I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 18, 2025

John Boulting's "I'm All Right Jack" (1959) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with actress Liz Fraser; new audio commentary by critics Gemma Ross and Robert Ross; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The perfectionist

Oxford graduate Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) wants to work hard and be successful. Unfortunately, he is a perfectionist who constantly sees flaws and demands that his prospective bosses address them -- even when these flaws make them look terribly bad.

After a series of botched training sessions, Stanley’s wealthy uncle, Bertram Tracepurcel (Dennis Price), offers him a low-paying job at his missile factory. Convinced that later the experience will help him better understand and manage the men and women that will work for him, Stanley immediately accepts the position. However, his enthusiasm quickly proves problematic, and he is promptly confronted by the factory’s outspoken union leader, Fred Kite (Peter Sellers), who wants him fired because he suspects that Stanley, who isn’t a union member, has been sent by the management to secretly monitor the workers and their activities.

Meanwhile, a real informer (John Le Mesurier) is compromised and the factory’s chief supervisor, Major Hitchcock (Terry-Thomas), decides to replace him with Stanley. When Kite meets him and demands that Stanley is fired, Hitchcock “confesses” that there was a clerical error and that the young man should have never been sent amongst the workers. Assuming that this is the perfect opportunity to seriously embarrass the management, Kite changes his mind and instead insists that Stanley is allowed to continue working. After Hitchcock enthusiastically capitulates, Kite welcomes Stanley to his home and introduces him to his best friends, Marx and Lenin. Much to his disappointment, however, the young man becomes infatuated with his busty daughter (Liz Frazer).

Around the same time, Tracepurcel strikes a deal worth millions with a shady Arab envoy (Marne Maitland) and the owner (Richard Attenborough) of another factory. But for the deal to work, they need someone to instigate a big strike at Tracepurcel’s factory that would last a couple of day – someone as naïve as Stanley.

John Boulting’s I’m All Right Jack has a very dry, very British sense of humor and non-British viewers will likely need some time to get used to it, but it is precisely its different attitude that makes it so fascinating to behold. I personally found the enthusiasm with which it mocks the two opposing sides hugely entertaining.

It is difficult to identify its stars. Carmichael is outstanding as the naïve outsider, but with only a couple of scenes Terry-Thomas also leaves a lasting impression. (His eccentric remarks are pure gold). Sellers is also incredible as the brainwashed Marxist union leader, but Frazer and Margaret Rutherford, as the ultra-conservative aunt Dolly, could not be any better.

Alan Hackney wrote the novel that inspired I’m All Right Jack, and then collaborated with Frank Harvey to do the script for it. Several of the characters in it appear in Boulting’s Private’s Progress (1956) as well, which is also based on a story by Hackney, but prior knowledge of their affairs is not required to enjoy it.

In 1960, I’m All Right Jack won BAFTA Awards for Best British Actor (Peter Sellers) and Best British Screenplay (Frank Harvey, John Boulting, Alan Hackney).

I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, I'm All Right Jack arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

A decade ago, I'm All Right Jack was restored and released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom by StudioCanal. Kino Lorber's release brings the same restoration to America.

I still like a lot how this film looks on Blu-ray. All of its visuals are very healthy and boast wonderful delineation, clarity, and depth. They have excellent density levels, too. The grayscale is also very convincing. As you can tell from the screencaptures that are included with this article, the blacks are lush but never crush, while the different ranges of grays and whites complement them very well. Image stability is excellent, too. So, is there any room for improvement? If you have a very big screen, you may notice a few areas where grain fluctuates a bit. I suspect that it could be exposed slightly better. However, I do not think that such an improvement will introduce superior detail. For a meaningful increase in quality, the entire film will need to be moved to 4K Blu-ray, which would be unnecessary because it already looks great. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The entire lossless track is very healthy. You can turn the volume of your system as much as you want, but you will never notice any distracting age-related deteriorations. However, it has to be acknowledged that the original soundtrack is pretty underwhelming. It does not incorporate good music to create interesting contrasts, and even the few mass scenes are pretty modest. Of course, all of this is to be expected.

I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Liz Fraser - in this archival program, actress Liz Fraser (Cynthia Kite) recalls how she was cast to do her character in I'm All Right Jack and explains how the film changed her career. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for I'm All Right Jack. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Gemma Ross and Robert Ross.

I'm All Right Jack Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kino Lorber's release introduces an older but wonderful restoration of John Boulting's comedy I'm All Right Jack that was prepared on behalf of StudioCanal. If you do not have a copy of I'm All Right Jack in your library, you should consider picking up this Blu-ray release. I'm All Right Jack is a minor masterpiece that gathers several outstanding British character actors and then unleashes them to impress as best as they could. Its dry sense of humor is, as you will undoubtedly quickly discover, pretty special. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.