Down Among The Z Men
(1952)
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Through song and dance, funny bits, and sheer wit this comedy brings Peter Sellers and his troupe from the British radio programme "The Goon Show" together to spoof World War II espionage. In this story, a few wayward criminals get together to steal a famous professor's newly invented top secret formula. |
Although Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan co-starred in Penny Points to Paradise in 1951, this was the only time all four founders of The Goon Show appeared together on celluloid. However, Michael Bentine's turn as a mad professor is just one of many space-fillers in this dismal army romp. Gone is the zany humour that made the radio show essential listening and, in its place, comes crude slapstick and obvious observation. Veteran director Maclean Rogers fails to disguise either the cheapness of the production or the bankruptcy of the plot, which is held together with interminable numbers from the camp programme.