The Wrong Box (1966)

The Wrong Box (1966)

3/10

 

Starring

John Mills

Ralph Richardson

Michael Caine

Peter Cook

Dudley Moore

 

Directed by Bryan Forbes

 

Based on the 1889 book The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, which I have not read, by the way, the movie has a lot of stars running around in what I believe was meant to be chaos in a wheel of madness. But what I got in the end was a disjointed script filled with silliness, which ended in a way that made absolutely no sense. It will leave you in the same wheel of madness, thinking it has achieved some sort of comedic uproar moment.

Set in the 19th century, the plot tells the story of a group of 20 young boys who each put £1,000 into a tontine (their parents and guardians did it). What is a tontine? Well, in the 18th and 19th centuries, when this was popular, it involved a group of people putting money together in the form of an investment fund, where the proceeds were shared amongst the members annually. When one member dies, their payout entitlements devolve to the other participants. This continues until the last man standing.

In this tontine, there is no annual payout. The profits are rolled over, and the final lump sum will be given to the last living member. As the movie starts, we see 18 of the members die off over the years, which would be between 60 and 70 years, leaving behind two brothers who don't talk to one another, even though they live side by side. We have Masterman Finsbury, whose sole ward is Michael (Michael Caine), who is set to benefit from the tontine when Masterman’s brother Joseph dies. Joseph Finsbury has three wards—Morris, John, and Julia—who will also benefit when Masterman dies.

Michael seems to be a dunce, and he has taken a liking to Julia, who also shares the same feelings. They seem to be in a world of their own, while Morris and John plot how to get the money. They have spent all their lives keeping Joseph safe and alive over the years. When they receive a message from Michael that the elderly Masterman is dying and has asked to meet with his brother, they rejoice. At that time, they were out of town and were eager to make it back so they could claim their long-awaited reward.

The movie is about this journey back for Joseph, Morris, and John, which involves the death of an unknown man, mistaken identity, and plans going up in smoke because someone delivered the wrong box to the wrong Finsbury house.

To note about the two Finsburys: Joseph was a very annoying fellow who never knows when to stop talking and can bore a living man to death with his knowledge of not-so-popular facts. Masterman is a crooked fellow whose wish of seeing his brother before he dies is a ruse to make sure he is the last man standing.

The movie’s comedy was not funny, and the movie plays on the idea that every character is wonky, down to the last one.

I did not enjoy my time watching this old movie.