Laughter in Paradise

Henry Russell is a rich man who spent his whole life playing jokes on people and does not give it up after he dies. Under his will four relatives will get a share of the fortune, but first each of them has to do something completely against their nature. One must commit a crime serious enough to go to jail, one must work a month as a maid, one must marry the first woman he speaks to, and one must hold up his own manager at the bank where he works. Alastair Sim plays one of the relatives and carries the weight of the film; the state the polite-looking man gets into while trying to commit a crime is the centre of the comedy. Directed by Mario Zampi, it was the most-watched British production of 1951. There is also Audrey Hepburn as a cigarette girl; she is given an introducing credit, though in fact she had already appeared in another film earlier that year. She was offered one of the big parts but was on stage at the time and could not take it.