I'm writing a review as I feel a bit sorry for this little film as it's probably been consigned to history. Made in 1955, it's mildly amusing if, like me, you love watching those old British character actors, long gone now, but who pop up consistently in this type of comedy from that period. I'm talking about actors like Reginald Beckwith, Richard Wattis, Edward Chapman, Guy Middleton and the legend that is Sid James. For the ladies, it has Noelle Middleton who I don't remember, and Diana Decker who I do remember vaguely. Diana Decker is very good, lively and personable and contributes quite a lot to the film. It tells the story of and American airman who inherits a British title of a Lord. He flies over here with two of his sidekicks and the inevitable occurs, he can't decide whether to stay or go back to the States until he falls in love with another landowners daughter. A series of comical encounters take place before the happy ending. Jon Pertwee with an atrocious American accent is one of the hero's (Peter Thompson) sidekicks. Quite fun as long as you know and love these great character actors I've mentioned above.
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Maverick196215 September 2015
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bkoganbing28 March 2019A Yank In Ermine tells of the story of an enlisted American Airman who gets a visit from British solicitor Reginald Beckwith who tells him that he's about to inherit a title and estate because a whole lot of relatives he never knew he had have taken leave of this earth. He's got himself a nice bit of acreage in England with servants and all.
Of course if he decides the lifestyle isn't for him he can abdicate. But Peter Thompson decides to go to the United Kingdom and check it out. Accompanying area a pair of friends Harold Lloyd, Jr., and Jon Pertwee.
There are some women involved. A nightclub singer back home played by Diana Decker and Noelle Middleton who is the heiress to a neighboring estate. The usual romantic complications ensue.
This might have been a bigger hit, but Peter Thompson was just too bland in the lead. I daresay this probably got limited distribution on this side of the pond.
Another reviewer said Jon Pertwee had an atrocious American accent. That he did, but I think it was quite deliberate. Pertwee was having some fun with the part spoofing what some Americans sound like to British ears. I enjoyed him and Harold Lloyd, Jr. at the local dance where Pertwee cuts one mean rug in slang of the day.
A Yank In Ermine still an entertaining film after over 60 years. -
richardchatten13 January 2022Eastman Colour (sic) has been lavished on this tinny comedy with a noisy score by Stanley Black in which stereotypes abound as three American goodwill ambassadors hit a sleepy English village as wintry as the welcome they receive.
The colour process was new then, hence the strange makeup some of the cast wear. -
Prismark1027 November 2019A Yank in Ermine is a passable low budget film made in colour. It is notable for having a couple of actors such as Jon Pertwee and Sidney James who appeared in the Carry On movies.
Peter Thompson is a solid American airman Joe Turner who is informed that he has inherited an Earldom, a seat in the House of Lords and a fortune of over £1 million.
Turner is unsure if he wants to give up his American citizenship and visits the UK to see if he likes the place. He brings along his two air force buddies. He leaves behind his fiance Gloria, a nightclub singer.
In the village which has his ancestral home. Turner and his friends are having difficulties adjusting to British life, the beer is warm and sports such as croquet is difficult to grasp. However Turner falls for the daughter of the neighbouring landowner but she too is engaged.
Pretty soon his friends thinking Turner might be homesick ask Gloria to pop over to Britain. Her arrival causes complications.
As a fish out of water comedy, this should had been a charming comedy with mismatched couples who eventually find true love. Unfortunately Thompson is bland, there is no spikiness in the writing and little comedy. It is left to the better known actors such as Wattis, Pertwee and James to make something out of the material. -
shayne-heath19 April 2003I've seen this film only once it was show on BBC2 one afternoon in the late 1990's. It's a story of an american soldier who inherits the lordship to an english village, Why it interested me is that the village in question is actually Turville in Buckinghamshire. Turville's usually linked to another film "Went the day well" but this film shows more shots of the village. The village pub "The Bull and Butcher" is shown in detail both inside and out. In the film the main bar is actually shown as the village shop, whether this was the case in 1955 or it was purely for film i am unsure. The film itself is quite boring and i would'nt recommend it for its artistic quality.
