A simple message throughout this subtle comedy prevails. Real faith comes from the joy of giving, and that's not always in the financial way. For unorthodox vicar Peter Sellers, his methods of spreading this joy doesn't come from accepting large financial gifts, not when somebody's home is taken away from them. Wealthy matron Isabel Jeans ("Gigi's" Aunt Alicia) is exactly like Gladys Cooper's wealthy matron in "The Bishop's Wife", selfish and unchristian in her manner, even though she attends services regularly. She's the one Sellers refuses to accept money from, because it's her land that a poor family is thrown off of, unable to pay the rising rents. Sellers makes it clear to Jeans that her attitude is not going to welcome her into God's bosom, revealed to her in the most subtle and humorous of ways.But as Jeans strives to atone, the allegedly poor members of the small congregation reveal their own imperfections, misunderstanding Sellers' message of love thy neighbor and aide those less fortunate. They treat African parishioner Brock Peters with contempt for being black, fight over goods in stores, pass judgments and spread gossip. In short, they've turned into the type of parishioners I observed in church and stopped going for that reason. This is a smart philosophical comedy that deals with many spiritual issues prevalent today.Another subtle performance by Sellers with only slight accent, yet with the nuances of eccentricity his fans have come to love and expect. Peters shows a joy of the simple visions of what the joy of faith should be. The light shines off of him, yet is vacant in the white parishioners who obviously have selfish motivations for calling themselves Christians, as if believing in God simply was the way to avoid the roads to the unknown depths of hell. Whether or not hell exists, it's obvious who has found heaven on earth, just as its obvious in life today who has found it here or simply just going through the motions or giving a performance.

Another satire by directors John and Roy Boulting, "Heavens Above!" stars Peter Sellers as a Christian chaplain who takes over the running of a small church. To the chagrin of local businessmen, clerics and land owners, Sellers' "progressive" beliefs upset the status quo; he offers charity to the poor, is friendly with Afro-Caribbean men and lets a family of squatters live in his church. How dare he!? The Boulting Brothers' "I'm All Right Jack" pitted capitalists versus communists and union workers. "Heavens Above!" does something similar, portraying Christian values as being unsustainable, irrational and downright ill-effective in a world governed by both the logic of capitalism and the golden calves of profit and private land ownership. Ill-equipped for this world, Sellers' character finds himself locked in a rocket and blasting off into outer space. For the idealistic chaplain, Christianity and planet Earth itself are incompatible (thus "heaven's above"). Of course the opposite is also true; "earthly" capitalism heavily depends upon different forms of "Christian" welfare. In Britain, it was itself via the burgeoning welfare state which capitalism co-opted and neutralised "threatening" Christian socialists and worker movements.Though "Heavens Above!" wastes a good premise, the always watchable Peter Sellers elevates things. His chaplain is idealistic, kind-hearted, but tragically pushed to a point of near-total disillusionment. Forgotten by most film-lovers, the Boulting Brothers anticipate the works of Lindsay Anderson.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

