Folly to Be Wise
The title comes from Thomas Gray's poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" (1768). The actual lines (the last two lines of the poem) are ".... Where ignorance is bliss, /'Tis folly to be wise".,Just before Walter gives Captain Paris a message for the Doctor, Captain Paris bangs the gavel on the table and then places the gavel next to his glasses. He then receives the message with his left hand. In the next shot he is holding his glasses with his left hand and holding the message with his right hand.,The Whelk Song
(uncredited)
Written by John Temple West, Johnny Johnston and Louise Kulma,Alistair Sim is the stand-out in this rather claustrophobic adaptation of a slight stage play. Mr Sim is commendably restrained, more so than in some other Launder & Gilliat comedies, but he has so little to do, and so little happens that nowadays, one wonders why the whole thing was mounted anyway. The relationship between the aspirational secretary and her 'dumb' boyfriend is nicely constructed, and he, Peter Martyn, plays his part very nicely. Otherwise all the focus is on the more upper-middle class characters, who nowadays seem like caricatures. There was a tendency in most British cinema of the 50s to adapt stage plays, but very non-cinematically; this is a typical example. In terms of film study or of entertainment, this doesn't have a lot more than competence to commend it.,