Penniless Lord Whitebait's plan to save his sinking fortunes is to open stately Whitebait Manor to the public. But the public ignores his gesture, and his fortunes fade even further, with a stream of debts threatening to run into a deluge when his daughter's fiancé demands a plush and costly wedding. Where is the cash to come from? Whitebait and his servant Spankforth's answer is a scam involving the theft of a valuable painting from the Manor. How could such a cunningly original ruse fail?
Acting
Brian Rix's physical comedy—elastic limbs, panicked eyes, perfect timing.
Direction
Conyers keeps 80 minutes breathless; no scene overstays its welcome.
Production
Whitebait Manor itself—a crumbling character, every room ripe for disaster.
Director
Darcy Conyers
Brian Rix
Wilfred Sapling
Naunton Wayne
Lord Whitebait
Charles Heslop
Spankworth
Ann Firbank
Lady Katherine
John Slater
Warder Lockitt
Vera Pearce
Lady Millicent
Alexander Gauge
Policeman
Jack Watling
Peter Brewster
Irene Handl
Elsie
Bernard Cribbins
Newspaperman
Wally Patch
Newspaperman
Wilfrid Lawson
Albert
Terry Scott
PC Budgie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rix and Conyers were the Lennon-McCartney of 1960s British farce, cranking out door-slamming hits for hungry post-war audiences.
Brian Rix, a champion for disability rights, later became Baron Rix—proving life imitates art's class climbing.
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