That's actually a protest sign that is shown right before the arrival of a rocket that will be heading to the moon in this colorful but overly long science fiction comedy starring Burl Ives as P. T. Barnum who wants to send General Tom Thumb to the outer stratosphere. It's not him who ends up going, but Barnum won't be stopped. Another one of his gimmicky gimmicks that made him the greatest public bamboozler or a genuine act of showmanship? Ives and an all-star cast (featuring several actors who were in the successful "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines") put together a mixed bag of cinematic awe that is only fairly successful.
Terry-Thomas and Gert Frobe are reunited here, just as funny and bumbling as they were in "Those Magnificent Men", joined by Lionel Jeffries, Troy Donahue and Jimmy Clitheroe (as Thumb) with an amusing cameo by Hermione Gingold as the head of a girl's school who promotes virtue while lacking her own. Joan Sterndale-Bennett plays an elderly and regal but thin Queen Victoria. Along the way the plan to get the rocket going has interference by imperial Russia.
This struggles with inconsistent pacing and an experienced director, and is just moderately enjoyable as opposed to the uniqueness of others in this genre. It takes forever for the real sparks to fly, and I can imagine many viewers who attempted to get into it easily tuning out. For those who have the patience to wait around, the last half hour is a massive improvement.
Terry-Thomas and Gert Frobe are reunited here, just as funny and bumbling as they were in "Those Magnificent Men", joined by Lionel Jeffries, Troy Donahue and Jimmy Clitheroe (as Thumb) with an amusing cameo by Hermione Gingold as the head of a girl's school who promotes virtue while lacking her own. Joan Sterndale-Bennett plays an elderly and regal but thin Queen Victoria. Along the way the plan to get the rocket going has interference by imperial Russia.
This struggles with inconsistent pacing and an experienced director, and is just moderately enjoyable as opposed to the uniqueness of others in this genre. It takes forever for the real sparks to fly, and I can imagine many viewers who attempted to get into it easily tuning out. For those who have the patience to wait around, the last half hour is a massive improvement.