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zzapper-218 May 2022They used to call these British movies 'Mid-Atlantic' as they thought they might attract American film-goers if they included a few has-been American actors. This type of movie eventually brought the UK film industry to its knees. The premise is so dull: a Yank comes to little old England with its quaint customs and people . Yawn yawn of course he gets to like it and finds true love. One awful bit is when the hero is supposedly riding a winning horse and he is so obviously in a studio set on some kind of rocking bench.
A brief cameo from Sid James. The village used is Turville Buckinghamshire and for once they used the real name of the pub the 'Bull and Butcher' -
nickjg16 October 2022The premise is just to get a supposedly 'box-office' American or two into a film to get the finance. An American in uniform inherits a village. Lots of raucous 'jazz' music drowns any sort of emotional empathy, along with a woman who 'dances' in gold lamé, wearing what appear to be a pair of marigold washing-up gloves. It deteriorates from then on, with the likes of Wattis, Pertwee and Beckwith playing English characters, Sid James playing the Afrikaaner version of a comic and a whole string of Ealing studio clichés. Puts bums on seats- in the pub next door! The polo game with the brightly coloured balls, the Rolls that would have been ancient even then and the chauffeur in a luminous scarlet uniform seem to be quintessentially English to the directors of this mash-up. The straight actors seem to be delivering the lame script with sincerity, but I'm guessing they didn't carry clips from this time waster in their casting portfolios.
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janeadams-669915 June 2022Just a nice bit of Sunday afternoon film fun, as it's easy watching and listening with attractive leads and amusing co-stars. Nothing taxing on the brain so let it just wash over you!
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geoffm6029519 May 2022Yet another film, where our American cousins, courtesy of an American airman, Joe Turner, played by Peter Thompson, and his two 'buddies,' encounter the upper crust of English society. The contrived plot, whereby Thompson inherits the title of 'Earl,' gives the writers plenty of opportunity to trot out the usual contrasting hackneyed phrases and different forms of social etiquette, which expose the cultural differences between two English speaking countries. The differences are literally 'hammered home' by Thompson's 'buddy' 'Slowburn'' played by Jon Pertwee, no less, dressed in very loud clothes, repeating 'yeah' all the time and speaking in an excruciating phoney New York, Bronx nasal accent. The other 'buddy' called, 'Butch,' played by Harold Lloyd Junior, has little to say or do, but merely act as a shadow to Peter Thompson. Sid James, has a cameo part as a cigar chewing, nightclub owner, but is far from convincing, let down by a poor accent and a tendency to 'overdo' it on the trite American 'gangster' phrases. The English aristocrats likewise are simply cardboard stereotypes, with the 'wolfish cad' being played by Guy Middleton, who refers to any lady he meets as 'old girl' and Richard Wattis, playing the very posh and stuffy butler, who is shocked and mortified by the informality of the three American guests, who have invaded the aristocratic home of his 'master' played by Edward Chapman, the Duke of Fontenham. The cultural differences, which are at the heart of the film, simply fail to summon up amusement or humour, hence the tempo of the film is all very tedious and flat. Thompson's romance with Angela, the Duke's daughter, played Noelle Middleton, is dull and lacks any form of sparkle. Her BBC, RADA voice, and her one dimensional responses, renders the 'romantic' scenes as yawn inducing.
Sadly, this was nothing more then a 'time filler' film, before the main feature. Great waste of talent. -
malcolmgsw22 September 2015Here we have that old chestnut as to how would an American act if he inherited an English title.I recall a rather better effort in the late thirties from HMM starring Robert Montgomery in Earl of Chicago.Here the beneficiary is a serviceman who comes to claim his title with two friends,Jon Pertwee,with a truly awful accent,and Harold Lloyd June,who sadly makes little impression.The real stars of this film are the supporting actors such as Guy Middleton,Reginald Beckwith and Richard WattisPeter Thompson plays the serviceman trying to get out of marrying Diana Decker so that he can marry Noelle Middleton.It is filmed in colour but it can't pep up a lifeless film.