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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A man in a North African city is taken before a firing squad. On the ship "Golden Fleece", docked at the port, the ship's crew are grimly waiting as a civilian pushes his way in. The man is the captain's uncle, and the ship's first mate (I assume) tells the man that the man being executed is the ship's captain, and the uncle asks why, so the first mate explains.The Golden Fleece is a ferry ship regularly sailing between Gibraltar and this North African city, and its captain was married to two wives: one in the city who is a dancer who always has fun, goes dancing, and eats out all the time, and a British wife in Gibraltar who is a dutiful housewife who stays at home and does domestic chores. The captain had the two wives with the idea that he could enjoy the characteristics of both kinds in each of his homes. The wives do not know of each other, and the captain gives presents to each of his wives to suit their respective lifestyles. Then one day, the captain mixes up the presents and the party girl wife gets an apron while the housewife gets a swimsuit. Then things start falling apart.The movie begins with a light, farcical tone, but as it goes on, the mood darkens as the wives become dissatisfied with their respective marriages and the captain tries and fails to keep them in the roles he wants them to play-and becomes truly dark as we find that this supposedly charming and genial captain really is not.Not recommended if you want a happy movie.

Everything about this delightful comedy starring Alec Guinness cries out "Ealing Studios" – that factory for genial humor of a more innocent (but still wide awake) time. So it's not a surprise many commenters here mistake "The Captain's Paradise" as an Ealing production.It isn't, but it's about as close to Ealing in spirit as you can get: Enchanting black-and-white photography that doesn't call attention to itself, fun-making at social strictures, a lead performance by Guinness that alternates between tragic and goofy, and a short running time. It's a lot better than some Ealings I've seen, if not as great as those two studio pillars, "The Ladykillers" and "Kind Hearts And Coronets."Guinness's character in this film is a ferryboat captain who transports people and cargo from the British island colony of Gibraltar to the coastal enclave of Kalik, where steamy nights and ersatz Spanish are the rule. The captain's life is much enhanced by the fact he has a lady at each port, one a prim British wife (Celia Johnson) who knows him as Capt. Henry St. James; the other a fiery Latin flamenco dancer (Yvonne De Carlo) who knows him as "Jimmy.""Two women, each with half the qualities necessary for a man, and therefore quite easy to find," is how he explains his approach to the only man who knows his secret, his ship's first mate Ricco (Charles Goldner). "And once found, never to meet!" But can the captain keep these women from meeting each other? What do you think!Guinness is front and center throughout the film, delivering a cerebral, understated profile in smugitude that begins with his eyes. Alternately heavy-lidded in repose or wide and blazing when upset, his eye reactions cue much of the laughter in this somewhat sedate comedy. It's a wonderfully efficient performance, centered by a scene where he hoofs a mean two-step with De Carlo, cigarette dangling lazy from his lips."He who enters paradise must have a golden key," the captain says before another rendezvous with his dancing lover. That's about as blue as this film gets, though De Carlo flashes some legs and Johnson, well, let's just say she's not as proper as we are led to think.People who criticize "The Captain's Paradise" as sexist or celebrating adultery miss the point. As an Ealing... well, almost an Ealing comedy, "Paradise" plays with stereotypes as a form of satire. That the captain thinks he has a great thing going is part of the humor. So is the fact he doesn't seem able to listen or process it when his women tell him otherwise. The tone set by director Anthony Kimmins is so merry it can be mistaken for approval, but this ignores the delicious resolution of the captain's two loves.The script by Alec Coppel and Nicholas Phipps sets up the captain's fragile situation. Prim Maud craves a bikini but settles for a vacuum. For them, it's hot cocoa and "beddy-byes" at 10. With fiery Nita, it's champagne and dancing all night at a place that looks like Rick's All- American Café, Guinness with a rose in his teeth. Anyone can see this is not a sustainable situation, and nearly any man can't gainsay his trying anyway.I think the film suffers from some minor flaws that show up more with repeat viewings. It does move slowly, taking up about thirty minutes to set up the premise everyone will know going in. There are a couple of bookend shots featuring Ricco explaining the situation to a stranger that offer just dead air. The actual ending of the film is facile rather than clever, though not unpleasant.People also complain that "Paradise" has a bit of a body count, and fails as comedy for that. But "Ladykillers" and "Coronets" had even higher body counts, which didn't stop them from being great. "Captain's Paradise" falls a wee bit short of greatness, but it's quite satisfying in the whole of its various parts, especially for those who like their Guinness with a little spice.

This is a gentle rather than a frenetic comedy and viewed in 20ll flaws that were not perhaps so detectable in 1953 tend to get in the way of any enjoyment on offer. Screenwriter Coppel and director Kimmins seem to take forever in setting up the basic premise that skipper Alec Guiness has apparently stumbled on the formula for male happiness, namely a wife in Gibralter and a mistress in Morocco, each providing one half of his ideal woman. Whilst it's just about feasible that a man would select two women who were total opposites its unlikely that one man would appeal equally to two different kinds of woman and once it has - at last - been established that Celia Johnson is the home-maker par excellence and Yvonne de Carlo the original good time who was had by all it's just a matter of waiting for the respective worms to turn. Seen today it's possible to savour the moment when Guiness presents Johnson with a vacuum cleaner as an anniversary present because we now that several years later he was much more closely involved with vacuum cleaners in Our Man In Havana but that observation wasn't of course available in 1953. It's always a joy to see Johnson, a stage actress who made far too few movies but it's not one for multiple viewings.

I had never seen this comedy nominated in the 1953 Academy Awards for for best screenplay. The previous comments echo most of my on sentiments. The cast includes Sebastian Cabot in a minor role. It is a show case for Ginnness's versatility. His dance sequneces are amazing. The whole ensemble is is excellent. And the two wives are perfectly cast.This classic Gunness comedy is included as a bonus film in Anchor Bays boxed set of DVDs, THE GUNNESS COLLECTION, which includes the five Ealing Studio Comedies, "Kind Hearts & Coronets", "The Lavender Hill Mob", The Man in the Whtie Suit" and "The Lady Killers". Amazon has the set for around $35...got to be one of the best bargain sets around.