An Alligator Named Daisy

An Alligator Named Daisy is a 1955 British comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Donald Sinden, Jeannie Carson, James Robertson Justice, Diana Dors, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway. It was based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Charles Terrot.

Plot
Returning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston, an Englishman, is left with a pet alligator by another passenger who abandons it to him. Horrified, his first instinct is to get rid of it as soon as possible. However, he soon develops a bond with Moira, a young Irishwoman, which appears to be centred almost entirely around the animal. He soon discovers that Daisy is very tame and domesticated, and seems to be the way to Moira's heart.

Once back in London, Weston struggles to keep Daisy under control as she upsets his family, loses him his job at a department store and imperils his relationship with his fiancée Vanessa. He plans to get rid of Daisy, but the police and a pet shop refuse to take her so he abandons her in Regent's Park, later returning with a sense of guilt to rescue her. Owing to a mix-up, Daisy is packed along with the rest of his luggage and accompanies him to his prospective father-in-law's country house. There, Daisy escapes and causes mayhem, while the arrival of Moira's "husband" produces a surprising outcome for all of them.

Cast

 * Donald Sinden as Peter Weston
 * Jeannie Carson as Moira O'Shannon
 * James Robertson Justice as Sir James Colbrooke
 * Diana Dors as Vanessa Colbrooke
 * Roland Culver as Mr Weston
 * Stanley Holloway as The general
 * Avice Landone as Mrs Weston
 * Richard Wattis as Hoskins
 * Stephen Boyd as Albert O'Shannon
 * Ernest Thesiger as Notcher (uncredited)
 * Henry Kendall as valet
 * Michael Shepley as The judge
 * Wilfrid Lawson as Irishman (uncredited)
 * Charles Victor as sergeant (uncredited)
 * George Moon as Al (uncredited)
 * Margaret Rutherford as Prudence Croquet
 * Joan Hickson as piano customer (uncredited)
 * Jimmy Edwards as alligator owner (uncredited)
 * Frankie Howerd as comedian (uncredited)
 * George Woodbridge as PC Jorkins (uncredited)
 * Colin Freear as garage boy (uncredited)

Production
Film rights to the 1954 novel were bought by Raymond Stross in November 1954. He wanted Diana Dors, Janette Scott and Kenneth Moore to star.

Filming took place at Pinewood Studios in May 1955. It was Dors' third movie with Thompson.

Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Three-quarters of this comedy depends on one joke: an alligator is found in an unlikely place. Apart from a faintly Kafkaesque scene in which Daisy is discovered in an upright piano, the situation is treated with little wit or comic invention, and aimless direction produces flat performances from the principals and gives small scope to the remarkable collection of small-part talent. In these tame surroundings, Harry Green's near-knockabout sequence at the expense of Denmark Street seems like sparkling satire. The staging and choreography of Jean Carson's dance sequence are deploringly unimaginative."

TV Guide wrote: "This very funny film has an excellent supporting cast."

The New York Times found that despite "a curiously cute bit by Margaret Rutherford, as a pet-shop owner who talks to the animals in their own 'language' ... the joke wears thin."