The Belles of St Trinian's

"Would you send your daughter to St. Trinian's?"

1954 1h 31m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🍅

67%

FRESH

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 63🍅67%Rotten Tomatoes★6.7IMDB · 2,978

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when the arrival at the school of Princess Fatima of Makyad coincides with the return of recently expelled Arabella Fritton, who has the kidnap of a prize racehorse on her mind.

“Would you send your daughter to St. Trinian's?”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Alastair Sim
Millicent Fritton / Clarence Fritton
Joyce Grenfell
P.W. Sgt. Ruby Gates
George Cole
Flash Harry
Hermione Baddeley
Miss Drownder
Betty Ann Davies
Miss Waters
Renée Houston
Miss Brimmer
Beryl Reid
Miss Wilson
Irene Handl
Miss Gale

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Launder
Writers: Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat, Val Valentine
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "St Trinian's Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Launder, shot by Stanley Pavey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Malcolm Arnold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Alastair Sim and Joyce Grenfell and George Cole carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Would you send your daughter to St. Trinian's?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0046766 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Launder directs. Stanley Pavey behind the camera. Malcolm Arnold scores. Thelma Connell cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

172 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "St Trinian's Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Frank Launder, shot by Stanley Pavey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Malcolm Arnold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Alastair Sim and Joyce Grenfell and George Cole carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Would you send your daughter to St. Trinian's?".
8IMDB entry: tt0046766 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Stanley Pavey
Original score: Malcolm Arnold
Editing: Thelma Connell
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Belles of St Trinian's (1954)
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 2,978 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Part of

St Trinian's Collection

The escapades of manic schoolgirls at the 'prestigious' St Trinian's.

Also by

Frank Launder

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-07-26
★ 8/10
St. Trinian’s School For Young Ladies. The Belles of St. Trinian’s is directed by Frank Launder and co-written by Launder, Sidney Gilliat and Val Valentine. It stars Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley and Betty Ann Davis. Music is by Malcolm Arnold and cinematography by Stanley Pavey. Inspired by the cartoon drawings of Ronald Searle, The Belles of St. Trinian’s is the first part of a franchise that still thrives even today. With 7 films currently under the Trinian’s banner, the roguish behaviour of the girls and their manner of dress sense passed into pop culture and is still going strong today. Either for sexual titillation (the St Trinian’s look has always been popular at fancy dress parties) or as a tag for unruly girls in British schools, it’s hard to believe that Searle envisaged the ever lasting appeal of his creations. Unfortunately the films are a mixed bunch, with a couple of them just plain bad. This however is not a problem with The Belles, the best of the bunch by some margin. The Barchester Bedlam. Pic is fronted by Sim in a dual role of brother and sister. The art of drag has been tarnished over the years by some of the more stuffy members of the human race, but in the right hands it often works so well, as evidence by the wonderful Sim here. The plot involves a gambling sting at the big horserace on the horizon, with Flash Harry (Cole) aided and abetted by the terrors of St. Trinian’s. It’s all very chaotic and horsey, both in the equine sense and in horseplay terms. Grenfell is the policewoman who goes under cover as a teacher in the school, where the staff roster is populated by British stars of the future like Beryl Reid, Joan Sims and Irene Handl. The girls, of various stages of their schooling, smoke, toke, drink and take every opportunity to cause mischief. Their reputation precedes them, as the train that carries them inward bound for the new term approaches, the town citizens start to board the place up, even the chickens run off into hibernation! This is the on going joke that works right to the film’s conclusion, sadly it would run out of steam by the time The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery pulled into the station in 1966. But Belles is great fun, very British of course and very clever. From Sim being dry as the Sahara and Grenfell’s Duracell Bunny performance, to those rascal girls, the school is open for frolics and energised bedlam. Enjoy. 8/10
CinemaSerf2022-11-04
★ 6/10
Alastair Sim was always an excellent comedy actor - his timing and facial expressions always managed to raise a smile for me. Here is has the dual role of the headmistress "Millicent" and of her scheming bookmaker brother "Clarence" as both, in their own way, try to make a killing on an horse owned by the wealthy father of her newest pupil "Princess Fatima". The local village - and constabulary - live in terror of her establishment and of it's rowdy and lawless student body, so they decide to send the plucky and enthusiastic "Sgt. Gates" (Joyce Grenfell) in to masquerade as the games mistress and to gather intelligence as to the dodgy goings on at "St. Trinian's" enabling the law to shut it all down... A solid supporting cast of British actors - George Cole and Hermione Baddeley amongst them prop up well the central dynamic from Sim and the also rather effective Grenfell - another who had super comedy timing. The story is a little cringe-making at times, but the fact that all of the naughtiness comes from these devious and extremely innovative girls makes for a fun ninety minutes of escapades and japes. Plenty of flour fights and who's ever seen an instrument of torture adapted from a laundry wringer? Like so many of the British comedies of the 1950s, it's not comedy that could, or even ought, to be made now - but taken in the spirit of a search for some post war mischief and glee, it's still good fun to watch even now.