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	~~{{short description\|1956 film}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=March 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=March 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Private's Progress		\| name = Private's Progress

Kurt at 21:27, 5 October 2022

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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Private's Progress		\| name = Private's Progress
	\| image = Private's Progress ~~- 1956 poster~~.jpg		\| image = Private's Progress.jpg
	\| caption = Original UK cinema poster		\| caption = Original UK cinema poster
	\| director = [[John and Roy Boulting\|John Boulting]]		\| director = [[John and Roy Boulting\|John Boulting]]

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en>Philip Cross: ce

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{{short description|1956 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Private's Progress
| image = Private's Progress - 1956 poster.jpg
| caption = Original UK cinema poster
| director = [[John and Roy Boulting|John Boulting]]
| screenplay = John Boulting<br />[[Frank Harvey (English screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]]
| based_on = {{Based on|''Private's Progress''|[[Alan Hackney]]}}
| producer = [[John and Roy Boulting|Roy Boulting]]
| starring = [[Ian Carmichael]]<br />[[Richard Attenborough]]<br />[[Dennis Price]]<br />[[Terry-Thomas]]
| cinematography = [[Eric Cross (cinematographer)|Eric Cross]]
| editing = [[Anthony Harvey]]
| music = [[John Addison]]
| studio = Charter Film Productions
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]] {{small|(UK)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1956|02|17|UK}}
| runtime = 95 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = £310,870 (UK)<ref>Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p506</ref>
}}
'''''Private's Progress''''' is a 1956 British [[comedy film]] based on the novel<ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13025831-private-s-progress Novel]</ref> by [[Alan Hackney]]. It was directed and produced by [[John and Roy Boulting]], from a script by John Boulting and [[Frank Harvey (English screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b38d979|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712032629/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b38d979|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-12|title=Private's Progress (1956) - BFI|work=BFI}}</ref>

==Plot==
During the [[Second World War]], young [[undergraduate]] Stanley Windrush ([[Ian Carmichael]]), is conscripted into the [[British Army]]. Unlike his friend, Egan ([[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]]), Windrush is a most reluctant soldier and struggles through basic training at Gravestone Barracks under Sgt. Sutton ([[William Hartnell]]) (Author Hackney spent the first year of his National Service at [[Invicta Park Barracks|Maidstone Barracks]]).<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/5351636/Alan-Hackney.html Alan Hackney], ''The Telegraph'', 19 May 2009</ref> Failing his officer selection board, he is posted to a holding unit, under the command of Major Hitchcock ([[Terry-Thomas]]). Most of the soldiers there are malingerers and drop-outs, with one of them Private Cox ([[Richard Attenborough]]) becoming his mentor in escaping work details and riding on the railway without a ticket.

Windrush is finally posted to train as a Japanese interpreter, where he becomes the prize pupil. He is then contacted by his uncle, Brigadier Tracepurcel ([[Dennis Price]]), who rapidly rose from the rank of Major for facilitating profitable business deals for his superior officers and is now a senior officer in the [[War Office]], to join a secret operation known only as Hatrack. He is quickly commissioned and the operation is launched, Windrush becoming an unwitting participant in a scheme ostensibly to recover looted artworks from the Germans but really to steal them and sell them to two crooked art dealers. All are astounded that Windrush was trained in Japanese, rather than German that initially made him desirable to the operation.

Windrush survives the operation where he is captured by British forces whilst in German uniform. No one believes he is British until he comes across Major Hitchcock who is commanding the prisoner of war camp Windrush is at. After being hospitalised for alleged mental illness, he is discharged from the army. Tracepurcel and his associate, Private Cox, fake their deaths. Windrush returns to university after the war and is surprised to receive a visit from Cox, who brings him an attaché case. Cox is arrested as he leaves by Sergeant Sutton, now a Royal Military Policeman; Windrush and Tracepurcel having been tracked as the source of a counterfeit copy of one of the artworks. Windrush innocently reveals to the military police the contents of the case—a large sum of money—and is also arrested, assumed to be complicit in the fraud.

