SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Bill Slocum Everything about this delightful comedy starring Alec Guinness cries out "Ealing Studios" – that factory for genial humor of a more innocent (but still wide awake) time. So it's not a surprise many commenters here mistake "The Captain's Paradise" as an Ealing production.It isn't, but it's about as close to Ealing in spirit as you can get: Enchanting black-and-white photography that doesn't call attention to itself, fun-making at social strictures, a lead performance by Guinness that alternates between tragic and goofy, and a short running time. It's a lot better than some Ealings I've seen, if not as great as those two studio pillars, "The Ladykillers" and "Kind Hearts And Coronets."Guinness's character in this film is a ferryboat captain who transports people and cargo from the British island colony of Gibraltar to the coastal enclave of Kalik, where steamy nights and ersatz Spanish are the rule. The captain's life is much enhanced by the fact he has a lady at each port, one a prim British wife (Celia Johnson) who knows him as Capt. Henry St. James; the other a fiery Latin flamenco dancer (Yvonne De Carlo) who knows him as "Jimmy.""Two women, each with half the qualities necessary for a man, and therefore quite easy to find," is how he explains his approach to the only man who knows his secret, his ship's first mate Ricco (Charles Goldner). "And once found, never to meet!" But can the captain keep these women from meeting each other? What do you think!Guinness is front and center throughout the film, delivering a cerebral, understated profile in smugitude that begins with his eyes. Alternately heavy-lidded in repose or wide and blazing when upset, his eye reactions cue much of the laughter in this somewhat sedate comedy. It's a wonderfully efficient performance, centered by a scene where he hoofs a mean two-step with De Carlo, cigarette dangling lazy from his lips."He who enters paradise must have a golden key," the captain says before another rendezvous with his dancing lover. That's about as blue as this film gets, though De Carlo flashes some legs and Johnson, well, let's just say she's not as proper as we are led to think.People who criticize "The Captain's Paradise" as sexist or celebrating adultery miss the point. As an Ealing... well, almost an Ealing comedy, "Paradise" plays with stereotypes as a form of satire. That the captain thinks he has a great thing going is part of the humor. So is the fact he doesn't seem able to listen or process it when his women tell him otherwise. The tone set by director Anthony Kimmins is so merry it can be mistaken for approval, but this ignores the delicious resolution of the captain's two loves.The script by Alec Coppel and Nicholas Phipps sets up the captain's fragile situation. Prim Maud craves a bikini but settles for a vacuum. For them, it's hot cocoa and "beddy-byes" at 10. With fiery Nita, it's champagne and dancing all night at a place that looks like Rick's All- American Café, Guinness with a rose in his teeth. Anyone can see this is not a sustainable situation, and nearly any man can't gainsay his trying anyway.I think the film suffers from some minor flaws that show up more with repeat viewings. It does move slowly, taking up about thirty minutes to set up the premise everyone will know going in. There are a couple of bookend shots featuring Ricco explaining the situation to a stranger that offer just dead air. The actual ending of the film is facile rather than clever, though not unpleasant.People also complain that "Paradise" has a bit of a body count, and fails as comedy for that. But "Ladykillers" and "Coronets" had even higher body counts, which didn't stop them from being great. "Captain's Paradise" falls a wee bit short of greatness, but it's quite satisfying in the whole of its various parts, especially for those who like their Guinness with a little spice.

moonspinner55 Alec Coppel received an Oscar nomination for his original story (thin as it is) regarding a married steamship Captain in Gibraltar--intelligent, multi-lingual, work-oriented, and seemingly stuffy or conservative--who keeps a mistress in Algiers, a red-hot mama who can't cook but dances until dawn! Resting on Alec Guinness' easy lead performance, the film begins very well and has several comic highlights, one of which is Guinness hitting the dance floor with fiery Yvonne De Carlo. But when the Captain's cooped-up wifey decides she wants more excitement in her life--and the mistress expresses a sudden desire for a life of domesticity--the picture hasn't any place left to go. Framed in flashback for expository purposes, Coppel's script with Nicholas Phipps has a handful of amusing ideas, the rest being rather obvious and silly (though perhaps not in 1953). Guinness, looking snappy and comically striking, nearly keeps the picture afloat with his panache. ** from ****

John T. Ryan HAVING an uncanny ability to get so immersed in any role he took as to seemingly disappear in the film; Alec Guiness bids fair to demonstrate the really great range that he possessed, be it on stage or in front of the camera. Whenever the future Sir Alec is on the screen, he commands one's undivided attention.IN today's honoree film, THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE (London Films/British Lion Film Corporation, 1953), he is the Captain in the title. He runs a ferry boat service that runs between Spanish Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, running to Gibraltar and back. As Captain Henry St. James, he is a very respected citizen on both sides of the run. No one, not even his Chief Officer Ricco (Charles Goldner) suspect him to be anything other than what his chosen outward appearance showed the world.THE STORY begins at the end and uses the narration of the Chief Officer in telling the story; kind of the same way that Mr. Orson Welles did with CITIZEN KANE (Mercury Theatre Production, RKO Radio Pictures, 1949). As the story unfolds we learn that the good Captain is indeed a much busier guy than his very proper, cultured demeanor would reveal.ALL that we'll say here is that he is very busy guy on both ends of his route. All of the great comic sequences come from the mixing of the two worlds; and that starts to happen about a third of the way through the movie.ONCE again, a well cast team of supporting players rise to the occasion in making the approximately 97 minutes seemingly fly by. The cast includes Yvonne DeCarlo, Celia Johnson, Charles Goldner and a young Sebastian Cabot.ADDITIONAL to the studio filmed scenes, extensive location shooting was done in The British Colony of Gibraltar; which makes for as authentic a backdrop as could be found. Fine use of Black & White Film is in evidence; which also gives an appearance of being real life scenes from a newsreel.AS an overview of THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE and an objective review; we can only say good things about it. There seems to be no point that one could point to as being an obvious weakness.ONE couldn't say too much in its favour.SO, whatta ya think, Schultz? How's about a **** rating.POODLE SCHNITZ!!

dmdornctusa I had never seen this comedy nominated in the 1953 Academy Awards for for best screenplay. The previous comments echo most of my on sentiments. The cast includes Sebastian Cabot in a minor role. It is a show case for Ginnness's versatility. His dance sequneces are amazing. The whole ensemble is is excellent. And the two wives are perfectly cast.This classic Gunness comedy is included as a bonus film in Anchor Bays boxed set of DVDs, THE GUNNESS COLLECTION, which includes the five Ealing Studio Comedies, "Kind Hearts & Coronets", "The Lavender Hill Mob", The Man in the Whtie Suit" and "The Lady Killers". Amazon has the set for around $35...got to be one of the best bargain sets around.