I loved Arthur Askey as a stage performer, particularly in pantomime, where he wisecracked off script throughout the show and as such often dominated the entire performance! He had such a great rapport with audiences who loved him, so it was no surprise that he was always a top of the bill entertainer in the late 30's, 40's and the 50's. However, by the time this film was made, 1959, Arthur was showing his age. The film itself doesn't really do justice to his immense comedy talents. In fact, it's the ubiquitous Sid James, a 'man for all seasons' who holds the film together as well as providing a perfect comedy foil to Askey. Sid James plays another loveable ' wrinkled' rascal, which sees him conniving and scheming to secure advertising time for his new unknown washing powder, 'Bonko' on national TV - code for the BBC - with the active assistance of Arthur Askey, playing a BBC make -up man. The TV adverts sends the sales of ' Bonko' soaring, but sadly for Arthur, he gets the push from his job for breaking the strict rules about advertising on national TV. Nevertheless, our irrepressible Arthur bounces back from adversity and finally he's offered his own TV show. The storyline is rather silly but the film does give the audience a chance to spot a galaxy of stage and screen stars playing cameo roles. Humour, like fashion after a few years becomes dated, and many of the comedy scenes left me underwhelmed. The film has a curiosity value as to what entertained audiences in the late 50's.
11 Reviews
Bonko
ygwerin122 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Just watching this on Talking Pictures TV Channel, only because of the plethora of people who I like appearing on it, as I'm not normally an Arthur Askey fan.
It's a fun slightly knock about film with Arthur Askey and Sid James, making a fine comedy pairing working very well together.
It's also really a blast from the past for me in the ensemble cast, it was nice seeing a young Bernard Cribbins working well. An all too brief cameo appearance of Kenneth Connor, as an anxious daddy in waiting. The popular crooner Dennis Lotis appears briefly, even the well known media broadcaster Raymond Glendenning made a brief appearance.
For someone my age it was funny seeing Arthur Ashton (Arthur Askey character) trying to prove how well known he was, with a list of some of the most popular entertainers. Tommy Trinder and Dickie Henderson among others, none of whom knew who he was.
How times change this film was given the old U Film Certificate on its release, but the trailer on Talking Pictures was of a PG with the comments precis of 'Some scenes may cause offence to current viewers'. How barmy can you get the form of puriency from the days of, Mary Whitehouse and her Viewers and Listeners Association. They styled themselves as the conscience of the nation being more like nosey parker busey bodies, getting aerated over the slightest matter. I would be interested to know who makes the classification decision for the films broadcast on Talking Pictures TV. Because there is nothing in this film that should possibly cause offence to anyone, so I can't see what all the fuss is about. There is a brief cameo appearance of Sabrina one of the top models of the day, which barely caused any fuss when the film was released as it was only deemed worthy of a U Certificate.
It's a fun slightly knock about film with Arthur Askey and Sid James, making a fine comedy pairing working very well together.
It's also really a blast from the past for me in the ensemble cast, it was nice seeing a young Bernard Cribbins working well. An all too brief cameo appearance of Kenneth Connor, as an anxious daddy in waiting. The popular crooner Dennis Lotis appears briefly, even the well known media broadcaster Raymond Glendenning made a brief appearance.
For someone my age it was funny seeing Arthur Ashton (Arthur Askey character) trying to prove how well known he was, with a list of some of the most popular entertainers. Tommy Trinder and Dickie Henderson among others, none of whom knew who he was.
How times change this film was given the old U Film Certificate on its release, but the trailer on Talking Pictures was of a PG with the comments precis of 'Some scenes may cause offence to current viewers'. How barmy can you get the form of puriency from the days of, Mary Whitehouse and her Viewers and Listeners Association. They styled themselves as the conscience of the nation being more like nosey parker busey bodies, getting aerated over the slightest matter. I would be interested to know who makes the classification decision for the films broadcast on Talking Pictures TV. Because there is nothing in this film that should possibly cause offence to anyone, so I can't see what all the fuss is about. There is a brief cameo appearance of Sabrina one of the top models of the day, which barely caused any fuss when the film was released as it was only deemed worthy of a U Certificate.
Entertaining tv satire
malcolmgsw26 April 2020
This is actually quite entertaining,a surprise for an Askey film.Send up of the battle for viewers between BBC and the new ITV channel.It is self referential.All of the guest stars appeared in Jack Hilton programmes for .Bruce Set on who played Fabian of the Yard on tv plays police inspector in this film.
