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The Wrong Box (1966
1966 in film

The year 1966 in film involved some significant events....
) is a British comedy film
Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on Humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies....
 made by Salamander Film Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an United States film production company and distribution company. It was one of the so-called studio system among the eight major film studios of Hollywood Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood....
. It was produced and directed by Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes

Bryan Forbes, Order of the British Empire is an England film director, actor and writer....
 from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart

Larry Simon Gelbart is an American comedy writer and playwright with over sixty years of credits....
 and Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove

Burt Shevelove was an United States musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale ....
, based on the novel
The Wrong Box (novel)

The Wrong Box is a black comedy novel co-written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, first published in 1889 in literature. The story is about the last two remaining survivors of a tontine, who also happen to be brothers....
 by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson , was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and Travel writing. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov, J....
 and Lloyd Osbourne
Lloyd Osbourne

Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the step-son of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Osbourne was born in San Francisco, California to his mother Fanny Vandegrift, who would marry Stevenson in 1880 when Osbourne was 12 years old....
. The film is notable for using intertitle
Intertitle

In motion pictures, an intertitle is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action, at various points, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed....
s to describe the action, a technique usually associated with silent film
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
s.

It stars a number of Britain's best comic actors of the time, including John Mills
John Mills

Sir John Mills Order of the British Empire was an England actor, who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades....
, Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine Order of the British Empire , is a two-time Academy Award and multiple BAFTA Award and Golden Globe winning England film actor who has appeared in more than one hundred films....
, Peter Cook
Peter Cook

Peter Edward Cook was an English people satirist, writer and comedian. He is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s....
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore Order of the British Empire was an English people actor, comedian and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s and became famous as half of the hugely popular television double-act he formed with Peter Cook....
, Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers

'Richard Henry Sellers', Order of British Empire, commonly known as 'Peter Sellers' was a United Kingdom comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr....
, Irene Handl
Irene Handl

Irene Handl was an England film Actor noted for her comic and character parts....
 and Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock

Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was a popular British actor and comedian....
.

elderly brothers Masterman (John Mills) and Joseph Finsbury (Ralph Richardson) are the last surviving members of a tontine
Tontine

A tontine is a scheme for raising capital which combines features of a group Annuity , and a lottery....
, an investment scheme set up many years before, in which the last surviving member stands to receive a fortune.






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Encyclopedia


The Wrong Box (1966
1966 in film

The year 1966 in film involved some significant events....
) is a British comedy film
Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on Humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies....
 made by Salamander Film Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an United States film production company and distribution company. It was one of the so-called studio system among the eight major film studios of Hollywood Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood....
. It was produced and directed by Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes

Bryan Forbes, Order of the British Empire is an England film director, actor and writer....
 from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart

Larry Simon Gelbart is an American comedy writer and playwright with over sixty years of credits....
 and Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove

Burt Shevelove was an United States musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale ....
, based on the novel
The Wrong Box (novel)

The Wrong Box is a black comedy novel co-written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, first published in 1889 in literature. The story is about the last two remaining survivors of a tontine, who also happen to be brothers....
 by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson , was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and Travel writing. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov, J....
 and Lloyd Osbourne
Lloyd Osbourne

Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the step-son of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Osbourne was born in San Francisco, California to his mother Fanny Vandegrift, who would marry Stevenson in 1880 when Osbourne was 12 years old....
. The film is notable for using intertitle
Intertitle

In motion pictures, an intertitle is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action, at various points, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed....
s to describe the action, a technique usually associated with silent film
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
s.

It stars a number of Britain's best comic actors of the time, including John Mills
John Mills

Sir John Mills Order of the British Empire was an England actor, who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades....
, Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine Order of the British Empire , is a two-time Academy Award and multiple BAFTA Award and Golden Globe winning England film actor who has appeared in more than one hundred films....
, Peter Cook
Peter Cook

Peter Edward Cook was an English people satirist, writer and comedian. He is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s....
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore Order of the British Empire was an English people actor, comedian and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s and became famous as half of the hugely popular television double-act he formed with Peter Cook....
, Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers

'Richard Henry Sellers', Order of British Empire, commonly known as 'Peter Sellers' was a United Kingdom comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr....
, Irene Handl
Irene Handl

Irene Handl was an England film Actor noted for her comic and character parts....
 and Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock

Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was a popular British actor and comedian....
.

Plot

Two elderly brothers Masterman (John Mills) and Joseph Finsbury (Ralph Richardson) are the last surviving members of a tontine
Tontine

A tontine is a scheme for raising capital which combines features of a group Annuity , and a lottery....
, an investment scheme set up many years before, in which the last surviving member stands to receive a fortune. Masterman is attended by his medical student grandson, Michael (Michael Caine), while his greedy cousins Morris (Peter Cook) and John (Dudley Moore) do their best to keep their annoying uncle Joseph alive. Masterman, who hasn't talked to his despised brother in many years, summons Joseph to his "deathbed", intending to kill him so that Michael can get the money.

