The Baby and the Battleship
| The Baby and the Battleship | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jay Lewis |
| Starring | John Mills |
| Music by | Humphrey Searle |
| Distributed by |
British Lion Films Distributors Corporation of America (US) |
Release dates | 1956 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £258,845 (UK)[1] |
The Baby and the Battleship is a colour 1956 British comedy film directed by Jay Lewis and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough and André Morell.[2] It is based on the 1956 novel by Anthony Thorne with a screenplay by Richard De Roy, Gilbert Hackforth-Jones and Bryan Forbes. The Royal Navy provided a large amount of cooperation with sequences filmed aboard HMS Birmingham and in Malta.
Plot
When a group of Royal Navy sailors go ashore on shore leave to Naples, they are forced to care for a baby, separated from its mother.[3] During a brawl, Puncher Roberts is knocked unconscious and finds the square empty, except for the baby. Unable to find his friend Knocker, or the child's mother, he smuggles the baby aboard their ship in the midst of a series of joint operations with Allied navies off the coast of Italy.
Cast
- John Mills - Puncher Roberts
- Richard Attenborough - Knocker White
- André Morell - Marshal
- Bryan Forbes - Professor Evans
- Michael Hordern - Captain Hugh
- Ernest Clark - Commander Geoffrey Digby
- Harry Locke - Chief Petty Officer Blades
- Michael Howard - Joe
- Lionel Jeffries - George
- Clifford Mollison - Sails
- Thorley Walters - Lieutenant Setley
- Duncan Lamont - Master-at-Arms
- Lisa Gastoni - Maria
- Cyril Raymond - PMO
- Harold Siddons - Whiskers
- D. A. Clarke-Smith - The Admiral
- Kenneth Griffith - Sub-Lieutenant
- John Le Mesurier - The Marshal's Aide
- Carlo Giustini - Carlo Vespucci
- Ferdy Mayne - Interpreter
- Vincent Barbi - Second Brother
- Gordon Jackson - Harry
- Vittorio Vittori - Third Brother
- Martyn Garrett - The Baby
- Barry Foster - Sailor at Dance
- Robert Ayres - American Captain
Reception
The film was one of the ten most popular movies at the British box office in 1956.[4]
References
- ↑ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p509
- ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/24688
- ↑ "The Baby and the Battleship(1956)". Yahoo Movies. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ↑ BRITISH. FILMS MADE MOST MONEY: BOX-OFFICE SURVEY The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959) [Manchester (UK)] 28 Dec 1956: 3