Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957) User Reviews (20)

Sound late 50s British farce

[Bernie-56 · 6/10 · 7 November 1999]

Not the strongest film in the ‘St Trinians' series, but nevertheless enjoyable for fans of mid-50s British comedy. It tends to slapstick at times, particularly the scene where the policemen are looking for the diamond thief – a straight lift from `The Pirate of Penzance'.

The caste is the cream of British comedy at the time. Two mentions: a young George Cole, who went on to make a career of playing Cockney spivs, and Joyce Grenfell as Sgt Ruby Gates. The latter is a standout performance. Joyce Grenfell must surely be on of the finest female comedians of all time and the film is worth watching for her performance alone.

Look Out Europe!

[crossbow0106 · 7/10 · 14 December 2008]

This is the second installment in the St. Trinians set of films and it deals with the girls wanting to win a contest to go to Europe, specifically Rome, to meet a handsome bachelor prince. They creatively find a way to win the contest and they are on their way. The reason this film is not as immediate as the first is because it takes a while for them to finally make the trip. There is a story attached concerning stolen jewels also, which is germane to all this, but I didn't think it was all that interesting. However, there is better acting in this film. Terry Thomas is good and Joyce Grenfell returns as the sargeant, once again going undercover. So, not as good as "The Belles", but you'll want to see it because you want to see the films in the series.

More knockabout naughty schoolgirl fun.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 24 April 2020]

Gap-toothed bounder Terry Thomas joins in the fun for this second cinematic outing for the troublesome girls of St. Trinian's. Thomas plays supreme bounder Capt. Romney Carlton-Ricketts, owner of the (clapped out) buses hired by the infamous girl's school to transport its pupils to Rome, where the sexiest of the sixth-formers have a date with wealthy Italian Prince Bruno (Guido Lorraine), as arranged by the marriage bureau run by cheeky spiv Flash Harry (George Cole).

Also along for the trip is Sgt. Ruby Gates (Joyce Grenfell), working undercover to try and catch elusive diamond thief Joe Mangan (Lionel Jeffries), who has disguised himself as Dame Maud Hackshaw, the new headmistress of St. Trinian's (it wouldn't be a British comedy without cross-dressing).

It's a slow start and Thomas doesn't show up until midway, when the girls finally set off for Rome, at which point the film definitely picks up in terms of laughs and uproarious fun. After brief visits to several other countries (the most enjoyable involving the St. Trinian's school band playing a swinging tune at a Mozart festival), the unruly mob arrive in Rome, and the hunt is on for Joe's swag (now hidden inside a water polo ball), the reward for which is £10,000.

With lots of knockabout comedy performed by a great cast (Hammer regular Michael Ripper and Carry On star Terry Scott also make an appearance), plus plenty of sexy sixth-formers in stockings and suspenders (the more shapely students are all of legal age, so don't feel bad for leering), Blue Murder is another very enjoyable, very British St. Trinian's caper.

You couldn't make it today, but it's an old fashioned British caper movie

[bob the moo · 14 April 2002]

With Miss Fritton locked away in the school basement, and the army laying siege to the school grounds (with a great deal of resistance), Flash Harry is abroad promoting the `St Trinians Marriage Bureau' to a wealthy Italian Prince. However he has to visit the Prince with the girls. He manages to cheat in a competition that allows the school to tour to Rome and they're on their way. However one of the girl's Dads is a diamond thief who tries to escape capture by dressing as their headmistress and smuggling himself out of the country, bringing the attention of the law to bear on the already suspect group.

Not one of the best of the series of movies, but still this stands up as a good British caper movie, with a strong cast of British comedians on board. The plot is thin at best and relies on the fact that no-one can tell the difference between sexes after a little bit of cross dressing…..well, I suppose Shakespeare did it all the time and it worked for him! Much of the comedy draws from slapstick or seeing girls fight, but there are some good lines and characters – Michael Ripper's working class liftman is my favourite.

George Cole plays Harry well – in fact he was born playing cockney rogues (eg Cottage to Let), kept playing them (St Trinians ) and got old playing them (Minder on TV). The wonderfully British Joyce Grenfell is good again as Gates, while the support cast is rich in talent – Terry Thomas, Lionel Jefferies, Terry Scott and Alistair Sim. The girls are a little iffy , the young ones are clearly children and play rough little warriors, however the older girls (i.e. 16-18) are played by women of early/mid twenties. They're all dressed up in uniforms with stockings and suspenders showing and using their sexuality for all they can get – not more so than the great Sabrina. However in today's climate where any hint of teenage sexuality or pedophilia sparks a media frenzy, this sits a little uncomfortably – there's certainly no way this could get made today!

