Private's Progress

Cast

Richard Attenborough
as Pvt. Percival Henry Cox

Dennis Price
as Brig. Bertram Tracepurcel

Ian Carmichael
as Stanley Windrush

Terry-Thomas
as Major Hitchcock

Peter Jones
as Egan

William Hartnell
as Sgt. Sutton

Thorley Walters
as Capt. Bootle

Jill Adams
as Prudence Greenslade

Ian Bannen
as Pvt. Horrocks

Victor Maddern
as Pvt. George Blake

Kenneth Griffith
as Pvt. Dai Jones

John Warren
as Sgt. Maj. Gradwick

George Coulouris
as Padre

Derrick De Marney
as Pat

Miles Malleson
as Mr. Windrush

Michael Trubshawe
as Col. Panshawe

John Le Mesurier
as Psychiatrist

Sally Miles
as Catherine

Brian Oulton
as M.O. at Gravestone Camp

Nicholas Bruce
as German Officer

David Lodge
as Lance Corporal Parsons

David King-Wood
as Gerald

Frank Hawkins
as Drill Sergeant

Basil Dignam
as Col. Martin

Henry Longhurst
as Mr. Spottiswood

Henry Oscar
as Art Expert

Theodore Zichy
as German Agent

Michael Ward
as Sidney

Robert Bruce
as Testing Officer

Ludwig Lawinski
as General von Lembeck

Irlyn Hall
as NAAFI Girl

Marianne Stone
as Miss Sugden

Lockwood West
as Detective

Jack McNaughton
as Medical Orderly

Eynon Evans
as Ticket Collector

Glyn Houston
as Corporal on Sick Call

Christopher Lee

Ronald Adam
as Doctor

Lloyd Lamble
as Officer at Medical Hearing

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Critic Reviews for Private's Progress

Audience Reviews for Private's Progress

• Jan 13, 2011

  This light, military comedy is an early hit from the Boulting brothers ("Brighton Rock," "Twisted Nerve," "The Family Way," "There's a Girl in My Soup," "Heavens Above!"). It may remind contemporary audiences of both "The Phil Silvers Show" (contraband deals and get-rich scheming) and "Stripes" (a misfit stumbles through basic training, then joins a mettle-testing mission involving a quick sneak over enemy lines). And of course, it overlaps with its more famous sequel, "I'm All Right Jack." Peter Sellers is absent from "Private's Progress," but the film does star Ian Carmichael as the same privileged, clumsily apologetic twit seen in "Jack." Multiple other actors also play repeat roles, including Terry-Thomas, Dennis Price, Kenneth Griffith and Richard Attenborough (such a sharp presence, and always so hard to connect with his later persona as a prestigious director). Oddly, the cast also includes an uncredited Christopher Lee in a small part as a German officer. The film could use a better villain -- the camp's ineffectual commanders are so wishy-washy that their dealings with the soldiers are short on comic sparks. The script also has less of the punchy social satire that distinguishes "Heavens Above!" and "I'm All Right Jack," which is unfortunate. It's mostly about gentle laughs and good fun, though a deadpan prologue about military bureaucracy scores some direct hits.
  

  Eric B Super Reviewer

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