Father Came Too! ** (1964, James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Sally Smith) – Classic Movie Review 12,369

The memorably cast 1964 British comedy film Father Came Too! starring James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter produces chortles with its vintage cast of reliable comic actors.

Director Peter Graham Scott’s memorably cast 1964 British comedy film Father Came Too! stars James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter and Sally Smith.

It is an over-confident and under-achieved British farcical comedy fare, the fun cast constrained by the plodding script, which follows up the more successful The Fast Lady (1962), made a year earlier.

James Robertson Justice plays the bossy father Sir Beverly Grant, who makes life a trial for newlyweds Dexter (Stanley Baxter) and Juliet (Sally Smith) Munro when they buy a cottage so rundown that they have to get his help to try to keep it standing. Then they sign up the builder from hell Josh (Ronnie Barker), and it all ends up in flames and tears.

Father Came Too! produces the sporadic chortle. It could hardly help it with this cast of reliable British comics. But it is all rather laboured and predictable, with too much shouting and too little wit in a slack script by Jack Davies and Henry Blyth. In any case, a film Terry Scott as Executioner, Hugh Lloyd as Mary, Queen of Scots, Fred Emney as Sir Francis Drake, and Peter Jones as King Charles II can’t be all bad.

Also in the cast are Timothy Bateson, Philip Locke, James Villiers, Raymond Huntley, Geoffrey Dunn, Cardew Robinson, Eric Barker, Fred Emney, Peter Jones, Kenneth Cope, Terry Scott, Hugh Lloyd, Philip Locke, Julian Orchard, Nicky Henson, Arthur Mullard, John Bluthal, and Patrick Newell.

Director Scott is best known for his TV hit The Onedin Line.

Father Came Too! is produced by Independent Artists and released by Rank.

It is shot at Beaconsfield Studios, with sets designed by art director Harry Pottle and dresses designed by Julie Harris..

The village of Turville in Buckinghamshire was the location for the pageant scenes.

The cast

The cast are James Robertson Justice as Sir Beverly Grant, Leslie Phillips as Roddy Chipfield, Stanley Baxter as Dexter Munro, Sally Smith as Juliet Munro, Eric Barker as Mr Gallagher, Kenneth Cope as Ron, Terry Scott as Executioner, Hugh Lloyd as Mary, Queen of Scots, Fred Emney as Sir Francis Drake, Peter Jones as King Charles II, Ronnie Barker as Josh, Philip Locke as Stan, Timothy Bateson as Wally, Cardew Robinson as Fire Officer, Peter Woodthorpe as Farmer, James Villiers as Benzil Bulstrode, John Bluthal as Robert the Bruce, Joseph Brady as Guy Fawkes, Raymond Huntley as Mr Wedgewood, Vanda Hudson as Nell Gwynne, Patrick Newell as King Harold, Geoffrey Dunn as Mr Trumper, Sydney Bromley as Lang, Julian Orchard as Bath Salesman, Clifford Earl as Motorcycle Policeman, Nicky Henson as Motorcyclist, Barbara Roscoe as Lana, Anita Sharp-Bolster as Mrs Trumper, Arthur Mullard as Traffic Warden, and Michael Ward as Man at Auction.

Stanley Baxter

Scottish actor Stanley Baxter was born on 24 May 1926. He is celebrated for his British TV comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika. But his filmography is thin: Geordie (1955), Very Important Person (1961), The Fast Lady (1962), Crooks Anonymous (1962), Father Came Too! (1964), and Joey Boy (1965).

He came out as gay in August 2020 after the release of his authorised biography. Unfortunately, he said: ‘Anybody would be insane to choose to live such a very difficult life. There are many gay people these days who are fairly comfortable with their sexuality, fairly happy with who they are. I’m not. I never wanted to be gay. I still don’t.’

Stanley Baxter died on 11 December 2025, aged 99, at the actors’ retirement home Denville Hall in Northwood, Hillingdon, England, where he was a resident from 2023.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,369

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