Overall it's enjoyable if basic – there are better movies, but it's worth watching once.

The girls of St. Trinian's are back for more mayhem!

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 15 April 2013]

This, the second film in the series, opens with Flash Harry in Rome; he is running the 'St. Trinian's Marriage Bureau' and trying to set a wealthy Italian prince up with one of the school's sixth form; the problem is he can't decide which he likes most so tells Harry to bring them all to Rome. This may present a problem as nobody in their right mind would allow the girls of St. Trinian's to travel abroad! Back in England the school is waiting for the new headmistress to arrive from Australia; in the meantime the school is being run by the army… inevitably it is the army that are taking casualties! After some thinking they come up with a plan; they arrange to 'win' a UNESCO school's competition which has a trip round Europe as its prize. Of course things get complicated further; in this case by a diamond robber who tries to take shelter from the police in the school. He ends up going on the trip in a very unlikely role; along with a policewoman who is masquerading as the interpreter.

After the opening 'Belles of St. Trinian's' this was a little bit disappointing but still had a decent number of laughs. The main weakness is that for the most part the story focuses on the adults and their schemes rather than the children; and when it does focus on the children it mainly focuses on the clearly twenty something sixth-formers rather than the feral forth formers who are far funnier thanks to their anarchic behaviour. The cast do a solid job and there are a good range of jokes meaning that it can be enjoyed by people of all ages… it is just a shame that we didn't get to see the La Crosse match… just its aftermath, nor do we see what they are shooting out with a stolen Bren gun! If you enjoyed the first St. Trinian's film I'd certainly recommend watching this one too.

A reasonable follow-up comedy.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 6/10 · 16 July 2017]

This follow-up comedy to "The Belles of St. Trinian's" is not too bad, considering that most sequels aren't usually too good. It is a good thing that Terry Thomas is given "leading man" status as he was an effective lead. Alastair Sim reprised his role of Miss Fritton from the previous film and only has a few minutes of screen time. For those who know the plot, the girls of that notorious school manage to con their way into going on an exchange trip to Italy. Once there, the usual shenanigans result. Lionel Jefferies does well as the convicted father of one of the schoolgirls. George Cole and Joyce Grenfell reprise their respective roles and it's good to see them. The laughs are a bit thin but the cast make this one worth the viewing.

St Trinians On The Road - Watch Out World. 1-2-Watch

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 7/10 · 18 April 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Blue Murder At St Trinians. Before we get into it, here are my ratings:

Story - 1.25 Direction - 1.25 Pace - 1.50 Acting - 1.25 Enjoyment - 1.50

TOTAL - 6.75 out of 10

Though this romp isn't as satirical as previous and subsequent movies in the series, it still pulled a laugh a three from me: This was chiefly to do with the sight gags.

Blue Murder is a misleading title. There is no real outcry to speak of - not enough to warrant it being in the title, and nor is there a murder. A more apt epithet would be A Marriage At St. Trinians. As expected, the plot calls for the girls to get into loads of joyful trouble, which they do with wicked merriment. There's a Prince in Italy who is interested in some of the girls in the St Trinians Mariage Bureau. But for Flash to get them there before the deadline, the girls must win a schools contest, which they've already taken. Before the results are marked, the girls break into the Department of Education and swap out their answers for the correct ones, which leads to a terrific ongoing skit about council workers and their preference for a cuppa. Once the results are in, the girls are off to Europe, finishing in Italy. Throw into the mix a bank robber who's committed a jewellery heist and has decided to hide out at his daughter's school - St Trinians. Gilliat and Launder weave these elements into a rollicking good time.

Launder and the team even come up with some superb sequences. The best of which is the switching of the headmistress. In order for the Jewel thief to remain hidden, the girls dress him as the headmistress. When the real head arrives, the young ladies give her a resounding welcome. They sing the school song and parade her through the school and up towards her room. However, halfway up the stairs, a secret panel opens and the head is butterfly-netted away into the shadows. A couple of seconds later, the hellions responsible come from the opening and start singing as the disguised crook is escorted downstairs. The swap is complete. Next, we see the headmistress tied to a chair and hoisted upwards into the belfry. Brilliantly structured and executed. Such lovely fun.

