Lucky Jim cover art

Lucky Jim Details

1957 Certificate U
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 335 members

Amusing adaptation of the book by Kingsley Amis directed by John Boulting (I'M ALRIGHT JACK) and starring the classic comedy coupling of Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas. LUCKY JIM is about an accident-prone junior lecturer at a small university who spends one hell of a weekend at the home of his disagreeable Professor Welch. Oh .. Read more

Starring Ian Carmichael, Hugh Griffith, Sharon Acker, Jean Anderson
Director John Boulting, Roy Boulting
Genres Drama

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Lucky Jim cover art

Lucky Jim

Amusing adaptation of the book by Kingsley Amis directed by John Boulting (I'M ALRIGHT JACK) and starring the classic comedy coupling of Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas. LUCKY JIM is about an accident-prone junior lecturer at a small university who spends one hell of a weekend at the home of his disagreeable Professor Welch. Oh Christine, I think the dog's drunk!

Starring Ian Carmichael, Hugh Griffith, Sharon Acker, Jean Anderson, Reginald Beckwith, Kenneth Griffith, Terry-Thomas, John Welsh, Clive Morton, Maureen Connell
Director John Boulting, Roy Boulting
Run time DVD: 1 hr 31 mins
Certificate Certificate U
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: 09 Aug 2004
Production year: 1957
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (3) of Lucky Jim

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Kingsley Amis's comic masterpiece was one of the most influential English novels of the 1950s. The Boulting brothers' film adaptation misses the subtle nuances, barbed satire and deliciously sly characterisation of the book, but try to put the original to the back of your minds and you will find that this makes for surprisingly agreeable entertainment. Ian Carmichael gives a good account of himself as Jim Dixon, the disaster-prone lecturer whose career in the red-bricked halls of academe gets off to the worst possible start, while those masters of comic support Hugh Griffith and Terry-Thomas are bang on form.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006
  • 2 stars out of 4

    Quite funny in its own right, this is a vulgarization of a famous comic novel which got its effects more subtly, with more sense of place, time and character.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
    • Posted 02 Mar 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Lucky Jim

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Old School in the true sense

    This is great lazy Sunday afternoon viewing. There's nothing better for me than to laze in front of an old 50's B&W. The humour is spot on. Terry Thomas only has to speak and it has me smiling. Did they really talk like him back in the 50's? Hire it, it's worth it and if you are anything like me you'll be humming 'Oh Lucky Jim' for the next few days.

      • A customer from Somerset, UK
      • Posted 05 Jul 2005 07:10

  • Most recent members' review of Lucky Jim

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  • Rated - 3 stars

    Two and a half stars

    Ian Carmichael plays Mr 'Lucky Jim' James Dixon, junior lecturer in a History Department in a British 'red brick' university. As his one-year temporary contract draws towards its end, Dixon is hoping that his head of department, Professor Welch, is about to renew the contract for another year -- but although Dixon is an excellent teacher and popular with the students, he can't get out of bed in the morning, he is too fond of the pub and he forgets to turn up for a crucial university meeting. We follow our luckless hero as he tries to persuade the professor that he is worth keeping on, but the professor is only interested in promoting his own pet theories and doing as little university work as possible. He off-loads disagreeable administrative tasks on to our harassed hero, taking the credit to himself when things go well, and when (thanks to outside intervention) things go horribly wrong, ensuring that Dixon gets the blame. There are moments of high comedy here, but Ian Carmichael portrays his unhappy character so convincingly that this household's teenager and his mum were inclined to feel sorry for Dixon rather than laugh at him. Some viewers will find this film funny, but others will find it simply painful.

      • A customer from Cardiff, Wales
      • Posted 14 Jul 2005 09:10

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Rating breakdown

335 Member ratings
  • 100
22
  • 90
17
  • 80
49
  • 70
46
  • 60
79
  • 50
42
  • 40
30
  • 30
22
  • 20
19
  • 10
9

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    • Lucky Jim

    • Lucky Jim
      Amusing adaptation of the book by Kingsley Amis directed by John Boulting (I'M ALRIGHT JACK) and starring the classic comedy coupling of Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas. LUCKY JIM is about an accident-prone junior lecturer at a small university who spends one hell of a weekend at the home of his ...