The Captain's Table

The Captain's Table
Directed by	Jack Lee
Written by	Bryan Forbes Jack Whiting Nicholas Phipps
Based on	The Captain's Table by Richard Gordon
Produced by	Joseph Janni
Starring	John Gregson Donald Sinden Peggy Cummins Nadia Gray Maurice Denham
Cinematography	Christopher Challis
Edited by	Frederick Wilson
Music by	Frank Cordell
Production company	Rank Organisation
Distributed by	Rank Film Distributors
Release date	6 January 1959
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins and Nadia Gray, and featured Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, Richard Wattis and Reginald Beckwith in leading supporting roles.

The film is based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon. This was later adapted into the 1971 German film The Captain starring Heinz Rühmann.

Plot

After serving all his working life with the South Star line, exclusively in cargo ships, Captain Albert Ebbs meets his employer (John le Mesurier) and is finally given command (albeit temporarily) of the SS Queen Adelaide, a cruise liner sailing from London to Sydney. An excellent seaman, he finds that he now has many social obligations that he does not have the skills to fulfil. He must preside at the captain's table, host cocktail parties, judge beauty contests and dance with the lady passengers. He must also cope with amorous widows, young couples who want him to marry them and a blustering ex-army major who claims to have the ear of the chairman of the shipping line.

To add to his woes, most of the officers and crew, led by the chief purser, are on the fiddle. The captain doesn't fully realise this until the last night of the cruise, when champagne being served is revealed to be cider, with the crew pocketing the considerable profits.

All comes out well - just. The captain finds himself engaged to be married to an attractive widow, the chief officer is also engaged to a young heiress, and the larcenous officers are arrested by Sydney police.

Cast

• John Gregson as Captain Ebbs
• Peggy Cummins as Mrs Judd
• Donald Sinden as Chief Officer Shawe-Wilson
• Nadia Gray as Mrs Porteous
• Maurice Denham as Major Broster
• Richard Wattis as Chief Purser Prittlewell
• Reginald Beckwith as Captain's Steward Burtweed
• Lionel Murton as Bernie Floate
• Bill Kerr as Bill Coke
• Nicholas Phipps as Reddish
• Joan Sims as Maude Pritchett
• Miles Malleson as Canon Swingler
• John Le Mesurier as Sir Angus
• James Hayter as Chief Engineer Earnshaw
• June Jago as Gwenny Coke
• Oliver Reed as Minor role
• Arthur Lowe as Minor role

External links

• The Captain's Table at IMDb
• The Captain's Table at Rotten Tomatoes