In World War II, a failed British officer is selected by his uncle, a brigadier with the War Office, to participate in a secret operation to recover looted artwork from the Germans.In World War II, a failed British officer is selected by his uncle, a brigadier with the War Office, to participate in a secret operation to recover looted artwork from the Germans.In World War II, a failed British officer is selected by his uncle, a brigadier with the War Office, to participate in a secret operation to recover looted artwork from the Germans.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Henry B. Longhurst
- Mr. Spottiswood
- (as Henry Longhurst)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn addition to playing a German Officer in this movie (mostly speaking in English), Sir Christopher Lee dubbed the voice of the Dennis Price character in the scenes where he is speaking in German.
- GoofsOnce they are all dressed as German soldiers and behind German lines the vehicles they are using should really be left-hand drive (continental), not right-hand drive (British).
- Quotes
Maj. Hitchcock: Good Lord - Windrush! What on earth are you doing dressed up as a Jerry? You're an absolute bounder.
- Crazy creditsAt the end of the opening credits, there is a drawing depicting three officers in the "hear, see & speak no evil" stance with the words "the producers gratefully acknowledge the official cooperation of absolutely nobody.
- ConnectionsEdited into Heroes of Comedy: Terry-Thomas (1995)
Featured review
The Halliwell's Film Guide that I used to get and live by always praised 'Private's Progress', but has it ever been on TV? Not that I know of and as someone in his mid 40's I hardly would have seen it when it was theatrically released.
So, now, to my just purchased Terry Thomas Collection; very good value and which includes this film plus five more. I would suggest this be the best way of buying Private's Progress, as the remainder (not seen yet) are well regarded and Thomas starred in some great films.
My second viewing in two days and I'm loving the disarmingly naive Ian Carmichael, who isn't quite a fish out of water but is certainly floundering at the edges. The film is set in 1942 and the offbeat intro sets the tone. The script is superb, gently bristling with satirical jibes and subtle in-jokes that are only revealed after repeat viewings. The comedy relies on intelligent writing rather than visual gags, so give it a chance - and concentrate!
The cast list is quite an extravaganza, a feast of well-known and famous faces that I was brought up on. Aside of the aforementioned Terry Thomas, who is the entertainingly robust toff Major Hitchcock, John Le Mesurier as an Army psychiatrist and a bounder of a chancing fellow private, Richard Attenborough. As Private Cox, he instigates a major theme of this film, getting out all you can from an unfortunate situation that war happens to be. We might associate such waspish satire with the likes of Hollywood writers such as Billy Wilder and his 'Stalag 17', but this is our very own, very English example.
There's also an array of other, lesser characters that will be familiar to anybody who watches Brit movies of the '60s.
It all rolls along nicely, fairly briskly leading to a rather bizarre situation that finds Windrush moving into Intelligence, becoming a Japanese translator but gets sent on a mission to Germany - where his new found skills prove absolutely useless and he nearly ends up getting shot as he can't speak a word of German! The story about stolen art treasures that his Brigadier uncle (Dennis Price) is having brought back, somewhat unofficially, from occupied Germany quickens the visual pace and sees out the film, ending with Windrush finally back at his old school, where he is a master.
Transfer quality: this one is fine, obviously un-restored and slightly grainy, with the odd blemish but seldom noticeable and which is par for the course for a film of this era.
So, Private's Progress is a delight, hideously unknown and one of British cinema's little gems.
So, now, to my just purchased Terry Thomas Collection; very good value and which includes this film plus five more. I would suggest this be the best way of buying Private's Progress, as the remainder (not seen yet) are well regarded and Thomas starred in some great films.
My second viewing in two days and I'm loving the disarmingly naive Ian Carmichael, who isn't quite a fish out of water but is certainly floundering at the edges. The film is set in 1942 and the offbeat intro sets the tone. The script is superb, gently bristling with satirical jibes and subtle in-jokes that are only revealed after repeat viewings. The comedy relies on intelligent writing rather than visual gags, so give it a chance - and concentrate!
The cast list is quite an extravaganza, a feast of well-known and famous faces that I was brought up on. Aside of the aforementioned Terry Thomas, who is the entertainingly robust toff Major Hitchcock, John Le Mesurier as an Army psychiatrist and a bounder of a chancing fellow private, Richard Attenborough. As Private Cox, he instigates a major theme of this film, getting out all you can from an unfortunate situation that war happens to be. We might associate such waspish satire with the likes of Hollywood writers such as Billy Wilder and his 'Stalag 17', but this is our very own, very English example.
There's also an array of other, lesser characters that will be familiar to anybody who watches Brit movies of the '60s.
It all rolls along nicely, fairly briskly leading to a rather bizarre situation that finds Windrush moving into Intelligence, becoming a Japanese translator but gets sent on a mission to Germany - where his new found skills prove absolutely useless and he nearly ends up getting shot as he can't speak a word of German! The story about stolen art treasures that his Brigadier uncle (Dennis Price) is having brought back, somewhat unofficially, from occupied Germany quickens the visual pace and sees out the film, ending with Windrush finally back at his old school, where he is a master.
Transfer quality: this one is fine, obviously un-restored and slightly grainy, with the odd blemish but seldom noticeable and which is par for the course for a film of this era.
So, Private's Progress is a delight, hideously unknown and one of British cinema's little gems.
- tim-764-291856
- May 16, 2012
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Vojska čini čoveka
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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