No sooner are we gone than we’re back with a brand-new series. In series six, we’ll pass 60 films viewed and reviewed for a project that still has plenty of legs in it yet! But we begin this brand new series by embracing the familiar. Tom Salinsky returns to BritCom Goes to the Movies for the first time since episode six, and not only does he join for a film all three of us have seen before, all three of us love it!

The film in question is the 1955 classic Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers, a real contender for the top ten of our table and beyond. But how will we link this to the small screen, I hear you ask? The answer is…we won’t. We’re going down the Sellers route. As this was one of Peter Sellers’ earliest big-screen appearances, we’ve decided to match it with one of his earliest radio appearances and the rather forgotten, if not prolific, Ray’s A Laugh from the 1950s BBC radio.

Ray’s A Laugh was exactly the kind of broadcast variety/comedy that Sellers and co would go on to blow out of the water with the pioneering Goon Show. While a fair few episodes still exist on BBC Sounds and YouTube, you can hear the star quality of Sellers rising above what was already a pretty tired format in the early 1950s.

Then, of course, the film itself. Widely considered not just the best Ealing Comedy (and the three of us will offer some of our other favourites) but also one of the greatest British comedy films of all time. A heist/farce with some career-best performances, not least from Alec Guinness, Katie Johnson, and many of the supporting cast. But how will it hold up against the top echelons of the BritCom Goes to the Movies league? Tom has already had one table-topper with The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, but could he have another? Tune in and find out.

Ray’s a Laugh - 1954

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQ7YrPNx9A

Ray’s a Laugh - 1949

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s77ZhWxf9JU

The Ladykillers - Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDVMD8dktKI

The Ladykillers - Such Pretty Windows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuIvga5t_Hc

Alec Guinness as George Smiley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm3IrscqH8

Tom Salinsky - All British Comedy Explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFktzEvNuI&list=PLmJSdGQRAwRyQjtWhrtFtDpOLo6iaRmpX

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S06 E01 - The Ladykillers (w/ Tom Salinsky)