The Belles of St Trinian's
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| The Belles of St Trinian's | |
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 The VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Frank Launder |
| Produced by | Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat |
| Written by | Frank Launder Sidney Gilliat Val Valentine |
| Starring | Alastair Sim Joyce Grenfell George Cole Hermione Baddeley Betty Ann Davies |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Cinematography | Stanley Pavey |
| Editing by | Thelma Connell |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films London Films |
| Release date(s) | 1954 |
| Running time | 86 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Belles of St Trinian's is a comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1954. This film and its sequels were inspired by a series of cartoons by British cartoonist Ronald Searle.
Directed by Frank Launder and written by him and Sidney Gilliat, it was the first of a series of four films with well-known British actors: Alastair Sim was both headmistress Miss Fritton (in drag) and her brother Clarence Fritton, George Cole was cockney spiv "Flash Harry", and Joyce Grenfell was Policewoman Ruby Gates.
The staff were played by Hermione Baddeley, Renee Houston, Beryl Reid, Irene Handl, Mary Merrall and Joan Sims.
Richard Wattis appeared as Manton Bassett, a civil servant in the Ministry of Education, Lloyd Lamble as Superintendent Kemp-Bird (the reluctant fiancé of Ruby Gates), and Sid James as Benny, one of Clarence Fritton's racing associates.
The schoolgirls battle against the Ministry of Education, and against the school mistresses (the teachers) and the local police force, as well as amongst each other.
Music for the film was composed by Malcolm Arnold.
[edit] Plot
St. Trinian's school students became embroiled in a plot with the daughter of an Arab sheik and the sheik's racehorse, trying to gamble on the outcome of the upcoming "Gold Cup" horse race. The Fourth Formers want the sheik's racehorse to win. However, the Sixth Formers want to keep the sheik's racehorse from racing, so that another racehorse can win instead. The headmistress of the school also places a bet on the sheik's racehorse to win, to save her beloved school.
The opposing aims of the two Forms pit the Sixth Form and Fourth Form pupils against each other in a pitched battle, with a general mêlée also involving former pupils.
The sheik's racehorse wins and the headmistress is able to get the school out of debt and reclaim the school's pawned sports trophies with her winnings.
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- The Belles of St Trinian's at the Internet Movie Database
- The Belles of St. Trinian's at Allmovie
- Film Review of The Belles of St. Trinian's at Alternative Film Guide
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