Comic Icons: Alastair Sim Collection (DVD)

A collection of five Alastair Sim films. In 'The Green Man' (1956), seemingly mild-mannered watchmaker Hawkins (Sim) is in fact a skilled assassin. His latest target is leading politician Sir Gregory Upshot (Raymond Huntley), who is due to stay the weekend at the Green Man hotel. However, Hawkins' well-planned attempts to remove Sir Gregory permanently from public life are frustrated by well-meaning vacuum cleaner salesman William Blake (George Cole). In 'Folly To Be Wise' (1952), Sim plays a new Entertainments Officer at a local army camp who attempts to revitalise things by getting rid of the lady violinists and trying to modernise entertainments with chaotic results. In 'Geordie' (1955), Sim plays a Scotsman who takes up a course in Physical Culture, and goes on to become an Olympic hammer throwing champion. In 'Left, Right and Centre' (1959), Robert Wilcot (Ian Carmichael) is the prospective Tory candidate at the Earndale by-election. Travelling down to the town from London, he strikes up a conversion with a pretty young girl and the pair seem to hit it off. It's not until he's photographed carrying her bags along the platform that he discovers Stella (Patricia Bredin) is actually the town's socialist candidate. In 'Laughter In Paradise' (1951), when it's time for the reading of Henry Russell's will, his relatives gather in eager anticipation of the wealth that could be theirs. But they are surprised to discover that their inheritance is conditional upon them each performing a certain humiliating task. Snobbish Agnes (Fay Compton) must take work as skivvy, timid bank clerk Herbert (George Cole) must become a bank robber, pillar-of-the-community Deniston (Alistair Sim) must get sent to prison, and playboy Simon (Guy Middleton) must get married. Will the lure of money be enough to get these characters to go against type? Of course it will.