Starring Ian Carmichael and Janette Scott, "Double Bunk" feels like a sequel to the hilarious "School for Scoundrels." There are no figures comparable to the inimitable Alastair Sim or Terry-Thomas, who supported Carmichael and Scott in "School for Scoundrels." However, in "Double Bunk" Carmichael and Scott are aided and abetted by Sid James, Liz Fraser, and Dennis Price (who had a very insignificant part in "School for Scoundrels").
In "Double Bunk" Carmichael and Scott are newlyweds who, fed up with the cost of rent, purchase a houseboat. The houseboat is the typical junk sold to gullible newlyweds, and the pair immediately run afoul of the man with the biggest yacht.
With the help of his pal Sid (James), and without the consent of his wife, Carmichael repairs the boat's engine and sets off for a Honeymoon cruise on the river. James is a car salesman, but he's toned down from the unscrupulous scalawag he portrayed so well in "Hancock's Half Hour." However, he does display some of the lechery that made him famous later, on both sides of the Atlantic, in the "Carry On" movies. Joining Carmichael and Scott on the cruise, James brings a girl (Liz Fraser) he meet in a strip joint.
Carmichael (who had made a career playing fresh and gullible young men) and James (who made a career playing the sort of scoundrels and lechers who usually take Carmichael's characters in) work well together.
Fraser ("I'm All Right, Jack"; "Two Way Stretch") has her bountiful assets on display as much as possible. She and her assets come in quite handy on the cruise: she dissuades a Thames Conservancy Officer (Naughton Wayne, looking like he sorely misses Basil Radford) who wants to cite Carmichael for the excessive damage his houseboat has caused from a high wake due to speeding down the river; and she distracts Dennis Price and his crew with a (tame) striptease while Carmichael and James swipe needed fuel.
The movie's greatest flaw is that everything that happens is Carmichael's fault, either directly or indirectly. Scott is doled out some comic business resulting from the blunders of the others. This means her role is largely reactive, and it makes her seem too superior to her husband. Since they are both novices at marriage and at boating, they should both be making errors from their inexperience.
According to Carmichael's autobiography, he was playing "The Gazebo" on stage simultaneously with making this movie. He was filming on the Thames by day and darting to his stage performance that evening. During one performance he stepped into the wings and collapsed from exhaustion. He shows little fraying on-screen, but his performance is a tad lackluster, probably because he wasn't giving the movie all his strength.
Not a lot happens in this movie, but it's amusing and there's some amazing stunt work with boats. Look for Miles Malleson and Irene Handle in throw-away roles.
In "Double Bunk" Carmichael and Scott are newlyweds who, fed up with the cost of rent, purchase a houseboat. The houseboat is the typical junk sold to gullible newlyweds, and the pair immediately run afoul of the man with the biggest yacht.
With the help of his pal Sid (James), and without the consent of his wife, Carmichael repairs the boat's engine and sets off for a Honeymoon cruise on the river. James is a car salesman, but he's toned down from the unscrupulous scalawag he portrayed so well in "Hancock's Half Hour." However, he does display some of the lechery that made him famous later, on both sides of the Atlantic, in the "Carry On" movies. Joining Carmichael and Scott on the cruise, James brings a girl (Liz Fraser) he meet in a strip joint.
Carmichael (who had made a career playing fresh and gullible young men) and James (who made a career playing the sort of scoundrels and lechers who usually take Carmichael's characters in) work well together.
Fraser ("I'm All Right, Jack"; "Two Way Stretch") has her bountiful assets on display as much as possible. She and her assets come in quite handy on the cruise: she dissuades a Thames Conservancy Officer (Naughton Wayne, looking like he sorely misses Basil Radford) who wants to cite Carmichael for the excessive damage his houseboat has caused from a high wake due to speeding down the river; and she distracts Dennis Price and his crew with a (tame) striptease while Carmichael and James swipe needed fuel.
The movie's greatest flaw is that everything that happens is Carmichael's fault, either directly or indirectly. Scott is doled out some comic business resulting from the blunders of the others. This means her role is largely reactive, and it makes her seem too superior to her husband. Since they are both novices at marriage and at boating, they should both be making errors from their inexperience.
According to Carmichael's autobiography, he was playing "The Gazebo" on stage simultaneously with making this movie. He was filming on the Thames by day and darting to his stage performance that evening. During one performance he stepped into the wings and collapsed from exhaustion. He shows little fraying on-screen, but his performance is a tad lackluster, probably because he wasn't giving the movie all his strength.
Not a lot happens in this movie, but it's amusing and there's some amazing stunt work with boats. Look for Miles Malleson and Irene Handle in throw-away roles.