Comedy is not always about the jokes, it's about their delivery and timing. Launder is a master at filming sight gags, while the cast proves they are just as skilled at vocal and slapstick delivery. Once again, we have a team of actors and actresses that cannot be faulted. Everyone who reprises their roles are just as crisp and fresh as in their first outing. It's also charming to see Alister Sim reprise his role as Miss Fritton, if even for a short time. Sim always makes me smile. Lionel Jefferies is awesome as the thief on the run. And Terry Thomas is Terry Thomas - hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Should you want an hour or so of fun and high-jinx then Blue Murder at St Trinians is a worthy watch. And luckily, the BBC have it on IPlayer along with The Pure Hell Of St Trinians, April-2022. I would happily recommend the original St Trinians film series. They never fail to put a smile on my face.

Please feel free to visit my Just For Laughs list to see where I ranked Blue Murder At St Trinians.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Good for a larf

[pete-470 · 7/10 · 8 December 2020]

I haven't watched one of these in 40 years or so but this was just on tv.. A bit dodgy in parts (schoolgirl sitting on mans knee; school swot being letched over etc) but really well acted by all and so funny in places. It's no wonder the old folk voted Brexit because it portrays a simple, innocent and by and large happy England (although this is a British film, it is quintessentially English) that they would like to return to... if such a reality ever existed.

I want to see more now.

Excellent family entertainment

[editor-269 · 9/10 · 23 June 2006]

In the days before political correctness reared its ugly head, boys were boys and girls and girls, and ne'er the twain should meet - except for St. Trinian's where small girls were boys, at least in their behaviour, and large girls were rather pretty, in Sabrina's case voluptuous. The main characters were all well drawn with a splendid supporting cast and all very British. Alastair Sim was perfect as the headmistress, George Cole was the Cockney geezer, Joyce Grenfell the ever spurned policewoman while Eric Barker as Culpepper Brown and Richard Wattis as Bassett were truly superb archetypal education ministers. As for Terry-Thomas - well? Even a coach driver could be posh in those days! Stiff upper lip what, even with St. Trinian's on board. All good clean fun which had family audiences flocking to the local cinema. What a pity they don't show films like this any more on television because they beat the modern rubbish hollow for entertainment value.

not as good as The Belles of ..., but diverting

[didi-5 · 6/10 · 14 May 2007]

'The Belles of St Trinian's' was a hard act to follow, so it isn't surprising that this film doesn't even try. Apart from brief top and tail appearances of Alistair Sim as Miss Fritton, it is left to character actor Lionel Jeffries to take the mantle and lead the girls into glory, i.e. into George Cole's marriage bureau seeking to find a mate for a foreign prince in Rome.

Familiar faces are back - Joyce Grenfell, Richard Wattis - alongside Terry-Thomas, Terry Scott, Kenneth Griffith, and other big names of the 1950s comedy scene. The girls are as riotous as ever, and there is a nice turn from Judith Furze as Dame Maud, the unfortunate replacement head of the worst girls' school in the world! 'Blue Murder at St Trinian's' flags at times, but some bits are extremely funny, and one can sympathise with the Ministry of Education and their need for calming pills!

Girls school on tour leaves ruin in its wake

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 9 May 2016]

This film seems to be a sequel to "The Belles of St. Trinian's." Most of the characters repeat, except that Alastair Sim has barely a cameo appearance. In his place, Terry-Thomas becomes the lead character. He is Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts, whose dilapidated tour service is selected to take the St. Trianian's girls on a tour of Europe.

Besides Thomas, the bulk of the humor comes from George Cole who reprises his role as Flash Harry; and Joyce Grenfall who is, again, an undercover cop. She is police sergeant Ruby Gates. Lionel Jeffries has a nice part in this film as Joe Mangan.

The girls break into the ministry of education, falsify their test results and win a contest to represent England at a gathering in Rome. So, the school goes on a semi-ambassador goodwill tour of many Western European countries.

The script and plot are just OK and the humor is so-so. Those who like Terry-Thomas and these other performers will likely enjoy this film. But others may not. The film has nothing special to recommend it.

Very funny

[GusF · 9/10 · 28 January 2015]

It's not as funny as the first film but it's still hilarious. The virtual absence of Alastair Sim - who appears in two scenes and has five lines - is certainly a blow to the film but it has a great cast including George Cole (who has a much bigger role than in the first film), Terry-Thomas (who, despite being billed first, does not appear until halfway through the film), Lionel Jeffries, Joyce Grenfell, Michael Ripper, Thorley Walters and Richard Wattis. Sadly, however, this was Sim's last involvement with the "St. Trinian's" films.

