Tons of Trouble (1956) Poster

(1956)

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7/10
Back in the mists of time...
morpheusatloppers8 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Yeah, this is a strange one for me too. I'm 56 now and like the other two (so far - and perhaps for all time) reviewers, this movie is just a very distant memory. It suddenly popped into my head when I heard the name Ethel (I didn't remember the title, so looked up "Mr Pastry" on this service - I STILL wouldn't have found it, had it not been for the user comments).

I came to IMDb looking for it, as said service has EVERYTHING in it - including an obscure 1960 British TV series called "The Blackness" which made me afraid of the dark for YEARS (I'm over it now).

All I can add to THIS strain is that I'm pretty sure one of the boilers was named "Ethel" (see above) - the other may very WELL have been called "Mavis" - and that their stoke-holes and gauges were positioned to form "faces". And I too cried when Pastry said goodbye to them.

I also recall Pastry's TV series. And I remember when, well into the run, he remarked to "Miss Print" that she was in the papers again. And how, when she enquired, he said, "Yes, there's a misprint on the front page!" Even at about nine years of age, I recall thinking, "I wonder if they just THOUGHT of that gag - or did they name her Miss Print so that they could do it at some point?"

Anyhoo, there it is. The two other comments were posted two years ago. One had three favourables out of three. The other had none out of none (both have an additional one out of one from ME now!) So this movie is not exactly POPULAR - but after MANY years, it seems to have left its impact. And that's what good movies DO.

And I wonder how many MORE years it'll be before anyone reads MY comment...?
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5/10
No kidding
malcolmgsw23 March 2016
It is rather strange that of the eight reviews of this film only one has seen it in the last 40 years and he wasn't able to make out the dialogue.So I have an advantage having just finished viewing this.Films such as this were made for a children's audience when slapstick still held sway.So I doubt whether children today would be much amused.Hearne does his fairly predictable comedy quite well.When he messes about with a washing machine you know that the room will soon be filled with soap suds.I can't say that I have ever really found him funny though obviously some people retain fond memories.So hopefully some of them may be able to refresh their memories.
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6/10
An afternoon off...
jcasey5425 February 2010
I remember (probably around 1964/5)an afternoon off from school during the week, and this film was on TV. I have a feeling it was coming up to Christmas so perhaps the time off school was part of the Christmas break, but it's a fuzzy memory. Mr Pastry (Richard Hearne) was quite a well known face on TV, especially in children's shows. I can't remember much about the plot of this film(I've learnt a lot more from this site!) but I remember two boilers being a main feature of the story. Since that's so unusual, and who else but the British could script a film around two old heating boilers, I guess that's why it's stuck in my young and impressionable memory, and yes, perhaps a tear was shed at the demise of Mr Pastry's beloved charges!

I wondered what the film was called, and thanks to IMDb, I've found out. Would I like to see it again? Possibly...but maybe the impression it gave me then, should simply be left alone.
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Distant memory
robin-41424 March 2006
This is tricky, because I last saw this movie on TV in about 1965. The central character, 'Mr Pastry', played by Richard Hearne, was a popular knockabout comic, still busy at that time, and I, as a child, welcomed any appearance by him on the television. He looked like a little old man with fluffy white hair and moustache, and a dark suit and hat.

As far as I know this was Mr Pastry's only feature film. The title refers to the huge boilers that are used to heat an office building, and Mr Pastry is the caretaker, who has looked after them all his working life. Trouble arises when the system is to be modernised, and oil heaters installed, meaning that the big old boilers will be scrapped, along with their loving caretaker.

I'm sure this film is full of slapstick and chases, but the only scene that remains in my mind is poor old Mr Pastry saying his good-byes to his boilers. They have names (one, I'm sure, is Bessie), and I think I remember the whole thing as being quite touching.

I also remember that it all turns out okay in the end. I hope this film is still intact somewhere, and someone sees fit to give it a TV airing one afternoon. It's a comedy about a changing world, and in 1965, it was shown at peak time in the evening, which just goes to show how the world continues to change.
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2/10
This pastry does not rise
Prismark107 February 2016
Tons of Trouble stars Richard Hearne as his well known Mr Pastry character which was a staple on television in the 1950s and early 1960s.

In this film version, Mr Pastry is a kindly but haphazard caretaker in a block of flats looking after two old boilers which need much attention. There is also a subplot where a car crashes and the driver wants Mr Pastry to deliver a message which the police are interested in.

Wily milkman William Hartnell is after the caretaker's job for some reason, presumably assuming this is a cushy number. He eventually gets Mr Pastry fired and gets his job but finds out the keeping the boilers going is harder than he imagined.

