For a film with a running time of just over an hour and a half, this contains a lot of filler. It takes an eternity to set up the basic situation, and doesn't do a lot with it when it eventually does. When it does gets going, it does contain some laughs, but not as many as one would expect. Not a total waste of time, but I was left with the feeling that television today would deal with this far more effectively and do it in about half the time.

An Anthony Kimmins Production for London Films. Released by British Lion in the U.K. (3 August 1953), by London Films in Australia (18 March 1954), by United Artists in the USA (18 December 1953).Copyright in the USA on 18 December 1953 by British Lion Film Corp., Ltd. Registered: June 1953. "A" certificate. Original length: 8,400 feet. Running times: 93 minutes (UK), 88 minutes (Australia), 77 minutes (USA). New York opening at the Paris: 28 September 1953. Sydney opening at the Embassy.SYNOPSIS: This sailor — he's the captain actually — has a wife in every port — well actually just two ports. Needless to say, the ship runs a continuous shuttle service from one port to the other.COMMENT: Takes some time to get under way but emerges as a fairly amusing comedy, thanks to the talents of Alec Guinness and Charles Goldner and despite the lack-luster direction of Anthony Kimmins. Fortunately, the script has a good, basic comedy idea, which Guinness and Goldner exploit to the hilt. The support players do all that is required of them, though one does get tired of Yvonne De Carlo's perpetually fractured English.Production values are up to "A" standard, though it is very obvious that not a single member of the professional cast left the comfort of the studio, as all the 2nd unit shots are poorly matched.

This really should have been better. In 1953 British studios were pounding out comic hits one after another, but, alas, this wasn't one of them. I saw it years ago and remember being vaguely disappointed. Seeing it again hasn't changed my opinion.There's nothing wrong with the acting, except perhaps that Yvonne DeCarlo (nee Peggy Middleton of Vancouver) isn't very convincing as a hot blooded Latina, especially when she speaks Spanish. The direction isn't bad either. The problem lies with the script. It's just not funny enough.The captain, Alec Guiness, of a ferry that crosses the Straits of Gibralter regularly, from British Gibralter to fictional Kalika, has a wife on each end of the run, ignorant of one another's existence. The wife in Kalika, DeCarlo, loves to stay up all night, dance, and presumably do other wicked things. The British wife in Gibralter (Cecilia Johnson) is straight laced, domestic, content, and the couple retire at 10 o'clock every night.Some gags, not especially amusing, are worked in around getting presents for each of the wives mixed up. The big surprise is that DeCarlo really wants to settle down with a family on a less tempestuous schedule, while the rather boring Johnson reveals a wild side to her nature. Both run off with other men.The authorities at Kalika blame Guiness when DeCarlo is shot by her boyfriend. They go through the ritual of an execution by firing squad, except that the shooters plug the officer in charge of the execution, not Guiness. Guiness pays them off with lots of money, thanks them, and goes on his way.The end.What it reminded me of, more than anything else, were the cheap black-and-white domestic comedies that Hollywood was producing at the time, most of them now deservedly forgotten. The Dagwood and Bondie series. "The Life of Riley." "Bed Time for Bonzo." Hordes of other pre-television examples whose titles I don't want to bother looking up.If you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed, but God forbid you should compare this to the Ealing comedies of the period, like "The Ladykillers."

When Captain Henry James is executed by firing squad, flags all over the region are lowered to half-mast in sorrow. On the day of his execution an old companion comes to look him up but too late to see him before the deed is done. Sitting with James' Chief Officer, the man listens to the story behind his execution and hears a tale of an international ferry, a Mrs James in Algeria, a Mrs James in Gibraltar and a man with very different lives depending on his longitude and latitude.With a simple premise this Ealing-style comedy was never going to be a surprise but when it starts with the main character being executed then it at least offers the audience something they didn't expect and it made it more interesting than another version that I had seen involving Jerry Lewis and airhostesses on different flight paths (forget the name). What is amusing about the subject (James has two wives – one domestic the other a party girl) is that it is still relevant today because men (us) still want a woman to be everything we want (as Ludicrous rhymed recently, "a lady in the street but a freak in the bed") and it is this duality that the film establishes in the two ports to good effect. The plot sets up this "perfect" life and then, predictably, picks it away, crossing the two women well and seeing James frustrated as his perfect set ups start to merge. It is never really hilarious but it is consistently amusing throughout and the script plays with the characters with wit and genuine charm.The actors needed to do well with the script then and they do. Guinness is strong, at times keeping the audience with him, at others letting us see through him and care for his wives. De Carlo is sassy and sexy as required (even if her accent is a bit off) and conversely Johnson is the typical Englishman's wife; both play their roles well but also change well when the script requires. Modern viewers may be a little put off by white actors playing Algerians but it didn't bother me at all and I felt that the support cast did well in support of the lead three.Overall this is a lovely little comedy that is consistently amusing with a nice script and good performances from the main actors. It isn't too surprising or hilarious but fans of Ealing comedies will enjoy it as a light bit of entertainment.