Christy Leskovar This is laugh-out-loud funny. Clever hilarious dialogue, zany story. The students of a boys' school in 19th century England are told that their parents have enrolled them in a tontine. Each family put a sum of money into the tontine, and the last member alive will get the whole kitty. It's sort of like The Last Man's Club of which my grandpa Peter was a member with his First World War chums, but that was for a bottle of whiskey. The story then shows the very bizarre ways the members of the tontine meet their demise until only two are left, who are brothers who haven't spoken to each other in years. A young Michael Caine plays the grandson of one of the brothers. The rest of the movie is a madcap chase for the tontine. Peter Sellers has a small part as a drunk, dishonorable doctor. No matter how small the part, Peter Sellers is always unforgettable.

benosler Firstly let me say that I'm a big "Pete & Dud" fan. The right film I like. I have nothing against the right film. The trouble is... This is a hum-drum affair. Yes, it's worth watching but only to see a bit of Pete & Dud if you know and love them. If you want a funny, flowing film with a good plot and lots of laughs then forget it. This film, like Mr. Spigot, hops about on one leg and doesn't entirely stand up for itself. It's farce without the funny "mistaken identity" bedroom scenes and interaction between anyone other than Pete, Dud, and a drunkard servant (well played that man), ooh... and one dippy woman. On the plus side if you like coffin-based farce (a sort of maxi-episode of 'Allo, 'Allo - the one with the coffin), then this is for you. They did marginally better with their "Hound of the Baskervilles". Dave Allen's coffin sketch was better than this. The overall impression is "in through one ear and out the other". Worth watching from a "Pete & Dud" history POV but not much else going for it as a film in its own right.

TheLittleSongbird I saw The Wrong Box for the cast, who were undoubtedly some of the best actors of that time, and apart from the ending which was a little too rushed for my tastes I enjoyed every minute of this film. It is filmed beautifully, flowing well from one scene to the next, and the settings and costumes are luscious to look at. John Barry's score is as exciting and memorable as anything else this late great composer ever did, while the story was paced just right for me and very interesting and the writing and situations are unforced and always hilarious(with too many to list). Bryan Forbes I felt directed quite assuredly in alternative to slack, and the cast are simply to die for. Wilfrid Lawson and Peter Sellers especially are comedy gold, though Tony Hancock is also very funny, Michael Caine more than holds his own, John Mills and Ralph Richardson appeal even if their characters aren't as easy initially to warm to and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are in their prime and seeing them together is worth the viewing alone. All in all, a real joy, can't recommend it enough. 9/10 Bethany Cox

bkoganbing At some point the brothers Finsbury must have had some second thoughts about entering that lottery for life which is what the Tontine is. And it's true as Ralph Richardson reminds us in the film that the concept is named after the 17th century Italian banker who came up with the idea.Essentially a Tontine is a life's lottery, several folks put up an initial investment and we of course presume it is in the hands of some really conservative bankers who don't go into something wildly speculative. If that's done the winner of the Tontine is the last survivor among the initial investors.Wouldn't you know it, but the last survivors as it turns out are a pair of feuding brothers, the Finsburys played by John Mills and Ralph Richardson. These two guys don't speak on general principles to start with, but with over 100,000 in pound sterling up for grabs, these two old coots are at each other and if not them, their respective heirs.Worst of course is Dudley Moore and Peter Cook who are Richardson's nephews, presumably on his wife's side. They hear Mills is dying and Mills is one of those characters who's been dying for a couple of generations and buries everybody around him. But in order for them to inherit Mills has to go first and then Richardson and it's all their'sThus the black comedy begins with the two schemers trying to work out a pair of deaths in the correct order. It may be black comedy, but it's also Murphy's law comedy, but Murphy never dealt with some of the situations thrown at the cast.Best in the film in my opinion is Ralph Richardson. He's one of those pedantic scholarly types who has learned a lot on just about everything and who doesn't hesitate to show off his knowledge and bore everyone around him to tears. It's no wonder Mills rises from what is thought to be his deathbed to strangle him, just to shut him up. It's the best scene in the film, marvelously played by two of the best from the British cinema. So if you think your family has problems just think about the Finsbury brothers and what they and their relations go through in The Wrong Box.