The Green Man – 1956 | 80 mins | Comedy | B&W

Plot Synopsis

The Green Man is a sparkling irreverent black comedy from Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder based on the play Meet A Body and boasting several great British comic actors. Gilliat and Launder wanted to give a co-directorial opportunity to cameraman Robert Day and lead actor Alastair Sim, but Sim declined due to disagreements about casting so director Basil Dearden was drafted in to supervise and personally directed a great deal of the film, although he did not receive a credit.

A scintillating Alastair Sim plays Hawkins, a timid watchmaker with a part time job – he is also a professional assassin. Hawkins bumps off all the people we love to hate, but when pompous MP Sir Gregory Upshott (Raymond Huntley) is the intended target, bungling vacuum cleaner salesman William Blake (George Cole) always gets in the way. As the time of the assassination draws ever closer, Hawkins tracks his victim to a dilapidated seaside hotel called the Green Man, the laughs and the tension steadily rise to a brilliant climax.