In spite of Sim's limited screen time, the joke of a man in drag is continued as Jeffries' character Joe Mangan - who shares his name with my mother's first cousin, who is not a diamond thief, thankfully - disguises himself as the new headmistress Dame Maud Hackshaw. While this is obviously an old joke, it is done very well. However, it does not work as well as Sim playing Miss Fritton as I found the idea of a male actor playing a female character much more fun than a male character pretending to be a woman.

I imagine that the storyline, which concerns Flash Harry trying to marry off one of the sixth formers to a European prince, was meant as a parody of the marriage of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco the previous year, particularly since one of his other potential brides is a Hollywood actress. The first film focused primarily on the fourth formers' pranks, violence, gambling and general mayhem while this one focuses on the sexual promiscuity of the sixth formers. I have to say that I found the former funnier as schoolgirls blowing up labs with nitroglycerin and attempting to decapitate people is far more unusual! Though the latter was quite daring for a family comedy film in 1957.

Best of the St Trinian's movies yet

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 August 2013]

BLUE MURDER AT ST. TRINIAN's is the 1957 sequel to THE BELLES OF ST. TRINIAN'S and a definite improvement on the first stodgy movie. Alastair Sim is missing (for the most part), but his absence is more than made up for with a whole host of British comedy stars making this something of an ensemble affair. It's also a globetrotting adventures, taking the unruly pupils out of their school to wreak havoc on the continent instead.

BLUE MURDER boasts a decent pace, plenty of workable gags and some inspired direction from Frank Launder, who seems to have had a shot of adrenaline pumped into his arm since he helmed the first flick. There are some great set-pieces here, including the water volleyball match and the robbery, all strung together by a preposterous but amusing narrative.

While the likes of George Cole happily return to the fold, the real fun comes from the new stars present: a typical turn for Terry-Thomas and an inspired bit of cross-dressing from Lionel Jeffries, no less. Plenty of familiar faces appear in little roles too, including Terry Scott and Michael Ripper, and as a whole the production has the same lightness of touch and tone as the CARRY ONs of the era.

Their girls are all the creme de la creme. Sour creme.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 13 March 2021]

You wouldn't find Miss Jean Brodie teaching at a school like St. Trinian's. Not without homicidal thoughts anyway. It's three years later, and there's a new head mistress on the way, from Australia no less. There's a memorial for Miss Amelia Fritton, and why she's being kept Behind bars is anybody's guess with Alastair Sim only seen briefly in the beginning, barely a cameo, but there's a nice surprise at the end.

The girls and most of the staff have changed, but one thing hasn't. the students are just as rotten as they were before, breaking into offices, causing destruction to the property and arranging it so their grades are high enough so they can get a trip to mainland Europe.

The presence of some thieves disguised as staff members (George Cole and Lionel Jeffries) adds to the intrigue on their trip, with police officer Joyce Grenfall in disguise to capture them. She befriends Terry-Thomas while chaperoning, giving her something else to worry about because she's engaged.

Not as funny as the original film, this has some decent prattfalls but for the most part, it's slow-moving and noisy. Grenfall does all she can to add some liveliness, and of course, Mr. Terry-Thomas gives us his usual "good show", both as a line and in his performance. Sadly this needed a better script to even be remotely close to the quality of the first film.

A must-see for any British comedy fan

[lazarillo · 5 August 2009]

By sheer accident I recently saw the worst of this generally well-regarded British series (the 1980 "Wildcats of St. Trinian's"), so I thought to be fair I'd check out the best. Well, this is A LOT better. This is a genuinely hilarious film, not just in the jokes but in the absurd situations. It starts with the notorious title girls' school under military occupation, resulting in heavy casualties (for the military). The older "sixth form" girls decide they want to travel to Rome to meet a wealthy Italian count so they work with the younger "fourth form" hellions to break into the Ministry of Education and rig the results of a UNESCO exam. But when no respectable tour bus company will take this collection of monsters and minxes to the continent, they hire a shady operator (famed British comedian Terry-Thomas). Their "chaperone" meanwhile is the fugitive diamond-thief father of one of the girl's who is disguised as the new headmistress (they "disappear" the real headmistress), which turns the whole thing into a hilarious comedy caper film.

