UK, Anthony Kimmins
One of Sir Alec Guinness’ lesser-known comedies, this amusing British film is the story of a ferry captain who claims to have the best of both worlds, a doting British housewife (Celia Johnson) in one port and a fiery, Moroccan beauty (Yvonne De Carlo) in the other. Dancing and drinking til the wee hours, the captain boards his ship to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and spend the next night with his slippers, hot cocoa and pipe–10 o’clock strikes and it’s “beddie bye.” His trick is keeping each woman within her respective role as yin to the others yang, and of course keeping them ignorant of each other. Since the film starts with Guinness on the short end of a firing squad, you know the jig is up eventually. The fun is seeing how it gets there.
2 Things @ Once 