Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)

This follow-up comedy to "The Belles of St. Trinian's" is not too bad, considering that most sequels aren't usually too good. It is a good thing that Terry Thomas is given "leading man" status as he was an effective lead. Alastair Sim reprised his role of Miss Fritton from the previous film and only has a few minutes of screen time. For those who know the plot, the girls of that notorious school manage to con their way into going on an exchange trip to Italy. Once there, the usual shenanigans result. Lionel Jefferies does well as the convicted father of one of the schoolgirls. George Cole and Joyce Grenfell reprise their respective roles and it's good to see them. The laughs are a bit thin but the cast make this one worth the viewing.

This film seems to be a sequel to "The Belles of St. Trinian's." Most of the characters repeat, except that Alastair Sim has barely a cameo appearance. In his place, Terry-Thomas becomes the lead character. He is Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts, whose dilapidated tour service is selected to take the St. Trianian's girls on a tour of Europe.Besides Thomas, the bulk of the humor comes from George Cole who reprises his role as Flash Harry; and Joyce Grenfall who is, again, an undercover cop. She is police sergeant Ruby Gates. Lionel Jeffries has a nice part in this film as Joe Mangan.The girls break into the ministry of education, falsify their test results and win a contest to represent England at a gathering in Rome. So, the school goes on a semi-ambassador goodwill tour of many Western European countries.The script and plot are just OK and the humor is so-so. Those who like Terry-Thomas and these other performers will likely enjoy this film. But others may not. The film has nothing special to recommend it.

'The Belles of St Trinian's' was a hard act to follow, so it isn't surprising that this film doesn't even try. Apart from brief top and tail appearances of Alistair Sim as Miss Fritton, it is left to character actor Lionel Jeffries to take the mantle and lead the girls into glory, i.e. into George Cole's marriage bureau seeking to find a mate for a foreign prince in Rome.Familiar faces are back - Joyce Grenfell, Richard Wattis - alongside Terry-Thomas, Terry Scott, Kenneth Griffith, and other big names of the 1950s comedy scene. The girls are as riotous as ever, and there is a nice turn from Judith Furze as Dame Maud, the unfortunate replacement head of the worst girls' school in the world! 'Blue Murder at St Trinian's' flags at times, but some bits are extremely funny, and one can sympathise with the Ministry of Education and their need for calming pills!

This is remarkable stuff. It has the normal amount of silliness, but the discriminating thing with this series is the notion of the girls school.Its absolutely amazing, what they have done with this notion. The school is a girls' school that destroys every location it visits. Lots of jokes: newspapers reports that Paris is scandalized by these girls. The idea is that half of these "girls" are adult women win miniskirts with stockings and girders. Most of the scandalous behavior (which we never see) is supposed to be sexual in nature. Oh, there's a plot about stolen jewels and a prince seeking a bride. But the story is purely there as an excuse to parade these girls around.And these are tough broads. They beat people up.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.