The unscrupulous Marmaduke (David Hutcheson) gives a stolen jewelled eye to Paul (Roger Livesey) as a gift. Paul summons his son, Dickie (Anthony Newley) for a chat before he is sent off to his new term at boarding school. However, the jewel has the power to allow a wish to come true for whoever holds it. Unwittingly, the stuffy Paul wishes to be young again and in turn, the mischievous Dickie wishes to be older. The rest of the film follows the antics of the now mature Dickie at school and the now immature Paul at home before they swap back at the end of the film and everything that has gone wrong becomes resolved. There is even a nice romantic surprise for Paul at the end.......
What sounds like a fun film is badly let down by OTT British silliness. While there are some funny moments, the truth is that there are far more unfunny moments that leave the viewer thinking "This is tedious". A case in question involves a long, drawn-out duel sequence combined with a court scene that lasts about half an hour and isn't at all funny. Not once did I laugh at the tiresome antics that were played out infront of me. My girlfriend fell asleep during this part after the film had shown early flashes of promise. This meant that she missed the film's only other funny moment after that, namely, when Dickie is travelling back on the train smoking a cigar and throws over some matches to a fellow passenger who asks for a light. The film needed far more of this kind of humour to make it good.
The main characters do well despite the silly script and the silly manner in which the story is sometimes acted. What a shame that the film is more boring than funny.
