(1953, GB, 102 min) Dir Aldous Oxbury. Cast David Niven, Dirk Bogarde, Charles Falder.
Florist duo Ted and Gerry decide to do their bit in the war and sign up for duty in Her Majesties navy, both assigned to the same ship, the HMS Pielight under the watchful eye of the notoriously humourless disciplinarian Captain Reginald Oxphroy. Ted and Gerry, being incorrigible cut-ups (as we have seen in training when they snuck a goat into their Sergent’s bedroom), decide to have themselves a little fun decorating the ship with flowers of all sorts and sizes and the more Oxphroy clamps down on them the more they appear. They find themselves eyeing up a court-martial for insubordination when suddenly, on the horizon, a U-boat! A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues and wouldn’t you know it the only thing that keeps the ship’s morale up is those damned pansies! Of course the krauts get a jolly good thrashing and of course Oxphroy comes around to the mischievous florists way of things and before the films out it’s medals all round. Hurrah!
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