The Belles of St. Trinian’s 1954 123movies

Watch: The Belles of St. Trinian’s 1954 123movies, Full Movie Online – The arrival of Sultan’s daughter Princess Fatima at England’s famous and prestigious ‘School for Young Ladies’ precipitates even more chaos than usual. Her father’s horse Arab Boy is due to run at the nearby Gold Cup so Clarence Fitton, bookie brother of headmistress Millicent, ensures his own daughter is on hand to report progress. At the same time Barchester police have planted sergeant Ruby Gates as a teacher, and the Ministry of Education are sending a third inspector down after the previous two disappeared without trace..
Plot: The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian’s are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when the arrival at the school of Princess Fatima of Makyad coincides with the return of recently expelled Arabella Fritton, who has the kidnap of a prize racehorse on her mind. The first film in the classic comedy series.
Smart Tags: #school #schoolgirl #steeplechase #horse_racing #woman_played_by_man #female_protagonist #st_trinian’s #uniform

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Ratings:

	6.7/10 Votes: 2,706
	71% | RottenTomatoes
	N/A | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 42 Popularity: 5.828 | TMDB

Reviews:

Alastair Sim was always an excellent comedy actor – his timing and facial expressions always managed to raise a smile for me. Here is has the dual role of the headmistress “Millicent” and of her scheming bookmaker brother “Clarence” as both, in their own way, try to make a killing on an horse owned by the wealthy father of her newest pupil “Princess Fatima”. The local village – and constabulary – live in terror of her establishment and of it’s rowdy and lawless student body, so they decide to send the plucky and enthusiastic “Sgt. Gates” (Joyce Grenfell) in to masquerade as the games mistress and to gather intelligence as to the dodgy goings on at “St. Trinian’s” enabling the law to shut it all down… A solid supporting cast of British actors – George Cole and Hermione Baddeley amongst them prop up well the central dynamic from Sim and the also rather effective Grenfell – another who had super comedy timing. The story is a little cringe-making at times, but the fact that all of the naughtiness comes from these devious and extremely innovative girls makes for a fun ninety minutes of escapades and japes. Plenty of flour fights and who’s ever seen an instrument of torture adapted from a laundry wringer? Like so many of the British comedies of the 1950s, it’s not comedy that could, or even ought, to be made now – but taken in the spirit of a search for some post war mischief and glee, it’s still good fun to watch even now.

St. Trinian’s School For Young Ladies.

The Belles of St. Trinian’s is directed by Frank Launder and co-written by Launder, Sidney Gilliat and Val Valentine. It stars Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley and Betty Ann Davis. Music is by Malcolm Arnold and cinematography by Stanley Pavey.

Inspired by the cartoon drawings of Ronald Searle, The Belles of St. Trinian’s is the first part of a franchise that still thrives even today. With 7 films currently under the Trinian’s banner, the roguish behaviour of the girls and their manner of dress sense passed into pop culture and is still going strong today. Either for sexual titillation (the St Trinian’s look has always been popular at fancy dress parties) or as a tag for unruly girls in British schools, it’s hard to believe that Searle envisaged the ever lasting appeal of his creations. Unfortunately the films are a mixed bunch, with a couple of them just plain bad. This however is not a problem with The Belles, the best of the bunch by some margin.

The Barchester Bedlam.

Pic is fronted by Sim in a dual role of brother and sister. The art of drag has been tarnished over the years by some of the more stuffy members of the human race, but in the right hands it often works so well, as evidence by the wonderful Sim here. The plot involves a gambling sting at the big horserace on the horizon, with Flash Harry (Cole) aided and abetted by the terrors of St. Trinian’s. It’s all very chaotic and horsey, both in the equine sense and in horseplay terms. Grenfell is the policewoman who goes under cover as a teacher in the school, where the staff roster is populated by British stars of the future like Beryl Reid, Joan Sims and Irene Handl.

The girls, of various stages of their schooling, smoke, toke, drink and take every opportunity to cause mischief. Their reputation precedes them, as the train that carries them inward bound for the new term approaches, the town citizens start to board the place up, even the chickens run off into hibernation! This is the on going joke that works right to the film’s conclusion, sadly it would run out of steam by the time The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery pulled into the station in 1966. But Belles is great fun, very British of course and very clever. From Sim being dry as the Sahara and Grenfell’s Duracell Bunny performance, to those rascal girls, the school is open for frolics and energised bedlam. Enjoy. 8/10

A classic British comedy
As the new term is about to begin everybody near St Trinian’s School for Young Ladies prepares for the worst; even the local police sergeant locks himself in his own cell! St Trinian’s reputation for crime and hooliganism is well deserved; in chemistry they make explosives and gin, in geography they learn where all the best wines are made and when they play hockey a large supply of stretchers are required! This term sees the arrival of a Fatima, an Arab princess, amongst the girls and the return of the headmistress’s previously expelled niece who hopes to learn about Fatima’s gather’s prize racehorse, Arab Boy, which her father has bet against. When Headmistress Millicent Fritton learns that the girls are planning to place a bet on Arab Boy with the local spiv she is horrified… then bets all of the school funds on it! As the day of the race approaches two groups of girls each struggle to make sure a different horse wins the race; and if the wrong one wins the school will have to close. If that wasn’t enough trouble an undercover policewoman has come to the school as the new gym teacher and a school inspector is going to pay a visit on parents’ day.

This, the first of the St Trinian’s film, may be almost sixty years old but it has lost none of its anarchic charm. Alastair Sim does a fine job playing both Miss Fritton and her bookie brother Clarence; sometimes in the same scene, Joyce Grenfell is good as the undercover Sgt, Gates and George Cole is fun as spiv Flash Harry… the real stars though are the numerous girls whose behaviour makes them amongst the most feared people in the country! They are portrayed as genuinely anarchic without being unlikably malicious. The plot is of course fairly silly but it works well enough for a comedy. If you enjoy classic British comedies then this one is a must see.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 31 min (91 min)
Budget 0
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated Not Rated
Genre Comedy, Family
Director Frank Launder
Writer Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat, Val Valentine
Actors Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole
Country United Kingdom
Awards N/A
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Aspect Ratio 1.37 : 1 (negative ratio), 1.80 : 1 (intended ratio)
Camera N/A
Laboratory N/A
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm