A Touch of the Sun (1956)

Hotel desk clerk Howerd is a Mister Fixit who dreams of warmer climes. When he inherits a fortune, he takes off to enjoy it, only to find the reality does not match his imagination. On his return, as the film lurches into farce, he buys the now failed hotel, but has to impress the Northern investors by pretending the place is still a bustling location by having the staff race around posing as guests. Another failed Howerd vehicle, he would eventually find movie success with “Up Pompeii”. As typical for the time, the film benefits from the splendid British character actors filling out the cast.

I was never a great fan of Frankie Howerd's brand of comedy, but he's actually not bad in this rather quirkily entertaining tale of rags to riches. He is "Darling" who takes great pleasure in quitting as an hotel porter when he is left a small fortune. He soon bores of the high life and returns to his former workplace only to find it's struggling. He sees a chance to rescue it, settle a few old scores - and maybe even turn a profit if he can rope in a few gullible investors. To that latter end, he galvanises the staff and some of their friends to create the impression that this is a bustling, thriving, business that is a must-have for anyone looking to get into the hotel business. Howerd tones down his usual style of smutty humour here and tempered by the practically minded "Ruby" (Ruby Murray) and the odd dignifying appearance from manager "Hatchard" (Dennis Price) delivers a quickly moving story of the grass not always being greener. If nothing else, it does serve as a reminder of just what we were watching back then - simple comedy themes rather over-delivered, and though it's a bit on the long side I found it an OK watch.