The St Trinians Collection [DVD]

Brilliant dvds and brought back memories

For my own personal collection..

These are so good you don't really notice if they are colour or black and white. Everyone should have these in their DVD library. The new ones are of a different kind - certainly better production values - but they all exist alongside each other with no issues to my mind. No need to compare them. All the St Trinians films are a hoot!

Is it as I remembered

BEWARE! This box set contains all four of the OLD 1950s-60s films, the first three are in 4:3 [old style TV] format and are black & white and look and feel as though this could move to the theatre with little difficulty. The last, made in 1966 is in 16:9 format [for wide screen TVs] but it is in colour. All are MONO. Picture quality is decidedly of the day, speckles and all, which adds to the 'olde worlde' feel for me. If you can live with these factors then this could be for you.That said, at around £8, this is the ideal gift for those who grew up in the 50s, 60s and even later...provided classic British humour and over the top character acting are to your liking. Politically correct this thankfully isn't. Alistar Sim [in drag] plays the unorthodox headmistress in the first two films, while George Cole the 'spiv' Flash harry -a character updated for the 70's TV series Minder, and a whole host of other character actors make their appearances in these films.If you only know the 'modern' versions [good as they were] then your missing out on the true essence of what St, Trinans was all about. As the headmistress says, "In other schools girls are sent out quite unprepared into a merciless world, but when our girls leave here, it is the merciless world which has to be prepared." In these early films the general rule of thumb is the smaller the girl, the more dangerous she is, the older she is, the more overtly sexual she becomes -traits seemingly weakened in the modern versions.Origially published in the 1940's as a series of books by cartoonist Ronald Searle, these films are not as dark as the original publications. The pupils here are well armed with hockey sticks and tennis racquets but don't resort to the graphic pitchfork murders of the books, kidnapping and extortion are more the thing. The emphasis here is decidely on slapstick, situation comedy and one liners. The girls may be unruely, unorthodox, scruffy [especially the youngsters] and spread mayhem wherever they go, but their intentions are sincere and honest in the long run.At the price, give it a try. The films have 'dated' and all the content has been seen in more modern films, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed. But, if you're PC minded, you may not want to let children watch it.... they might get some of those unorthodox ideas!!!

Very good comedy 🎥

This is good, clean, innocent fun for grown-ups as well as children. It would not matter if you had seen these films originally in the cinema or if you were viewing them for the first time because simple humour and mischief tend to be timeless and can be understand by everyone whatever their age or culture.These are the kinds of DVDs which you could sit and re-watch every 12 months, or so, because simple comedy like this comes with its own cosiness. The films can be like old friends, whom you would like to see every so often.The disc box set has one DVD for each of the four films. The sound and picture quality were very good. Amazon's excellent, low price really was a pleasant bonus. I considered this to be a worthy purchase; I have no regrets.I would have loved to have found an extra disc, which gave - as best it might - information on how the films were made at the time. Of course, that would not be easy since these films were made well before people thought about DVDs and included extras. There is a similar boxed set for the original "Doctor" films made in the 1950s and shortly afterwards ('Doctor in the House', 'Doctor at Sea', etc.,etc.,). Here the DVD makers got round the problem by interviewing some of the screen actors, who had starred in the films. One is sometimes able to include interviews with film historians and crafts people involved in the film-making industry. I just wish someone could do that for the St Trinians legacy.Still, even without that extra disc, the box set is a good buy for all, who appreciate genuine, harmless comedy.

The Belles of St Trinians stars Alastair Sim in the dual role of Headmistress Millicent Fritton and her twin brother Clarence. A princess enrols at the school and reveals that her rather has a race horse that is racing in the local derby. Half the school plot to kidnap the horse the other half plot to protect it resulting in mayhem and anarchy. Also Stars Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Joan Sims & Beryl Reid.Blue Murder at St Trinian's starts with Miss Fritton locked up (and inexplicably now called Amelia) whilst the sixth form girls are running a secret marriage agency which has caught the attention of an Italian prince based in Rome. The girls want to meet him but they have to win a competition so they break into the ministry of education and replace their disastrous school record with an excellent one. Stars Alastair Sim (beginning & end) Terry-Thomas, George Cole & Joyce Grenfell.The Pure Hell of St Trinian's starts with the school on fire. The girls end up in the Old Bailey on trial for arson. They're found guilty and put in the care of a Professor who says that they don't need punishment they need love an affection, but not everything is as it seems. Starring Joyce Grenfell, Sid James & George Cole.The great St Trinian's train robbery. A gang of robbers rob a train and hide the loot in an abandoned mansion, what they don't realize is that the mansion has been converted into a school for St Trinian's. The robbers try and get their loot back and the girls try and stop them. Starring Frankie Howerd, Reg Varney, George Cole & Dora Bryan.Anarchy and mayhem very funny.