Some see this movie working on several levels, but I tended to see it as not being able to focus at any level. As to the thriller aspect of the story, I was unable to suspend my level of disbelief to the extent required. As to the comedy aspect, there were some clever lines that made me laugh, but the general level of foolishness seemed to sabotage the other aspects of the film - take the absurd fight in the cargo car for example. The only way the movie worked for me was as a political allegory: there are the two English gentlemen obsessing over the cricket scores and not wanting to get involved with the intrigue (i.e. the impending war), there is the lawyer being more concerned about his reputation than telling the truth (the British legal system being aloof), the pacifist waving his white flag and being gunned down (the naivety of the appeasers), the earnest Margaret Lockwood (the Cassandra who sees the truth but nobody will listen to her), and so on. The political overtones are serious indeed, but they are trivialized by the inanity of the story.
The first twenty minutes or so in the hotel were so tedious and stagy that I almost bailed out then, but I persisted to discover some redeeming qualities. Lockwood and Redgrave make a fun couple, Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford play well off of each other, Dame May Witty is a delight, and there is some interesting camera work. But the negatives outweighed the positives for me.
The first twenty minutes or so in the hotel were so tedious and stagy that I almost bailed out then, but I persisted to discover some redeeming qualities. Lockwood and Redgrave make a fun couple, Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford play well off of each other, Dame May Witty is a delight, and there is some interesting camera work. But the negatives outweighed the positives for me.