Arthur Askey's Big Ballet
drednm18 March 2020
Arthur Askey stars as an inept make-up man who gets involved with a sort of photo-bombing of products on a British PBS-like TV network, which does not have advertisers. After the TV station fires him, he becomes national celebrity after a series of photo-bombs advertise a laundry soap called Bonko and the product's sales skyrocket. He becomes so famous, the network gives him his own show!
Askey may be a little broad in his humor for all tastes, but this is a good role for him. Others in the cast include Sidney James as the Bonko salesman, Dermot Walsh as an ad-man, Olga Lindo as the landlady, Sally Barnes as a girl friday, Bernard Cribbins as the camera guy, Bruce Seton as the police chief and some "guest stars" like Evelyn Laye, Dennis Lotis, Tommy Trinder, and a sex bomb named Sabrina.
Arthur Askey's comedy is very much in the Music Hall style, and while he was popular in his day, he never achieved the major movie success of George Formby or Norman Wisdom.
Askey may be a little broad in his humor for all tastes, but this is a good role for him. Others in the cast include Sidney James as the Bonko salesman, Dermot Walsh as an ad-man, Olga Lindo as the landlady, Sally Barnes as a girl friday, Bernard Cribbins as the camera guy, Bruce Seton as the police chief and some "guest stars" like Evelyn Laye, Dennis Lotis, Tommy Trinder, and a sex bomb named Sabrina.
Arthur Askey's comedy is very much in the Music Hall style, and while he was popular in his day, he never achieved the major movie success of George Formby or Norman Wisdom.
Unpretentious British comedy
Leofwine_draca11 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
MAKE MINE A MILLION is a solid, unpretentious British comedy from 1959 that offers a neat duo in the form of old-timer Arthur Askey (ageing fast, but still quick-witted and keeping up with the younger cast members) and Sid James, then on the cusp of his CARRY ON superstardom. The plot is lightweight, about a couple of advertising men who come up with the usual scheme for success and fortune, but the jokes work well and the warm-hearted and lively characters are a delight. I was also pleased to see Dermot Walsh showing up in a rare comedy role, while the climax with the bandits is a real hoot.
Wow...an Askey film I really liked!
planktonrules25 October 2018
While I really liked Hay's movies, Aksey's left me flat. So, I was a bit hesitant when I found "Make Mine a Million" on YouTube today. Fortunately, my assumption was wrong...and this Askey film is delightful and clever.
Arthur is a lowly (and barely competent) make-up man for British TV. However, his life is about to change tremendously. This is because he develops a friendship with a man who makes Bonko laundry detergent....and he manages to insert an ad for Bonko into a broadcast! Then, he manages to do it again when a horse race is being televised. Immediately, the public go crazy for the soap...so much so that a cake mix company comes to Arthur to ask him to do some gorilla-style advertising for them as well! What's next? See the film.
The plot is very clever. Think about it...a guy managing to create ways for products to be inserted into live broadcasts in order to save costs on advertising! The police are naturally NOT happy about it. Can Arthur manage to do this without going to jail? And, what happens when Arthur becomes a sensation and the public want more of him?!
Overall, a lovely film and it makes me think perhaps I was too hasty in disliking Askey.
Arthur is a lowly (and barely competent) make-up man for British TV. However, his life is about to change tremendously. This is because he develops a friendship with a man who makes Bonko laundry detergent....and he manages to insert an ad for Bonko into a broadcast! Then, he manages to do it again when a horse race is being televised. Immediately, the public go crazy for the soap...so much so that a cake mix company comes to Arthur to ask him to do some gorilla-style advertising for them as well! What's next? See the film.
The plot is very clever. Think about it...a guy managing to create ways for products to be inserted into live broadcasts in order to save costs on advertising! The police are naturally NOT happy about it. Can Arthur manage to do this without going to jail? And, what happens when Arthur becomes a sensation and the public want more of him?!
Overall, a lovely film and it makes me think perhaps I was too hasty in disliking Askey.
Funny, fast-moving Fifties comedy
wilvram14 September 2012
Arthur Askey plays a make-up man working for National TV (a thinly disguised BBC) inveigled into advertising a washing powder, the improbably named Bonko! by its rascally promoter Sid James. The plan works, Arthur is fired but Bonko! sales boom. Then another promoter turns up at the Bonko! 'factory' run from three public call boxes, to engage Sid and Arthur to advertise cake mix on the National in the same way.
