The outside of the carriages suggests that they belong to the LNER (London & North Eastern Railway); the interiors have LMS (London, Midland & Scottish) antimacassars (head rest covers).
For Easter I started looking round for easy-going movies to view over the holidays,and I remember a fun War Comedy that I've been meaning to watch again for a while,which led to me getting ready to see the girls go on parade.The plot:Working on an all-women ATS unit, Lt.
During WWII, women join an ack-ack battery in the countryside and cause discombobulation between the male soldiers.Despite its decent cast, viewed today this is a very sexist comedy indeed that seems men are merely drooling idiots around women or assume that women are not fit to be in the army and merely a distraction.
From the starting credits of images of women in their underwear I knew this wasn't going to be a homage to the girls who served in WW2. Nearly all the women were shown to be sex crazed man eaters who stopped to apply lipstick when the base was being attacked rather than manning their posts.
As a massive fan of 50s & 60s British films, I love this one. Clearly directed by a man & stereotypical but, hey, it was 1959.
This witless army farce was presumably shot under the title 'Girls in Arms' (since that's the name of the song bellowed under the opening and closing credits), before they decided it needed something more sophisticated. It also requires a fluffier leading lady than Barbara Murray.
The title of this review should clearly state my overall opinion of this film. Within the first 5 minutes: the inaccuracies, blatant sexual bias and pure lack of respect for the women who served in the armed forces during WW2 was astounding.
The soundtrack blares out 'Girls in Arms' and you suspect this was the original title of the film, from the same people who'd made the nautical farce GIRLS AT SEA shortly before. Certainly 'Operation Bull' is only an incident toward the end of the picture.
I found this on DVD in a local charity shop, and purchased it out of interest as had not heard of it before. The cast is perhaps average, although Peter Jones does an excellent turn as a gunner with a speech impediment, Naunton Wayne is barely recognisable, late in his career, and Donald Sinden seems slightly uneasy in his role as the Battery officer who's wife turns up unexpected while he's the target for most of the ATS girls' affections.
For its time (1959, film censorship was still quite strong), "Operation Bullshine" is a fairly piquant comedy; it certainly anticipates the bolder sex farces of the 1960s, and even contains some discreet almost-nudity. The Technicolor cinematography is colorful, and the new Region 2 DVD transfer is quite pleasing to the eye.
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