Can something that big fit in that hole? (Very Important Person (DVD))

Member Name: Ailran

Product:	Very Important Person (DVD)
Date:	14/04/09 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Robertson Justice and Phillips

Disadvantages: A bit slow moving, not rip roaringly funny

It is the height of World War II and Professor Ernest Pease has plans for a new bomb site that may shorten the war considerably. Before he will explain his invention in detail to the War Office though he wants to go on a bombing flight to check out certain facts in detail personally.

His experience of a bombing run is marred by his unfortunate exit of the plane via a gaping hole blown in its side by the German defences. Things get worse when he parachutes into a tree and is captured while hanging there, stranded.
Very soon, along with a fellow captured airman Jimmy Cooper, he is sent to a prisoner of war camp.
His brashness and intellectual aloofness don't make him many friends in the camp and his insistence at being helped to escape because he is a 'very important person' doesn't help matters.

When he formulates his own plan for escaping the camp the escape committee, led by John Le Mesurier, are not happy. They don't like the idea of him going his own way and what him to stick to procedure, something Pease is never going to do.
Will his plan for escape work though and what sort of trouble will he get the other prisoners in if he does attempt an escape?

After watching a whole bunch of Doctor films starring James Robertson Justice it was a pleasant surprise to uncover another film from the early sixties (1961 to be precise) starring him, and even more delighted to see that his fellow headlining star was again Leslie Phillips, who also shared top billing with Justice in a couple of the later Doctor movies.

As always Robertson Justice plays Pease, an upper class, up his arse, blustering man who accepts nothing less than the same brilliance he possesses from all those around him. I don't think I have seen him play anyone except that kind of man but it is a role he plays superbly well.
Leslie Phillips does exactly the same. Jimmy Cooper (his character) spends most of his time thinking about, fantasising about and lusting over women, this is some job in an all male POW camp. This is as much typecasting for Phillips as Pease is for Robertson Justice so we know what to expect from the two of them in this movie.

Very Important Person though also relies a lot on the rest of its cast. Two other men, both of who have almost equal screentime, also share the hut Pease and Cooper are in. As one of the two of them is Stanley Baxter this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to those who know their British actors.

The movie as a whole is very typical of British comedies of the period. It is very gentle, very story focussed and is generally amusing rather than laugh out loud funny, but it is amusing most of the time. Everything is a lot more character based than modern day comedies where, in my opinion at least, most of the comedy comes from the situations the characters are in rather than the characters themselves. There is nothing wrong with that at all it just makes a nice pleasant change to see the differing character traits of the main cast being explored in amongst the humour.

Having said that this really is Robertson Justice's movie. He may share top billing, and the amount of screen time, with Phillips but the story completely revolves around Pease and his desire to get back to England. It goes without saying that JRJ is worth his weight in gold and steals the film. Actually steals is the wrong word as he is the star!
Everyone else in the movie, even Phillips, are secondary to him and even though the script tries to use Phillips in some subplots (becoming a chorus girl in the camp entertainment show for example) you get the feeling they are doing it just to enlarge his role as they never really do anything to enhance the main plot of the movie.

John Le Mesurier as the head of the escape committee plays what could almost be a prototype of Wilson from Dad's Army, which is quite amusing to see. We also get a couple of short appearances from Eric Sykes, another TV stalwart from the 70's.

Very important Person will succeed or fail on whether or not you like Robertson Justice or not. Baxter and Phillips are good but it is Justice who is the strongest character, or maybe he just makes Pease come across that way through his sheer stage presence.

It makes perfect Sunday or weekday afternoon fun for all the family and is certainly funny enough to bring a smile to your face and a chuckle to your throat without having anything at all in it that could possibly offend.
It is available from Amazon on DVD and also appears on Channel 4 and FilmFour from time to time.

Summary: Comedy in a Prisoner of war camp?