Just when you think you’ve seen it all!
I noticed on SkyQ earlier that Talking Pictures is showing the classic comedy ‘I’m All Right Jack’. I’m watching it right now.
For anyone who doesn’t know, it was made in 1959. Yes, over sixty years ago. It tells the story of Stanley Windrush (played by Ian Carmichael), who as a new graduate is unable to get into a management position, so ends up in an unskilled role. He is eager to do a good job, and immediately falls foul of the union shop steward, Fred Kite (Peter Sellers). The story revolves around this conflict. It is very funny, and considered as one of Sellers’ great films. It also features roles for Terry-Thomas, Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Margaret Rutherford, Irene Handl, and John Le Mesurier.
The film opens in a nudist colony. This is a 1959 nudist colony in a 1959 film. When the film first launched – in 1959 – it was not censored. I’m not aware that it has been ever censored, and it certainly wasn’t when I used to watch it during school holidays and many times since.
But today, Talking Pictures had – for reasons best known to themselves – blurred out elements of the opening scenes!