THE GREEN MAN is one of the funniest black comedies ever made, but it has been hidden from most movie fans because it came in a period of many films from Britain of equal value and with higher star quality (i.e., Alec Guiness and Peter Sellers as the star, rather than Alistair Sim, their equal in British cinema). Sim influence Guiness (who copied him in appearance in THE LADYKILLERS) and he appeared to better effect in film with Sellers (THE MILLIONAIRESS),but he never accepted knighthood or got the Oscar like Guiness did (nor did he get nominated for an Oscar like Sellers did on several occasions). So he gets an unfair short shrift, although there is considerable evidence that he was their total equal as an actor...certainly as a comic actor.

Sim is a professional assassin, who blows up his targets. However, he insists on agreeing to destroy the men he is hired to kill only if they happen to be rather pompous as well as politically objectionable. At the start of the film one sees him blow up a Latin American dictator with a bomb in a soccer ball. He also blows up a self-important millionaire with an exploding hammer (used to call a stockholders meeting to order). His target in the film is a rising, self-satisfied politician...and who can better personify smug self-satisfaction in British comedy than Raymond Huntley. Sim plans to hoist Huntley with his own petard - a recording of his normal, boring speech, set to blow up at a particular moment of dullness. Huntley is going to a seaside resort for the weekend, and Sim plans to go after him.

Unfortunately for the normally careful Sim, a cleaning lady stumbles on his plot, and he has to tie her up. But she manages to get the attention of vacuum cleaner salesman George Cole, who slowly realizes that the "helpful" Sim is not so helpful. Sim manages to get to the hotel, but Cole soon follows him.

Huntley is there, but his weekend is not so clean - he has a young lady there for some non-political activity. Also at the hotel (which is called "The Green Man") is Terry-Thomas, also there for the weekend, and hoping to become lucky. There is also the normal set of normal eccentrics that people British farces like this.

So the last half of the film is following the following points: Will Sim manage to avoid Cole, and get at Huntley? Will Cole find Sim, and save Huntley, without getting Terry-Thomas sufficiently angry at him for spoiling all of his attempts at picking up ladies? And will Huntley have his improper weekend, and enjoy hearing his own speech? Sim's bomb plot against Huntley hits one snag which for sheer unexpected effrontery is hard to top - he sets it in motion, only to find he has not counted on an active critic. It is only a ten second bit in the film, but it is a hoot!

Have always been a big fan of old British comedy, you don't get much better than the best of Ealing Studios (i.e. 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'),do know 'The Green Man' is not from Ealing but just wanted to briefly mention. To me, if there is a strong contender for the best British comedian in sound-era films, Alastair Sim would be it while Alec Guinness would be another strong contender.

'The Green Man' is a real gem. Not quite perfect (not many films are, like trying to see the good in bad or terrible films also equally try to see any improvements in decent to fantastic films),but close. Only saw it recently after it being strongly recommended by friends who are fellow fans of older comedy British or not. If one wants a film that mixes never-less-than-very-funny laughs with edge-of-the-seat suspsense adeptly, it doesn't get much better than 'The Green Man'.

Maybe the story gets a little over-complicated in spots when it gets busier and it occasionally gets slightly stagy.

Although George Cole was clearly having great fun with his role, a type of role that he does generally here do very well in, and the viewer has fun watching him, the bumbling occasionally is overdone.

On the other hand, Sim's performance is pure genius, one of his best in my opinion. His comic timing is as ever impeccable and he proves that he can also be serious too, showing that he is much more than a comedian. Raymond Huntley is also deliciously pompous and Terry Thomas does the most with his far too short screen time. Jill Adams radiates whenever she appears. Robert Day keeps everything moving along at a cracking pace and doesn't make it too silly or too serious. The production values have a nice atmosphere and the music just about doesn't fall into either extreme of being bombastic or too low-key.

Furthermore, the script is peppered with entertaining lines that never get too broad or juvenile, the 9'o clock news line is agreed one of British comedy's funniest lines ever. Much of 'The Green Man' ranges from very funny to hilarious in the humour, with a riot of a climax and the three ladies/recital/radio bomb scene is farce at its most delicious. The story is never less than engaging, with some wonderfully kooky characters, brilliantly timed comedy, unpredictable twists and turns and the right amount of suspense. It just needed to do a little bit less later on.

Summarising, terrific fun and a must if you love British comedy (or comedy in general) and/or of Sim. 8.5/10

THE GREEN MAN is a delightfully old-fashioned British farce of the kind they just don't make anymore, worse luck. It's a fast-moving tale full of outlandish situations and larger-than-life characters and I loved every minute of it, in fact preferring it to the better-known Ealing classics of the era. The thing to note about this film is that it's funny, very funny, and never less than very funny. The set up works extremely well and the pacing never flags for a second. I caught it on television and was entranced.

The film stars the inimitable Alastair Sim as an assassin working his way through a series of high-ranking officials with ease. Unfortunately for him, his latest murder is complicated by the arrival of an annoying vacuum-cleaner salesman, played with delightful relish by the excellent George Cole in the best performance I've seen him give. Cole realises something is up and enlists the help of the gorgeous Jill Adams playing a warm and exasperated bride-to-be as they attempt to stop another murder taking place.

The film mainly takes place in a couple of locations. The first is two neighbouring houses, typical suburban homes that were at their best when murderous antics took place inside them (the fine little crime thriller DILEMMA came to mind when watching this). The latter action is set in an inn (the Green Man of the title) and becomes even more farcical and exciting. The exemplary supporting cast features Terry-Thomas, Raymond Huntley, Avril Angers, Dora Bryan, Cyril Chamberlain, Richard Wattis, and even bit parts for the famous faces of Arthur Lowe and Michael Ripper. There's nothing not to love about this one and I shall be purchasing the DVD forthwith.