Bill Travers and his wife, the pellucid Virginia McKenna, are a lower middle-class English couple who inherit some valuable property in a small town, or so they think. A trip to Sloughingham (or whatever it is) reveals the property to be nothing more than a dilapidated old movie theater, the Bijou, with a barely sentient staff of three: Margret Rutherford is the ticket taker and cleaning woman, Peter Sellers is the projectionist given to drink, and Bernard Miles a moth-eaten usher. It's not made clear what they've been doing because the place is filthy and falling apart, and it hasn't shown a film since silent days.
Well, it's all pretty hopeless until their friend alerts them to the fact that the man who own the GREAT BIG THEATER next door wants to buy the property, demolish the Bijou, and build a parking lot. The price he offers is what's known as a low ball -- too low. Travers and McKenna decide to gull their rich neighbor into thinking that they actually plan to turn the Bijou into a working business, begin showing movies again, and become competitive with the grand theater next door. They all pour everything they have into bringing the Bijou back to life and they succeed. The only problem is that they can afford to show nothing but B Westerns.
It turns out not to be a problem at all. The audience is anarchic, youngsters throwing peanuts at one another and making out in the rear seats. They jeer when the film stops and burns and when a fallen villain rolls uphill. By various means, pretty girls sell cigarettes and candy, for instance, they improve their take until they actually make a small profit. By this time the tycoon next door is convinced. But instead of building a parking lot, he's going to buy the Bijou at an elevated price and find a place for the triad that maintain it.
It evokes smiles rather than laughter. The actors are all professional. Peter Sellers stands out if only because once,when his film is all over the floor during a show, he casts an agonized stare at a nearby empty whiskey bottle. Virginia McKenna is a paragon of purity. Shame on you if you think of her legs. Sit back, go with the flow, and you'll probably enjoy it. It's not an Ealing masterpiece but it's diverting and, in its own quiet way, reassuring.
Well, it's all pretty hopeless until their friend alerts them to the fact that the man who own the GREAT BIG THEATER next door wants to buy the property, demolish the Bijou, and build a parking lot. The price he offers is what's known as a low ball -- too low. Travers and McKenna decide to gull their rich neighbor into thinking that they actually plan to turn the Bijou into a working business, begin showing movies again, and become competitive with the grand theater next door. They all pour everything they have into bringing the Bijou back to life and they succeed. The only problem is that they can afford to show nothing but B Westerns.
It turns out not to be a problem at all. The audience is anarchic, youngsters throwing peanuts at one another and making out in the rear seats. They jeer when the film stops and burns and when a fallen villain rolls uphill. By various means, pretty girls sell cigarettes and candy, for instance, they improve their take until they actually make a small profit. By this time the tycoon next door is convinced. But instead of building a parking lot, he's going to buy the Bijou at an elevated price and find a place for the triad that maintain it.
It evokes smiles rather than laughter. The actors are all professional. Peter Sellers stands out if only because once,when his film is all over the floor during a show, he casts an agonized stare at a nearby empty whiskey bottle. Virginia McKenna is a paragon of purity. Shame on you if you think of her legs. Sit back, go with the flow, and you'll probably enjoy it. It's not an Ealing masterpiece but it's diverting and, in its own quiet way, reassuring.