The closing epilogue and dedication states: "To all those who got away with it, this film is most respectfully dedicated."<ref name="NYT1956">{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/07/24/86653074.html?pageNumber=19|title=''Private's Progress'' Opens at the Guild|date=24 July 1956|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Ian Carmichael]] as Stanley Windrush
* [[Richard Attenborough]] as Private Cox
* [[Dennis Price]] as Brigadier Bertram Tracepurcel
* [[Terry-Thomas]] as Major Hitchcock
* [[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]] as Egan
* [[William Hartnell]] as Sergeant Sutton
* [[Thorley Walters]] as Captain Bootle
* [[Jill Adams]] as Prudence Greenslade
* [[Ian Bannen]] as Private Horrocks
* [[Victor Maddern]] as Private Blake
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Private Jones
* [[George Coulouris]] as Padre
* [[Derrick De Marney]] as Pat
* [[Ronald Adam (actor)|Ronald Adam]] as Doctor at medical hearing
* [[Miles Malleson]] as Windrush Sr.
* [[Sally Miles (actress)|Sally Miles]] as Catherine
* [[David King-Wood]] as Gerald
* [[Brian Oulton]] as M.O. at Gravestone Camp
* [[Michael Trubshawe]] as Col. Fanshawe
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Psychiatrist
* [[Robert Raglan]] as Gen. Tomlinson
* [[Henry Oscar]] as Art expert
* [[Christopher Lee]] as General von Linbeck's aide (uncredited)
* [[Basil Dignam]] as Col. Martin (president of Selection Board) (uncredited)
* [[John Harvey (actor)|John Harvey]] as RAF officer at headquarters (uncredited)
* [[Glyn Houston]] as Corporal on sick call (uncredited)
* [[Lloyd Lamble]] as Officer at medical hearing (uncredited)
* [[David Lodge (actor)|David Lodge]] as Lance Corporal on guard duty, Holding Unit (uncredited)
* [[Marianne Stone]] as Expectant mother talking to Capt Bootle (uncredited)
* [[Michael Ward (actor)|Michael Ward]] as Sidney (guest at party) (uncredited)
* [[John Warren (actor)|John Warren]] as Sergeant Major Gradwick
* [[Trevor Reid]] as Adjutant (uncredited)
* [[Theodore Zichy]] as German Agent (uncredited)
* [[Peter Williams (American actor)|Peter Williams]] as Officer at Selection Board (uncredited)
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film was primarily filmed at [[Shepperton Studios]] but some scenes were filmed at [[Wantage Hall]], a hall of residence for the [[University of Reading]].

The [[War Office]] refused all requests for cooperation, even after the ending of the film was changed to show the guilty being caught. The producers inserted a title card depicting three officers in the [[See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil]] stance with the words "the producers gratefully acknowledge the official cooperation of absolutely nobody".<ref>Mackenzie, S.P. ''British War Films'' BLM Academic UK; 1st edition (1 June 2006) p. 133 </ref><ref name="NYT1956" />

It was the first in a series of successful satirical comedies made by the Boulting brothers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/446435/|title=BFI Screenonline: Boulting Brothers|work=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> Their 1959 comedy, ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'', featured many of the same actors and characters. Many references are made to the events of ''Private's Progress''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/441166/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: I'm All Right Jack (1959)|work=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film was the second most popular movie at the British box office in 1956.<ref>British Films Made Most Money: Box-Office Survey The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959) [Manchester (UK)] 28 December 1956: 3</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_32_Issue_3/page/n17|magazine=Screen|page=259|volume=32|issue=3|title=The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry|first=Janet|last=Thumim}}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "the Boultings have come up with an ingenious story and injected hilarious moments. But the whole thing sparkles and fizzles."<ref name="NYT1956" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{British Comedy Guide|film|private_progress}}
* {{IMDb title|0049637}}

{{Boulting brothers}}

[[Category:1956 comedy films]]
[[Category:1950s satirical films]]
[[Category:1956 films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:British satirical films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Boulting]]
[[Category:Films scored by John Addison]]
[[Category:Military humor in film]]
[[Category:World War II films]]

Private's Progress - Revision history

Kurt at 13:52, 3 February 2023

Kurt at 21:27, 5 October 2022

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