In the tradition of films like TURNABOUT and FREAKY Friday, VICE VERSA attaches the theme to a couple of males this time, in a British comedy written and directed by Peter Ustinov that tries too hard to be clever, but succeeds, instead, in being exceedingly foolish.

ANTHONY NEWLEY is a Victorian schoolboy who trades places with his stuffy British father by wishing on a magic stone from India. Newley brings his father's knowledge and stuffiness to the school that he returns to, much to the bewilderment of his classmates and professors. The father, ROGER LIVESEY, adopts childish preferences rather than smoking his favored cigars and confounds his household servants.

You have to be a fan of overly broad, non-subtle British humor to fully enjoy this comedy. Most of it is beyond silly, however delightful the performances are. Especially absurd is the confrontation of battle swords in a duel over a young woman, played for zany humor but somehow missing the mark.

None of it can be taken seriously, so your enjoyment of the story will depend entirely on whether or not you favor this sort of humor. Newley does a decent enough job as the young boy and Livesey seems to be enjoying himself in a comic role, looking and sounding an awful lot like Nigel Bruce behind his scruffy mustache.

Anyone with a sharp eye will notice that so many of the story ingredients are used in FREAKY Friday, but American style.

Too overdone for my taste.

Roger Livesey ("Paul") is the wealthy but rather indifferent dad to "Dick" (Anthony Newley). The youngster hates the idea of going back to his boarding school, but his skinflint of a father is having none of it. When "Dick" tries a bit of emotional blackmail, his dad - clutching a mysterious stone from a temple in faraway India finds himself making a wish and now has the mental age of his son. His son, seeing an opportunity for some mischief takes hold of the stone and is soon his father in the body of a boy! What now ensue are an entertaining series of escapades as the youngster goes back to a school under the austere tutelage of "Dr. Grimstone" (James Robertson Justice) and the father tries to fit into a modern adult life of industry and duels - when all he really wants is lemonade and a kiss from "Dulcie" (Petula Clark). Livesey is on good form here as is the increasingly exasperated JRJ and Kay Walsh as the girlfriend of the father who finds herself continually perplexed by these unexplained developments. It is directed by Peter Ustinov and that's quite obvious after a while - it has a haphazard quirkiness and whimsy to it that provides for a slightly grander, more sophisticated, humour as the story moves along. It takes a swipe at the pompous and the shallow, and though it is probably twenty minutes too long, is still quite an enjoyable watch with some amiable characterisations and fun dialogue.

This is probably the first of a very long series of the same plot. Switched souls in different bodies, in this case father and son. And the first take is the best, partly because it is set in the VIctorian era which itself is played well for laughs, and for outlandishly ornate dialogue...But best of all for the acting...Peter Ustinov and (to my shock when I read the credits) Anthony Newley as a boy and Petula Clark as a young girl. Knowing that added even another layer to the fun.

I especially liked the thoughtful script which included having the boy who is just coming into puberty and finds himself in an adult body with mustache and all chasing the maid around for a kiss which he wants but isn't sure why and is appropriately confused at both her refusal and his own sudden desires. Very clever and something completely overlooked in later versions.

The ending has a fun twist, too, and made me think that if I were still a young boy I'd be on the lookout for such a magic stone as switched father and son in this film.

A funny first you'll enjoy watching and which is suitable for all ages to enjoy together without embarrassment.