It is a little disconcerting, as other reviewers have noted, that this film mixes the family-friendly scenes of the "fourth-form" ragamuffins with the scenes of the sexualized and sexually-predatory "sixth formers". But let's be honest--the first females most men sexually experienced or fantasized about were probably 16-18 years old, and those who claim to have no lingering attraction to girls that age are either lying or senile. Moreover, the "sixth formers" here are obviously played by somewhat older actresses, who are naturally pretty sexy. The most recognizable actress, for instance, is Italian sex bomb Lisa Gastoni. Now if you're sexually attracted to the "fourth formers", I'd say you have problems, but otherwise. . .

But I digress. These British comedies would get a lot more racy moving into the 70's, but they were rarely as funny as this one. This ranks with the best of the "Carry on" series (i.e. "Carry on Camping", "Carry on Spying") and should be a must-see for any British comedy fan.

second

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 28 December 2022]

Italian Prince Bruno is looking for a wife. Unscrupulous matchmaker Flash Harry offers him the girls of St Trinian's. Headmistress Amelia Fritton and the teachers are all gone. The girls have gone wild. The government sends in the Army to no avail. Harry has a scheme to get the girls on a trip to Italy.

This is the second St Trinian's movie. It needs more time for the girls. It also needs to highlight a core group of three or four girls. It's supposed to be their movie and it doesn't hurt to show off these beautiful babes. Hopefully, they can act. The movie spends way too much time with all these old men. As for the army, I don't see the government sending in the army for a bunch of girls. I actually like the Keystone Cops better. They are more in line with a slapstick screwball comedy. I wouldn't mind a movie with the St Trinian's girls versus the Keystone Cops. Of course, the cops can't follow them out of the country. They would hand off the troublesome group to their European counterpart. As it stands, it has its moments of fun, but there could be more fun.

See you later educator

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 13 May 2020]

This sequel is even better than the original notwithstanding the fact that Alistair Sim only makes a cameo appearance or that they use the jewels in the ball gag which was used 20years earlier in Boys Will Be Boys.A great cast including Terry Thomas and Joyce Grenfell.The water polo climax is a hoot.

just watched it

[marktayloruk · 8/10 · 13 May 2020]

Made me laugh out loud - although wasn't sending Joyce Grenfell in under cover again rather a risk? And how did the new Headmistress propose to tame them in the first place?

Trouble Abroad!

[adamjohns-42575 · 5/10 · 28 June 2022]

Blue Murder At St Trinian's (1957) -

I definitely preferred this one to the first film 'The Belles Of St Trinian's' (1954), although the girls themselves didn't feature as much as they should and neither did the Headmistress.

I liked the fact that they were at least all working towards one goal, which was something that the reboot films of 2007 & 2009 got spot on. They may be tough and fight among themselves, but they stick together, like a family. That was not the case in the first film and seemed to create too many factions to keep track of.

It's the form I originally remember enjoying the film series for. A clever story, with some funny moments and characters. When I recall watching the films in my younger years, it's the bits from this film that are some of the first to come to mind.

I loved the 'Gilbert & Sullivan' style police officers (Tarantara Tarantara). They were a real glimpse of classic humour that was just sully enough to still be funny too.

They also got in some good ladies to play the lead girls, which really helped. I've seen most of them in other films recorded from later years and they proved that they were capable of anything.

Alistair Sim's cameo was very good, but not long enough and George Cole as Flash Harry was still the one that stole the spotlight in a lot of ways.

It had a chaos that you would expect from a film about an unruly group of school girls going abroad, with some questionable chaperones, but it could have had a lot more fun. The series always tends to have a short running time, but with another half an hour, it could have had some really hilarious antics.

538.88/1000.

Girls

[tedg · 28 September 2005]

This is remarkable stuff. It has the normal amount of silliness, but the discriminating thing with this series is the notion of the girls school.

Its absolutely amazing, what they have done with this notion. The school is a girls' school that destroys every location it visits. Lots of jokes: newspapers reports that Paris is scandalized by these girls.

The idea is that half of these "girls" are adult women win miniskirts with stockings and girders. Most of the scandalous behavior (which we never see) is supposed to be sexual in nature. Oh, there's a plot about stolen jewels and a prince seeking a bride. But the story is purely there as an excuse to parade these girls around.

And these are tough broads. They beat people up.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.