Due to a clerical error, the wrong Reverend Smallwood (Peter Sellers) – a former prison chaplain with a strong Brummie accent and socialist leanings – is appointed to a parish in the small affluent town of Orbiston Parva, whose main industry is Tranquillax – a pep pill cum laxative.
Reverend Smallwood upsets the conservative locals by appointing a black bin man (Brock Peters) as his new Churchwarden. Then he gives shelter in the vicarage to a pack of scurrilous gypsies led by Harry (Eric Sykes) and Rene Smith (Irene Handl) who proceed to rob him blind.
The last straw for the community comes when he persuades local rich woman Lady Despard (Isabel Jeans) to use her wealth to start a new charity called the ‘Good Neighbour Fellowship’, which involves giving free food to anyone who wants it.
The charity is popular at first but leads to shop closures on a massive scale. When Lady Despard’s son (Mark Eden) puts a stop to the scheme, the angry townspeople rounds on Smallwood.
Future Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott plays Eric Sykes’s Eldest son.
A Boulting Brothers Production for British Lion, filmed at Shepperton Studios.
Reverend John Smallwood
Peter Sellers Archdeacon Aspinall
Cecil Parker Lady Despard
Isabel Jeans The Other Smallwood
Ian Carmichael Simpson
Bernard Miles Matthew
Brock Peters Harry Smith
Eric Sykes Rene Smith
Irene Handl Winnie Smith
Miriam Karlin Mrs Smith-Gould
Joan Miller Rockeby
Miles Malleson Bank Manager
Eric Barker Major Fowler
William Hartnell Fred Smith
Roy Kinnear Housewife
Joan Hickson
Director
John Boulting
Roy Boulting
Related Posts
Pawnbroker, The (1965) Concentration camp survivor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) tries to make a fresh start in New York but is plagued by…
Wrong Box, The (1966) Bryan Forbes' large-screen colour venture into the realms of black comedy is a story set in the Victorian era about…
Pure Hell of St Trinian's, The (1960) The fourth form monsters' latest trick is their best ever - they've burned down St Trinian's! As the school stands…
Shot In The Dark, A (1964) The success of The Pink Panther (1963) created a new comic favourite in the accident-prone form of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau of…
City of the Dead, The (1960) In 1692 a witch named Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel) is burned at the stake but summons supernatural powers to save…
In the Nick (1960) Four smalltime crooks - led by Spider Kelly (James Booth) - are sent to an experimental "progressive" prison where inmates…
Two Thousand Maniacs (1964) Tom White (William Kerwin, billed here as Thomas Wood) and Terry Adams (Connie Mason) are heading to Atlanta when they…
Dilemma (1962) This British thriller is full to the brim with suspense and black comedy. Respectable music teacher Harry Barnes (Peter Halliday)…
