This Month

Screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke, a major influence behind the Ealing comedy cycle and the writer of Alec Guinness's first Ealing success, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), got the idea for All at Sea (AKA Barnacle Bill), 1957, while sunning himself on Brighton Pier. And Clarke got more than just a suntan and an idea. He and Ealing copped quite a coup when they were able to lure Guinness back to Ealing just as he was winning rave notices for his performance in The Bridge On the River Kwai, also released in 1957. Sir Michael Balcon, the guiding force behind Ealing and one of the most important figures in British film history, generously allowed that success behind the Ealing Studio comedies were attributable to the contributions of many, including writers, directors, and producers. But Balcon also maintained that no one was more important to the Ealing comedy cycle than Guinness, whose talent caused the Ealing comedies to be referred to in America as the "Guinness comedies." The actor's work in the Ealing comedies helped him immeasurably in becoming the one British artist who attained international star status without having to work outside Great Britain.

All at Sea was the last and least profitable comedy Guinness made at Ealing. The other, more successful Ealing works were Kind Hearts and Coronets, A Run for Your Money (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). It was in Kind Hearts and Coronets that Guinness showed an early knack for multi-character acting, as he does in All at Sea. In the latter, he is seen over the passage of time as various members of a seafaring family before ending up as William Horatio Ambrose, a sailor who gets sea sick and would rather stay on land, fixing up an old pier and turning it into an amusement park.

Alas, not only was All at Sea the last Ealing comedy, it was the only one not filmed at Ealing Studios. Shortly before All at Sea was made, Ealing Studios closed and were sold to the BBC for television production. The last film made there was a 1956 detective mystery called The Long Arm (It was released in the U.S. as The Third Key). Sir Michael Balcon restructured the production process at Borehamwood Studios under the auspices of MGM for the next three years. The Shiralee (1957), Dunkirk (1958), Man in the Sky (1957) were produced along with All at Sea before Ealing shut down production for good.

Producer: Michael Balcon
Director: Charles Frend
Screenplay: T.E.B. Clarke
Production Design: Alfred W. Marcus
Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe
Costume Design: Sophie Devine
Film Editing: Jack Harris
Original Music: John Addison, Derek New
Principal Cast: Alec Guinness (William Horatio Ambrose), Irene Browne (Mrs. Barrington), Percy Herbert (Tommy), Harold Goodwin (Duckworth), Maurice Denham (The Mayor).
BW-82m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Scott McGee