Dry Rot (film)

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount and Sid James.

Contents

• Dry rot brian rix farce 78 rpm hmv 102 comedy sketch
• Cast
• Locations
• Critical reception
• References

The story is an adaptation of a 1954 Whitehall farce by John Chapman who also wrote the screenplay, in which the sketchy story plays second fiddle to the quick-paced action and unlikely situations. The plot concerns the practice of illicit gambling which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time.

Three dodgy bookies, Alf Tubbe (Ronald Shiner), Flash Harry (Sidney James) and Fred Phipps (Brian Rix), plan to rig a horse race by kidnapping the fancied horse and its French jockey. They stay at a country house hotel near the racecourse, run by Colonel and Mrs Wagstaff, where they conceal the horse Sweet Lavender (and later the jockey) in a hidden cellar.

A subplot sees the dimwitted Fred fall in love with the hotel chambermaid Beth (Joan Sims).

The title Dry Rot refers to the rotten wood on the hotel stairs, which regularly catches every character unawares.