On the train trip to London, Joseph escapes from his minders, entering a compartment and boring the sole occupant with a litany of trivial facts (something he does with everyone he encounters). The other man later turns out to be the "Bournemouth Strangler". Joseph later leaves to smoke a cigarette leaving his coat behind, which the strangler puts on. The train then crashes head-on into another one coming the other way. In the confusion, Morris and John find the strangler's mutilated body and mistakenly believe it is that of their uncle.

Morris decides to try to hide this long enough for Masterman to pass away. Morris and John put the body in a barrel and have it shipped to their London home, several doors down from Masterman's residence. However, it is delivered to the Masterman house. Joseph makes his way to London on his own and visits his brother; they quarrel.

Meanwhile, Michael meets and falls in love with Joseph's ward, Julia (Nanette Newman
Nanette Newman

Nanette Newman is an England actress and author....
). Things become complicated when Michael discovers the contents of the barrel and, after learning of the dispute between Masterman and Joseph from family butler Peacock (Wilfrid Lawson
Wilfrid Lawson (actor)

Wilfrid Lawson was a United Kingdom character actor.His most celebrated role was as dustman Alfred P. Doolittle in the 1938 film version of George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion , the role later played by Stanley Holloway in the musical My Fair Lady ....
), assumes that his grandfather has killed his brother. Various misunderstandings and antics result.

Cast

  • John Mills
    John Mills

    Sir John Mills Order of the British Empire was an England actor, who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades....
     as Masterman Finsbury
  • Ralph Richardson
    Ralph Richardson

    Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
     as Joseph Finsbury
  • Michael Caine
    Michael Caine

    Sir Michael Caine Order of the British Empire , is a two-time Academy Award and multiple BAFTA Award and Golden Globe winning England film actor who has appeared in more than one hundred films....
     as Michael Finsbury
  • Peter Cook
    Peter Cook

    Peter Edward Cook was an English people satirist, writer and comedian. He is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s....
     as Morris Finsbury
  • Dudley Moore
    Dudley Moore

    Dudley Stuart John Moore Order of the British Empire was an English people actor, comedian and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s and became famous as half of the hugely popular television double-act he formed with Peter Cook....
     as John Finsbury
  • Nanette Newman
    Nanette Newman

    Nanette Newman is an England actress and author....
     as Julia Finsbury
  • Peter Sellers
    Peter Sellers

    'Richard Henry Sellers', Order of British Empire, commonly known as 'Peter Sellers' was a United Kingdom comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr....
     as Dr. Pratt
  • Tony Hancock
    Tony Hancock

    Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was a popular British actor and comedian....
     as Detective
  • Wilfrid Lawson
    Wilfrid Lawson (actor)

    Wilfrid Lawson was a United Kingdom character actor.His most celebrated role was as dustman Alfred P. Doolittle in the 1938 film version of George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion , the role later played by Stanley Holloway in the musical My Fair Lady ....
     as Peacock
  • Thorley Walters
    Thorley Walters

    Thorley Walters was an England character actor.He is probably best remembered for his comedy films including Blue Murder at St Trinian's , The Pure Hell of St Trinian's , Two-Way Stretch , Carlton-Browne of the FO and The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother ....
     as Lawyer Patience
  • Cicely Courtneidge
    Cicely Courtneidge

    Dame Cicely Courtneidge Order of the British Empire was an England actress and comedian....
     as Major Martha
  • Irene Handl
    Irene Handl

    Irene Handl was an England film Actor noted for her comic and character parts....
     as Mrs. Hackett
  • John Le Mesurier
    John Le Mesurier

    John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson on the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army....
     as Dr. Slattery


Filming locations

Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios

Pinewood Studios is a major United Kingdom film studio situated in Iver, Buckinghamshire. Approximately 20 miles west of Central London on what was the estate of Heatherden Hall, the studios were created in 1934 by Charles Boot and built within 12 months by the Henry Boot Company of Sheffield....
, Iver, Bucks
Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a Ceremonial counties of England and Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England home counties Counties of England in South East England England....
 was the main production base for the studio sets and many exteriors, with the Victorian London crescent exteriors being shot on Bath's historic Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent

The Royal Crescent is a residential road of 30 houses, laid out in a Crescent , in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a grade I listed building....
, complete with TV aerials on the roofs. A couple of years later, Oliver!
Oliver!

Oliver! is a United Kingdom Musical theater, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is loosely based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
 was believed to have used the same location, but in fact the "Who Will Buy" sequence was shot on a specially built set at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios

Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931. A part of the Pinewood Group along with Pinewood Studios and Teddington Studios, it has produced many notable films....
. The funeral coach and horse chase was filmed on Englefield Green
Englefield Green

Englefield Green is a village in northern Surrey, England. It is near Royal Holloway, University of London, the south eastern corner of Windsor Great Park and the towns of Egham, Old Windsor and Virginia Water....
, Surrey and surrounding lanes.

External links