You Know What Sailors Are (1954 film)

You Know What Sailors Are
Directed by	Ken Annakin
Written by	Peter Rogers
Based on	Sylvester by Edward Hyams
Produced by	Peter Rogers Julian Wintle
Starring	Donald Sinden Akim Tamiroff Sarah Lawson
Cinematography	Reginald H. Wyer
Edited by	Alfred Roome
Music by	Malcolm Arnold
Production company	Group Film Productions
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	9 February 1954 (1954-02-09)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

You Know What Sailors Are is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Donald Sinden, Michael Hordern, Bill Kerr, Dora Bryan and Akim Tamiroff. The screenplay by Peter Rogers was based on the 1951 novel Sylvester by Edward Hyams. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around the Isle of Portland. The film's sets were designed by the art director George Provis.

Plot

Three British naval officers out on a drunken spree attach a pram and a pawnbroker's sign to the stern of a foreign naval ship. The next morning, an officer misinterprets the pram and sign as state of the art, top-secret radar equipment. Instantly, the British navy decrees that their ships be fitted with the same device. Thereafter, bureaucratic misunderstandings escalate into a major international incident.

Cast

• Akim Tamiroff as President of Agraria
• Donald Sinden as Lt. Sylvester Green
• Sarah Lawson as Betty
• Naunton Wayne as Captain Owbridge
• Bill Kerr as Lt. Smart
• Dora Bryan as Gladys
• Martin Miller as Prof. Hyman Pfumbaum
• Michael Shepley as Admiral
• Michael Hordern as Captain Hamilton
• Ferdy Mayne as Stanislaus Voritz of Smorznigov
• Bryan Coleman as Lt. Comdr. Voles
• Cyril Chamberlain as Stores Officer
• Hal Osmond as Stores Petty Officer
• Peter Arne as Ahmed
• Sara Leighton as Jasmin
• Janet Richards as Almyra
• Eileen Sands as Hepzibah
• Marianne Stone as Elsie – Barmaid
• Peter Dyneley as Lt. Andrews
• Peter Martyn as Lt. Ross
• Robertson Hare as Lt. Cdr. (Experimental Station)
• Anthony Sharp as Humphrey - Naval Attache
• Leslie Phillips as Embassy Secretary
• Peter Barkworth as Naval Lieutenant
• Martin Benson as Agrarian Officer
• Shirley Eaton as Palace Girl
• Lisa Gastoni as Palace Girl
• Hermione Harvey as Dancer

Critical reception

TV Guide writes, "beautiful women fill the screen at frequent intervals in this amiable comedy"; and AllMovie writes, "You Know What Sailors Are top-bills Akim Tamiroff as the president of a mythical Foreign country, but the film belongs to Donald Sinden as the well-meaning young officer who precipitates the whole affair."

External links

• You Know What Sailors Are at IMDb