A Cuckoo in the Nest

You know what - this is actually not a bad effort from an ensemble cast that manages to squeeze quite a bit from a really frugal storyline. A man and a woman have to share a room at an overcrowded inn one night. Snags a plenty follow - they are married to other people but used to be engaged to each other - recipe for disaster if you ask me! Tom Walls and Yvonne Arnaud reunite alongside Ralph Lynn, an instantly recognisable (by his voice) Cecil Parker and Roger Livesey to keep the things bubbling along amusingly enough for 90 minutes. The comedy does rather telegraph the punchlines some way ahead of the delivery, but there are decent attempts at the characterisations and the consistent pace doesn't let the grass grow. It's of limited appeal 90 years on, but I actually quite enjoyed it...

"A Cuckoo in the Nest" is a bit hard to watch because of the strong English accents. However, as we Americans have been sending our movies to the UK for decades, I think I have little reason to complain. Still, some closed captions for this film might help a bit.

When the story begins, a husband and wife are taking a rail journey. The husband gets off the train, briefly, to buy something and gets distracted when he meets an old lady friend. In the process, he and the lady miss the train...and the wife helplessly looks from the train and sees them. They give chase in a car but when the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, the pair are forced to talk to the nearest inn to find a room. Unfortunately, there is only one room and the pair pretend to be married to each other in order to get the room.

Does all of this seem to be a bit naughty if taken the wrong way? Of course. And when the wife's parents give chase, they eventually end up at the same inn. The mother-in-law is an old prude and assumes there's been hanky-panky. The father-in-law, on the other hand, is a nice guy...a drunk...but a nice guy. And, judging by his wife, I can see why he drinks! He tries his best to help out...and there is a funny scene where he pretends to be high daughter so the husband can rehearse what he's planning on saying to her. What comes of all this? See the film.

This is a clever little comedy where you have two completely faithful spouses who are stuck in a dilemma because so much makes it appear as if they are having a tryst. Very clever writing...and I really enjoyed the father-in-law...he was a hoot!

"A Cuckoo in the Nest" is one of the dozen Aldwych Farces that Tom Walls directed and starred in. Ben Travers wrote the stage play and the dialog, as he did for nine of the farces. This is not one of the better stories and films in the group. But for a few very funny situations that turn on witty and zany lines, this film would be a flop.

The long episodes with a few mishaps and antics - mostly with Ralph Lynn's Peter Wyckham, probably amused audiences in the 1930s. They resemble somewhat the foibles of Laurel and Hardy or the Three Stooges, but with just one character. But these many years later, these long drawn out scenes soon become tedious and lose what little humor they might have had. This is one plot that seems like it would work much better on stage than on film.

Tom Walls plays Maj. Bone as a sot throughout, and he is quite good, believable and funny in that role. But, even that lasts up to a point. His character and situations soon become tedious as well. The only thing that saves the film is that it has occasional scenes of delirium with very funny dialog between Maj. Bone and various other characters. Most folks today may find it hard to sit through the full length of this film just for those few dialog detours.

Here are some of the better lines in the film.

Maj. Bone, "Oh, nonsense, Constance."

Mrs. Bone, "You seem very experienced." Maj. Bone, "No, just an ordinary public school education."

Landlord. "It's getting pretty late isn't it?" Maj. Bone, "I don't wanna know what time it is."

Landlord, " Well, how far is it?" Major Bone, "Well, how do I know? If I knew how far it was, I'd know the name of the place, wouldn't I?" Landlord, "Not necessarily." Maj. Bone, "What?" Landlord, "Not necessarily. Now take China, for instance." Maj. Bone, "What's wrong with China?" Landlord, "You know where China is, but you don't know how far it is, not strictly speaking.

Maj. Bone, "Well, I'd like some of that too." Landlord, "Some of what?" Major Bone, "Some of what you've been drinking."

Maj. Bone, "Is this it? Pinhorn, "No, we took the wrong road." Major Bone, "What do you mean, WE took the wrong road? I haven't taken it have I?" Pinhorn, "That's simply a matter of figure of speech."

Mrs. Spoker, "I guess there is a boat of soup left over." Peter Wyckham, "Left over from what?"

Maj Bone, "You should have thought of that before it happened." Peter Wyckham, "How could I have thought of it before it happened when it hasn't happened?"

Marguerite Hickett, "So, you think I'm that kind of woman, do you? You poisonous-minded old witch."

Given that almost the entire film concerns a pretty flimsy mix-up, there is quite a bit of humor here. There are some great one-liners, some great mugging to the camera, and some outrageous accents. The father in particular does a great job of not overplaying the "drunk" scenes, but instead really adds pathos to a fairly thankless role.

Tom Walls is an unlikely hero; he's not particularly handsome, (or to be frank, funny), but he does have charisma and he brings a lightheartedness to the film that is refreshing considering the kind of frustrations the plot introduces.

I was pretty amazed at the level of sexual innuendo here too, very open. Totally worth catching if you get the chance.

This nonsense actually made me laugh: not an easy task! It's a film version of a massively successful stage comedy from the 1920s which spurred another 11 sequels. You'll be amazed that something this old can be this funny.

Those Brian Rix farces such as DON'T JUST LIE THERE and even today's THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG can probably trace their comedy roots back to this, the grand-daddy on all those farces. This has to be one of the silliest films I've ever seen. The characters are all purposely absurd stereotypes (who appeared in all the sequels too) but since this team had been doing this same act for 15 years, they knew exactly how to make us laugh.

Ralph Lynn is perfect as the loveable upper class twit, complete with monocal and silly accent. He actually reminded me of Richard Murdoch... you know, Stinker Murdoch? Or Number 2 in the fantastic radio comedy, THE MEN FROM THE MINISTRY? If you have any idea whom I'm talking about then this is your film! Even if you've no idea who I'm talking about, you'll know Will Hay. This isn't (if you can believe it) as sophisticated as a Will Hay picture but it's that kind of humour. It's genuinely funny.

The only down side is that the leader of this group of nutters was Tom Walls (who in this plays the drunk, hen-pecked father in law) who certainly was talented but also a pretty lousy film director. Apparently he drove Michael Balcon, who was running Gaumont-British at the time, mad with his 'amateurish' approach to film making but because his plays were so massive, he wasn't going to argue with him (too much). The direction is indeed pretty dire - if this was any other picture, it might matter but here it's just not important.