Film Review: Reviewed By David Parkinson; 4 out of 5

The cosiest of the Ealing comedies, this is essentially a one-joke affair that is spun out with masterly skill by that most gifted teller of shaggy-dog stories, TEB Clarke, who received an Oscar nomination for his story and screenplay. Once local historian Margaret Rutherford discovers that the Pimlico area of London belongs to the Duchy of Burgundy, the scene could have been set for a sniping satire on the state of postwar England. Clarke and director Henry Cornelius's decision to cock only the gentlest of snooks at such bugbears as rationing and the breakdown of wartime camaraderie is slightly disappointing, but the majority of the situations are ingenious, and the cast is top quality.

Plot Summary

Ealing comedy starring Stanley Holloway and Margaret Rutherford. When the residents of a small area of London discover that it is historically part of Burgundy in France, new borders are drawn up and a government is formed.