The film has short comic interludes with Mr Pastry getting people to laugh silly by use of some portion or pushing a maid in the bath.

The version of the film I saw claimed to have been remastered. The picture quality was poor and the sound was almost inaudible. There was nothing amusing about Mr Pastry's antics.

I have heard about this character for decades and have seen snippets of him before. Just because people were glued to the television set once upon a time when he appeared does not make it any good. To think that the bumbling Mr Pastry persona was once considered for the role of Doctor Who shows how much of a bullet the sci-fi series managed to dodge.
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5/10
Operation Old Man
richardchatten10 June 2020
The second and lesser of two tinny mid-fifties big screen vehicles for the fondly recalled Mr.Pastry by veteran director Leslie Hiscott. Surprisingly subdued between the farcical interruptions involving things like laughing gas and soap suds (to the extent that this has even been described as a comedy drama); it plays like a thirties quota quickie, right down to some of the supporting cast (although £4.18/3d was still a large amount in 1956).
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4/10
Genteel British humour, long dated
Leofwine_draca24 September 2016
TONS OF TROUBLE is a cheapjack British comedy conceived as a star vehicle for old-time comedian Richard Hearne. He plays a janitor who spends his time looking after a couple of heaving old boilers in the basement of a large hotel. He feels so much affection for these pieces of machinery that he's given then names and personalities and it's fair to say that they are his life's work. There's something delightfully British about his character.

The opening part of the film is pretty good with some amusing slapstick moments, particularly involving the laundry chute. I have no idea who Hearne is or was but he's quite game for a laugh here. Sadly, the film becomes unstuck later on, when it builds an uninvolving plot involving ruthless corporate villains and the like, and it only springs to life again when William Hartnell is introduced into the story. The ending is as obvious as they come. I was interested to note that this was the last film in the career of quota quickie director Leslie S. Hiscott before retirement; he also had a hand in the script.
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8/10
A must for Mr Pastry fans
lyon49126 August 2006
I remember watching this film on TV over 40 years ago. It's a touching tale, which reflected an innocence for the times. I loved it and kept the copy of Radio Times, where it was listed, for many years. Mr Pastry is a caretaker in charge of boilers in some establishment (school?)and has a little dog as a friend. Time has made the memory a little fuzzy, but the film was full of character actors such as William Hartnell (pre-Doctor Who days), Ronald Adam, John Stuart. I remember Mr Pastry riding his bike with the dog in a basket. It all turns out OK in the end when the boilers are saved from being dismantled. Can't remember much of the romantic interest - must have been my age! Great nostalgic stuff!
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9/10
Happy Memories of a Happy Film...in the end!
mfarrier25 September 2013
My review will be extremely quick and vague! This is because I only remember watching this film way back in around August 1977, after being tied to a hospital beds with traction weights and pulleys, following a road accident! All I can remember is virtually the same as all the other reviewers; ie, the janitor man (Pastry, of course) and his beloved boilers, which he saves in the end! I have been trying to remember the title of the film for 36 years now...so many thanks for that; you've made an old man very happy! I echo your other reviewers' comments, echoing their pleas...do please let us have another airing of this B&W classic on Britsh TV!
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10/10
Tons of Fun....as I remember it ?
JETTCO4825 January 2016
I too remember this little gem....at least, it was then!

I was 7 years old and my Dad took me to see this at our local Gaumont. It was the support film for Disney's "Davy Crockett", which was a real "Biggy" that year.

It's many,many years since it was on TV but, it's one of those films that has always stuck in my memory.

The only thing I can remember about it for sure is that Mr Pastry had a lot of trouble with some soap suds?

Unseen for many years, we can finally catch up with it next Monday, Feb 1st, 2016 when those excellent people at the Talking Pictures Channel will be showing it, at 12:05pm.

I can't wait!
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10/10
excellent film
spurnell5311 November 2013
I watched this film at the Odeon in Ashford Kent, one Saturday morning. It has stayed with me for all these years, and halfway around the world, I can still vividly remember it. I think there was a spy involved, who was injured, and Mr Pastry took him into his boiler room, to recover. I think William Hartnell, who was the Milkman, coveted Mr Pastry's position, and was angling to get him removed. I can remember Mr Pastry saying goodbye to his boilers, and how moving it was. You certainly don't see the likes of Mr Pastry, or this film any more, which is a great pity. Will someone please release this film on DVD, so that I can add it to my classic British collection.
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8/10
A fun hour
martinepstein1 June 2019
Just seen this film on the splendid Talking Pictures. What a gentle simple comedy from a much calmer age. Modern children might not get it but Richard Hearne was a superb knockabout comedian and I enjoyed it immensely.
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