No Kidding (film)

No Kidding
Original British quad poster
Directed by	Gerald Thomas
Produced by	Peter Rogers
Written by	Verily Anderson Robin Estridge Norman Hudis
Starring	Leslie Phillips Geraldine McEwan Joan Hickson
Music by	Bruce Montgomery
Cinematography	Alan Hume
Production company	Peter Rogers Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors
Release date	1960
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

No Kidding is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas featuring Leslie Phillips, Geraldine McEwan and Irene Handl, Noel Purcell and Julia Lockwood. The film is adapted from Verily Anderson's 1958 memoir Beware of Children, under which title the film was released in the US. Anderson also wrote the screenplay.

The film has been interpreted by film scholar Wheeler Dixon as "a gentle critique of A. S. Neill's Summerhill method of schooling". Elsewhere it is described as "surprisingly sophisticated fare that also scores a number of interesting points about greed, privilege and class."

David (Leslie Phillips) and Catherine Robinson (Geraldine McEwan) move into a rundown country house. After a number of failed ventures, they are looking to build a solid business. They strike upon the idea of setting up a summer home for the children of the wealthy. They attract a number of customers, and hire a matron (June Jago) and a cook (Joan Hickson), and immediately fall foul of a local councillor (Irene Handl) who does not believe they should be allowed to look after children.

The families arrive and drop off their children. They range from polite, scared and helpful to wild, spoilt, rebellious children led by an American brother and sister, and an English fantasist girl (Julia Lockwood), who tries to insist that she has been maltreated by her in fact kindly family.

As the children grow increasingly ill-disciplined, the staff and owners battle to keep them under control. The father advocates a tough approach while his wife beliefs that the children's freedom should be allowed to flourish. They are undermined by an increasingly drunken cook, and the wild antics of the children.