This is a light comedy with likable characters which is very much of its time, never letting up. Though to call it a satire would be pushing it a bit, a lot of fun is had parodying the BBC as envisaged by Lord Reith, also the sheep-like nature of the public who won't buy a product that hasn't been advertised "on the telly". In fact commercial TV had only arrived in the UK three years previously, in the face of determined opposition from some influential voices in Parliament and other sections of the media; the idea of any sort of advert on the BBC was taboo. Askey was at the height of his popularity at the time and was one of the first major UK TV stars, though he had been in the entertainment business for decades already. Here, he's his chirpy, irrepressible self, whether quipping with landlady Olga Lindo, or incongruously plugging Dermot Walsh's "slap-happy cake mix" on stage with the Royal Ballet, in an amusing and adeptly directed scene. Yet, along with Benny Hill, he seems to have become a non-person in the eyes of many of the professional pundits on British comedy. He works well with Sid James, as funny as ever, playing the same kind of comical rogue he did so well in the Hancock radio series. The guest stars include Sabrina, who appeared in Askey's TV shows, causing an early case of carping from moral watchdogs. It's all a fascinating glimpse of TV at the time, and can be recommended to all who, as Edwin Richfield's lugubrious plain-clothes cop observes at the ballet "prefer a good laugh".
This is a light comedy with likable characters which is very much of its time, never letting up. Though to call it a satire would be pushing it a bit, a lot of fun is had parodying the BBC as envisaged by Lord Reith, also the sheep-like nature of the public who won't buy a product that hasn't been advertised "on the telly". In fact commercial TV had only arrived in the UK three years previously, in the face of determined opposition from some influential voices in Parliament and other sections of the media; the idea of any sort of advert on the BBC was taboo. Askey was at the height of his popularity at the time and was one of the first major UK TV stars, though he had been in the entertainment business for decades already. Here, he's his chirpy, irrepressible self, whether quipping with landlady Olga Lindo, or incongruously plugging Dermot Walsh's "slap-happy cake mix" on stage with the Royal Ballet, in an amusing and adeptly directed scene. Yet, along with Benny Hill, he seems to have become a non-person in the eyes of many of the professional pundits on British comedy. He works well with Sid James, as funny as ever, playing the same kind of comical rogue he did so well in the Hancock radio series. The guest stars include Sabrina, who appeared in Askey's TV shows, causing an early case of carping from moral watchdogs. It's all a fascinating glimpse of TV at the time, and can be recommended to all who, as Edwin Richfield's lugubrious plain-clothes cop observes at the ballet "prefer a good laugh".
The man who cried "Bonko!"
ShadeGrenade29 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A few years ago, the B.B.C. got into the habit of televising children's book award ceremonies, the 'highlight' of which was usually an appearance by J.K. Rowling, either to collect a prize or hand one out. Since she stopped writing the Harry Potter books ( though she has threatened to do more ), the award shows have mysteriously disappeared from the airwaves, leaving one to wonder if their presence on our screens in the first place was naught but a cunning attempt by Auntie to jump on the Potter bandwagon. Though advertising is still not allowed on the B.B.C., from time to time the corporation will try and benefit from the interest in a new product. Whenever a Bond movie opens you can bet that somewhere there will be a documentary or two on the character.
When this picture was made, the thought of any advertising of any kind on the B.B.C. was unthinkable. Sid James plays 'Sid Gibson', a salesman trying to sell a new detergent called - if you can believe it - 'Bonko'. Nobody buys the stuff as they have never heard of it. He gets the idea of asking his friend Arthur Ashton ( Arthur Askey ), who works as a make-up man on a popular national variety show, to sneak in a bit of hard-sell during a 'Come Dancing'-type show. He does so. Sales of 'Bonko' rocket. The board of governors are far from happy, and give Ashton the sack. But he is cleverer than he looks, and with Sid's help, begins sneaking in promos not only for 'Bonko' but other products too, such as cake mix, in both televised ballet and the Grand National.
Directed by Lance Comfort and written by Peter Blackmore, with additional material by Askey and 'Carry On' scribe Talbot Rothwell, this is a nice little British comedy which, although no classic, is a fun way to spend 80 minutes. Keep your eyes peeled for cameos from some of the top telly stars of that time, such as Tommy Trinder, Sabrina, Dennis Lotis, and Dickie Henderson. Kenneth Connor, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Cribbins are also around. I would have liked it to parody '50's British telly more strongly; it eventually takes a familiar path with Arthur foiling a robbery and becoming a hero. Blackmore later co-wrote the Morecambe & Wise pictures 'That Riviera Touch' ( 1966 ) and 'The Magnificent Two' ( 1967 ).
When this picture was made, the thought of any advertising of any kind on the B.B.C. was unthinkable. Sid James plays 'Sid Gibson', a salesman trying to sell a new detergent called - if you can believe it - 'Bonko'. Nobody buys the stuff as they have never heard of it. He gets the idea of asking his friend Arthur Ashton ( Arthur Askey ), who works as a make-up man on a popular national variety show, to sneak in a bit of hard-sell during a 'Come Dancing'-type show. He does so. Sales of 'Bonko' rocket. The board of governors are far from happy, and give Ashton the sack. But he is cleverer than he looks, and with Sid's help, begins sneaking in promos not only for 'Bonko' but other products too, such as cake mix, in both televised ballet and the Grand National.
Directed by Lance Comfort and written by Peter Blackmore, with additional material by Askey and 'Carry On' scribe Talbot Rothwell, this is a nice little British comedy which, although no classic, is a fun way to spend 80 minutes. Keep your eyes peeled for cameos from some of the top telly stars of that time, such as Tommy Trinder, Sabrina, Dennis Lotis, and Dickie Henderson. Kenneth Connor, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Cribbins are also around. I would have liked it to parody '50's British telly more strongly; it eventually takes a familiar path with Arthur foiling a robbery and becoming a hero. Blackmore later co-wrote the Morecambe & Wise pictures 'That Riviera Touch' ( 1966 ) and 'The Magnificent Two' ( 1967 ).
Unsavoury Interruptions
richardchatten3 July 2020
Historically noteworthy as the final production of John Baxter - it's vaguely satirical storyline at the expense of TV commercials carrying echoes of the social concern of his thirties films - and preserving for posterity various luminaries of the era (some of them - like racing tipster Ras Prince Monolulu - making very fleeting gag appearances as themselves).
Not for the first time Lance Comfort's direction and Arthur Grant's photography go well beyond the call of duty in making it all remarkably enjoyable to experience.
Not for the first time Lance Comfort's direction and Arthur Grant's photography go well beyond the call of duty in making it all remarkably enjoyable to experience.
this whiter-than-white, wholesomely family-friendly, wonderfully winsome comedy is clean as a whistle, mayte!
Weirdling_Wolf10 October 2021
'Make Mine a Million' is a riotously rumbustious, classic music Hall-style, frightfully frilly farce with plentiful slapstick silliness, and crispy-corny, quick-fire japes! This sun-bright, and summer breezy bit of frothy, eminently titter-worthy nonsense is about the playful, but increasingly desperate travails of an earnest, and somewhat penurious Soap Power salesman (Sidney James), and his amusingly spiv-ish, comedically fraught escapades as he frantically, and somewhat inventively attempts to turn his unknown 'Bonko' brand of 'miracle' soap powder into a national top seller! These delightfully comedic, full-throttle misadventures are brought to vividly frothing life with two larger than life performances by luminous national treasures Arthur Askey, and Carry On Cackling legend Sid James, with a nice turn from the beloved TV star Bernard Cribbins. What keeps 'Make Mine a Million' from being a wash-out is its infectiously roustabout, rib-tickling charm, sparklingly sprightly sight gags, and bonkers 'Bonko' buffoonery! There are also brief, but no less glistering cameo's from bubbly Babs Windsor, cuddly Kenneth Connor, blissfully Buxom starlet Sabrina, and mirth-master Tommy Trinder! Any giddy-headed, smile-seeking fan of vintage British comedy should give 'Make Mine a Million' a spin, as this whiter-than-white, wholesomely family-friendly, wonderfully winsome comedy is clean as a whistle, mayte, and features yet another smoothly sonorous score from mood maestro Stanley Black.
Very funny British comedy with a cast of stalwarts
willst0116 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm old enough to have seen this on its first release in 1959 and still derive a lot of enjoyment from re-watching it on TV. It compares very favourably with the smutty innuendo-laden Carry On Nurse released in the same year. Acting honours go to Sidney James as the soap powder salesman who persuades hapless BBC make-up assistant Arthur Askey and cameraman Bernard Cribbins to sneak an advert for his product onto a top BBC TV show. The BBC Governors are predictably outraged and further upset when it happens again at Ascot Races and the Edinburgh Festival. The satire is gentle but spot on. Jack Hylton, who financed the film, was a theatrical impresario who had every reason to fear the growing power of television. A large cast including some familiar faces in cameo roles - not to mention the Television Toppers and the Dagenham Girl Pipers - is headed by Askey, who appears to have been allowed to build his part - one scene for example in which, disguised as a nurse, he is ordered by police to help deliver a baby, is superfluous. Sadly the film rather runs out of steam towards the end but it's an enjoyable ride on the way. Note that there are two violent attacks involving the use of clubs.
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