Roy and John Boulting had previously guyed the British army in 'Private's Progress', diplomacy in 'Carlton-Browne Of The F.O.', industrial relations in 'I'm All Right Jack', and the legal profession in 'Brothers In Law'. For 'Heavens Above!' they turned their attentions to the church. Or did they? According to the credits, the script by Frank Harvey and John Boulting was based on an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge, who called 'Monty Python's Life Of Brian' a squalid little film on its original release in 1979. It comes as no surprise then that 'Above!' is deeply respectful towards religion; its main targets are the people who go to church each Sunday in their nice hats and sing their hearts out whilst being generally horrible the rest of the week, those who take from the Bible what they want and ignore everything else. And if you can make a few bob out of it too, good luck mate.Peter Sellers adopts a Birmingham accent to play the Rev. John Smallwood, a well meaning prison chaplain appointed in error to a parish in the small industrial town of Orbiston Parva, whose main industry is Tranquillax, a pep pill cum laxative. Right away he upsets the snobbish locals by appointing a black bin man ( Brock Peters ) called Matthew as his new Churchwarden. Then he gives a home to a pack of scurrilous gypsies led by Harry ( Eric Sykes ) and Rene Smith ( Irene Handl ) who proceed to rob him blind. The last straw for the community comes when he persuades local rich woman Lady Despard ( Isabel Jeans ) to use her wealth to start a new charity called the 'Good Neighbour Fellowship', which involves giving free food to anyone who wants it. The charity is popular at first, but leads to shop closures on a massive scale. When Lady Despard's son ( Mark Eden ) puts a stop to the scheme, the angry townspeople rounds on Smallwood...The 'G.N.F.' is basically a thickly-disguised sneer at the Welfare State. The Boultings seem to be saying that the N.H.S. will collapse eventually due to over-demand. Well, we're in 2010 now and it is still here, having saved thousands of lives over the years. While objecting to the analogy, I still find this to be a marvellous film. The attacks on the Vicar's 'socialist' leanings are augmented by some rather obvious comedy touches such as him accidentally eating dog biscuits and Lady Despard's Peckinese peeing on his boot. Sellers again turns in a magnificent performance, drawing praise years later from his 'Goon Show' co-star Spike Milligan: "That character ( Smallwood ) is brilliantly sustained from beginning to end.".What about that supporting cast, eh? Let me drop a few names - Kenneth Griffith, William Hartnell, Cecil Parker, George Woodbridge, Bernard Miles, Cardew Robinson, Roy Kinnear, Miles Malleson - amongst others. Troopers all. One surprising thing though is the relegation of dear Ian Carmichael ( whom we lost earlier this year ) to a minor role as 'the other Smallwood'. He'd starred in almost all of the Boultings' earlier comedies, with the exception's of 'Carlton-Browne' and 'A French Mistress'.What lets the film down slightly is the ending in which Smallwood is moved by the Church to safer pastures by becoming the first Bishop of Outer Space. It belongs in a different film entirely. As he flies off into the heavens in a rocket, singing hymns, you cannot help but feel sorry for him. Hope he made it back to Earth eventually.

Ian Carmichael with vicar's teeth, and the angelic Irene Handl as wife of dead-beat Eric Sykes in one of his rare, prominent movie roles (see him excel in 'The Liquidator' 1965), accompanied by 'sixties British character actors arranged randomly, as if in a box of top-notch chocolates you just can't wait to eat! Peter Sellers underplays Reverend Smallwood, in what can be seen as a biting satire on the then attitudes of comfortable 'Christian' middle-class villagers, towards those less fortunate. A gypsy family is evicted from the field owned by bastard landowner William Hartnell, and 'mistaken identity' vicar Sellers takes them in, showing true humanitarian action. Simultaneously, Lady of the Manor, majority shareholder in the company which keeps the village afloat, decides to buy her way into heaven by selling her shares to feed the locals for free. And such locals! I spotted Cardew Robinson, Joan Hickson and Miriam Karlin, and anyone who thought Chris Barrie was good but miscast as butler to Lara Croft in Tomb Raider would have seen the real McCoy in Bernard Miles, the only thing missing was the identifying fart.This was, I remember, hilarious when released, but has undeniably dated. It is now most useful as a beautiful memento of the lost world that was mid-20thcentury England. Peter Sellers eating the dog's biscuits has been done a few times since, I am sure, but never bettered.The Boulting Brothers had bigger hits which are shown more frequently: 'Carlton Browne of the F.O.', 'The Family Way' etc., and this, though a good film, is not a classic. The most grating aspect, regrettably quite common in the sixties, is the dubbing with female' voices of all the kids, male and female. Call to mind that awful advertisement for insurance with the six month old child speaking like Brian Sewell. Perhaps the real voices were too regional or uncultured and the netball team just happened to be standing close-by?The world was black and white in those days, not just the movies, and though we have lost a lot along the way, we have occasionally gained a depth which early British comedy rarely achieved. Elstree movies were finished by then, - the New Wave had not arrived, and 'Heavens Above', while worthy and amusing, is little more than one of the richly decorated connecting links between these two interesting eras of movie-making.