{"id":29268,"date":"2013-01-07T22:09:17","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T05:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29268"},"modified":"2022-05-28T13:43:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T20:43:05","slug":"wrong-box-the-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29268","title":{"rendered":"Wrong Box, The (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Thank you for pointing out to me how obscene eggs are.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAs the members of a group investment scheme gradually die off, two elderly brothers &#8212; Masterman (John Mills) and Joseph (Ralph Richardson) Finsbury &#8212; find themselves last in line to inherit the money. Mills, concerned about the well-being of his soft-spoken nephew (Michael Caine), intends to kill off his brother so that the money will be Caine&#8217;s; meanwhile, enroute to visit their &#8220;dying&#8221; uncle (Mills), Richardson&#8217;s two scheming nephews (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore) mistakenly believe Richardson has died in a train wreck, and seek the help of an unscrupulous doctor (Peter Sellers) in falsifying the date on his death certificate.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Bryan Forbes Films<\/li>\n<li>Death and Dying<\/li>\n<li>Dudley Moore Films<\/li>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<li>John Mills Films<\/li>\n<li>Michael Caine Films<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken Identities<\/li>\n<li>Peter Sellers Films<\/li>\n<li>Ralph Richardson Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that while the &#8220;actors are funny [and] the lines are funny&#8221;, this &#8220;once-popular black comedy&#8221; &#8212; based on a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Wrong_Box_%28novel%29\">novel<\/a> by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osborne, about an outdated inheritance scheme known as a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tontine\">&#8220;tontine&#8221;<\/a> &#8212; &#8220;isn&#8217;t funny&#8221;. He accurately points out that &#8220;director Bryan Forbes has no sense of comedy pacing&#8221;, and that the &#8220;picture has no snap&#8221;, instead going &#8220;on and on without hitting any comedy peaks&#8221;. Indeed, in comparison with a comedic gem like <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24966\"><em>Kind Hearts and Coronets<\/em> (1949)<\/a> &#8212; which the opening scenes here weakly attempt to emulate &#8212; <em>The Wrong Box<\/em> is positively a dud. I disagree with Peary that the &#8220;lines are funny&#8221;; indeed, I found myself disappointed again and again by the inanity of both the dialogue and the scenarios. For instance, in a scene involving a group of female Salvation Army soldiers, a character cries out &#8220;Mercy!&#8221;, at which point one of the soldiers steps forth as though called by name, saying, &#8220;Yes?&#8221; (Thud.) There&#8217;s simply no humor in an interaction like this. <\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Forbes tries too hard, pulling out every trick in the book &#8212; including weirdly unnecessary inter-titles, a bit of slow-motion, and tricky editing &#8212; in an attempt to bring the material to life. Meanwhile, the majority of the characters come across as either insipid (i.e., Michael Caine and his would-be lover, played by Nanette Newman, whose entire romance seems pointless to the plot) or evil, leaving precious few folks left to root for or enjoy. Exceptions include Richardson&#8217;s wickedly droll turn as a polymath professor who simply won&#8217;t shut up; Wilfrid Lawson as an inconceivably decrepit butler; and Peter Sellers in a scene-stealing performance as an outrageously corrupt doctor. While I agree with Peary that (many of) the actors do a fine job, their efforts are ultimately wasted in a vehicle that doesn&#8217;t do them or the premise justice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Peter Sellers as Dr. Pratt<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sellers.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sellers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sellers.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sellers-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sellers-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ralph Richardson as Joseph Finsbury<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Richardson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Richardson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Richardson.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Richardson-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Richardson-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Peter Cook as Morris Finsbury<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Cook.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Cook.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Cook.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Cook-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Cook-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Wilfrid Lawson as Peacock the butler<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Lawson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Lawson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Lawson.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Lawson-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Lawson-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine period sets and costumes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sets.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sets-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Wrong-Box-Sets-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Barry&#8217;s score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; this one is a disappointment.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0061204\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1966\/07\/20\/archives\/screen-wrong-box-as-a-film-farcestevenson-story-done-over-at-cinema.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=6880&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/96315\/the-wrong-box#articles-reviews?articleId=178968\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Thank you for pointing out to me how obscene eggs are.&#8221; Synopsis: As the members of a group investment scheme gradually die off, two elderly brothers &#8212; Masterman (John Mills) and Joseph (Ralph Richardson) Finsbury &#8212; find themselves last in line to inherit the money. Mills, concerned about the well-being of his soft-spoken nephew (Michael Caine), intends to kill off his brother so that the money will be Caine&#8217;s; meanwhile, enroute to visit their &#8220;dying&#8221; uncle (Mills), Richardson&#8217;s two scheming&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29268\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29268"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84407,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29268\/revisions\/84407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}