FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Leofwine_draca Generally well-regarded as an Ealing classic, PASSPORT TO PIMLICO is an acceptable comedy by modern standards, although it does feel noticeably dated and rather tame in its wit. The simple storyline is the best part of it: an excavation uncovers some old historical documents that 'prove' that Pimlico isn't actually part of the British Isles at all, so it becomes a micro state.While the set-up is a decent one, the rest of the film seems somewhat muddled and unfocused with the humour in absence for the most part. It's fun to see Ealing regulars like Stanley Holloway going through the paces, but otherwise this is merely a string of set-pieces. The climactic scenes of crowd feeding are good fun but otherwise this is a film that lacks the biting wit of modern political satires.One of the most fun parts of the film is seeing Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford, those two delightful cricket-loving gentlemen from THE LADY VANISHES, teaming up again for some double-act work. Keen eyes will spot Charles Hawtrey a decade or so before CARRY ON made him big.

mark.waltz An accidental explosion in the London district of Pimlico leads to the discovery that almost 600 years ago, it belonged to the state of Burgundy, and evidence of this convinces the locales to cede from the mother country and create their own. This creates chaos amongst the law and order of the region, and before you know it, passports are required to go from other parts of London through Pimlico which now has its own customs agent before even crossing the channel over to the mainland. Later, barbed wire fences are installed and the water supply is cut off, but the London neighbors, aghast by this, begin showing the new country support in ways that Parliment didn't expect.This is a grand political comedy with dark overtones that really makes one think of how much we both love and hate our own individual governments, loyal to the ideals on which they were created, but aghast by the abuses the people in power take on. The locales of Pimlico here go haywire as the news breaks, a huge party at the local pub breaks out (with the constable on duty joining in!), and with the recent world war still having an effect on society, and rationing the law of England, the townsfolk break out their goods for sale and begin peddling them on the street as they had before the war. An all-star cast of some of England's greatest actors all deliver excellent performances, with Hermoine Baddley as a local dress shop keeper, Margaret Rutherford as a history expert, and Stanley Holloway as one of the local leaders standing out. Some of the references to British culture and trends may seem a bit foreign to American audiences, but it is a good way to learn a little bit of another culture and understand some of the slang terms (at least of the times) while having a good laugh at convention and the leadership of government which at some times still seems like schoolboys playing cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians. There's a very funny metaphor concerning the temperature which rises immediately upon ceding from England and the results of what happens when the plot is resolved.

Snow Leopard This Ealing comedy, like so many others, has such an interesting and entertaining story that you don't always notice the clever and rather perceptive touches. It takes an unlikely, bizarre situation and makes it completely believable, just by drawing things out to their logical extremes. A solid cast and a good dose of British dry wit also help out.Stanley Holloway heads the cast, as one of a small group of Londoners who, as the result of an offbeat chain of events, find themselves declared subjects of Burgundy. As things proceed, one wacky development after another follows, but each one is simply a perfectly logical (or perhaps perfectly illogical) extension of the previous one.It's a fine satire on the whole structure of arbitrary procedures and policies that go along with governments, borders, and the like. It also focuses its share of attention on human nature in general, since the hapless but sympathetic 'Burgundians' also have their own foibles. It works by creating sympathy for them simply because they are normal, everyday people like the rest of us, caught up in an unprecedented situation.The settings are the kind of straightforward, convincing sets that you usually expect from Ealing, and they help in creating the contrast between daily life and the unexpected disruptions that the characters now face. Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne also add quite a bit, as a pair of high-level bureaucrats who seem more interested in deflecting responsibility than in getting problems solved. Things fit together quite well to make a movie that is enjoyable and insightful at the same time.

MartinHafer I commend pictures that try something different. Many films just seem like re-treads of old ideas, so that is the big reason I so strongly recommend Passport to Pimlico.The movie is set just after WW2 and the post-war shortages and rationing seem to be driving Londoners "barmy". The film centers on a tiny neighborhood in London called Pimlico. They, too, are sick of not being able to buy what they want but can see no way out of it. That is until they accidentally stumble upon a hidden treasure and a charter which officially named this neighborhood as a sovereign nation many hundreds of years ago! With this document, they reason, they can bypass all the rationing and coupons and live life just as they want, since it turns out they really AREN'T British subjects! Where the movie goes from there and how the crisis is ultimately resolved is something you'll need to see for yourselves. Leave it up the brilliant minds of Ealing Studios to come up with this gem!