travers, who along with fellow prisoners Jimmy Cooper (Leslie Phillips), Everett (Stanley Baxter) and "Bonzo" Baines (Jeremy Lloyd) hatch a plan to help get Pease out of there and back home to Blighty before anyone releases he's gone.

It is a witty and amusing comedy, James Robertson Justice was a true force of nature, and he was great at playing grumpy old men, and here is no exception, with a witty script and good support by John Le Mesurier, Richard Wattis and Eric Sykes.