Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor. After leaving the family business, Wattis became an actor. His debut was with Croydon Repertory Theatre, and he made many stage appearances in the West End in London. His first appearance in a film was A Yank at Oxford (1938), but war service interrupted his career as an actor. He served as a second lieutenant in the Small Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at Station VI during World War II (James Bond author, Ian Fleming worked in the same section). He is best known for his appearances, wearing his thick-rimmed round spectacles, in British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s, often as a "Man from the Ministry" or similar character. He was also involved as the secretary to Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Such appearances included the St Trinian's films (The Belles of St Trinian's, Blue Murder at St Trinian's, and The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery) as Manton Bassett, a civil servant who was the Deputy Director of Schools in the Ministry of Education, where he was often seen frowning and expressing indignation at the outrageous behaviour of other characters. To American audiences, Wattis is probably best known for his performance as the British civil servant Northbrook in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). He broke from this typecasting in his later films, such as his starring role in Games That Lovers Play. Wattis's other films included Hobson's Choice, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Carry On Spying, The Colditz Story, Dentist on the Job, Very Important Person, The Happiest Days of Your Life, and The Longest Day. He also appeared on television, including a long-running role in Sykes, and appearances in Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Goodies, Hancock's Half Hour, and Father, Dear Father. From 1957 to 1958, he appeared as Peter Jamison in three episodes of the American sitcom Dick and the Duchess.
Casino Royale
as British Army OfficerSir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH, James...
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The Man Who Knew Too Much
as Assistant ManagerA couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination...
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
as Secretary at Sweet Factory (uncredited)A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign...
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
as Secretary at Sweet Factory (Uncredited)A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign...
Movie pageThe retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and...
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Kind Hearts and Coronets
as Defence Counsel (uncredited)When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her...
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The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
as Mr. MurfinAll her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not...
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The Prince and the Showgirl
as NorthbrookAn American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign...
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The Colditz Story
as Richard GordonAllied prisoners of various nationalities pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from an...
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Hobson's Choice
as Albert ProsserHenry Hobson owns and tyrannically runs a successful Victorian boot maker’s shop in Salford,...
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The Importance of Being Earnest
as SetonAlgernon Moncrieff is surprised to discover that his affluent friend -- whom he knows as...
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Bunny Lake Is Missing
as Shipping ClerkA woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she...
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The Abominable Snowman
as Dr. Peter FoxA kindly English botanist and a gruff American promoter lead an expedition to the Himalayas in...
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Operation Crossbow
as Sir Charles SimsAllied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets...
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The Man Who Never Was
as Shop AssistantThe true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before...
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The V.I.P.s
as SandersWealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal...
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The Alphabet Murders
as WolfThe Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the...
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Doctor in the House
as Medical Book Salesman (uncredited)The first of the seven "Doctor" films, based on Richard Gordon's novels and released between...
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The Belles of St. Trinian's
as Manton BassettThe unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and...
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Carry On Spying
as CobleyCarry On favourite Barbara Windsor makes her debut in this outrageous send-up of the James Bond...
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Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
as P.C. FreddieThe legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in...
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Bon Voyage!
as Party GuestThe Willards from Terre Haute, Indiana travels abroad for the once-in-a-lifetime vacation in...
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Confessions of a Window Cleaner
as Carole's FatherYoung Timmy starts as a window cleaner in the little company of his brother. Soon he learns that...
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Barnacle Bill
as Registrar of ShippingA seasick sea captain commands an amusement pier despite local opposition. Released in the U.S....
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Simon and Laura
as Controller of Television DramaA couple of bickering, married performers agree to star in a "Mr. and Mrs." TV show.
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The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
as Travel AgentTwo British children travel to Italy in an attempt to break up their runaway mother's affair...
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Lady Godiva Rides Again
as Casting DirectorMarjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain...
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The Clouded Yellow
as Employment AgentAfter leaving the British Secret Service, David Somers (played by Trevor Howard) finds work...
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Appointment with Venus
as Carruthers - Higher ExecutiveAt the outbreak of WWII the British realise they can't prevent the invasion of the Channel...
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Very Important Person
as Woodcock, Entertainments OfficerComedy set in World War Two, starring James Robertson-Justice and Leslie Phillips. Sir Ernest...
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The Liquidator
as Flying InstructorSpy spoof about Boysie Oakes, a British secret agent who specialises in Liquidating. In actual...
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Left Right and Centre
as Harding-PrattAt the Earndale by-election natural history expert and TV personality Bob Wilcot for the...
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The Green Man
as DoctorUnknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a...
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Games That Lovers Play
as Mr. LothranJoanna Lumley and Penny Brahms star as notorious prostitutes Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterley...
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An Alligator Named Daisy
as HoskinsReturning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston gains a pet alligator from another...
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The Ballad of Tam Lin
as ElroyBased upon the Celtic legend Tam Lin, a young man is bewitched by a beautiful, heartless, aging...
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The Final Test
as Cricket FanLegendary England cricketer Sam Palmer (Jack Warner) is due to bat in his final test match...
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Sex and the Other Woman
as PresenterA series of vignettes exposing how women manipulate their men into submission.
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Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
as Manton BassettWith their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty's prison, the St Trinian's girls find...
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The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
as Manton BassettThe all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds...
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Wonderwall
as PerkinsThe eccentric professor Collins lives completely secluded in his chaotic apartment. When the...
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Appointment in London
as PascalWing-commander Tim Mason leads a squadron of Lancaster bombers on almost nightly raids from...
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The Happiest Days of Your Life
as Arnold Billings: Staff of NutbourneNutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is...
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The Intruder
as School MasterWhen Ex Colonel Merton discovers a burglar ransacking his home, he is shocked to find out that...
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Eyewitness
as AnaesthetistAfter a fight with her husband, Lucy runs out of the house, and into a night of terror. She...
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Come Fly with Me
as Oliver GarsonThree airline hostesses combine their work crossing the Atlantic with searching for a rich...
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The Captain's Table
as PrittlewellA captain is promoted by his company from tramp steamers to their flagship passenger liner....
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Ten Seconds to Hell
as Major HavenTwo rivals from a German bomb squad are left to deactivate duds in postwar Berlin.
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Song of Paris
as CarterAn archetypal Englishman returns from a jaunt abroad to face a dastardly foreign count in a...
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Park Plaza 605
as Theodore FeatherSuave private investigator Norman Conquest intercepts a secret message and meets a beautiful but...
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A Yank at Oxford
as Latin Speaker at Dinner (uncredited)A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and...
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I Am a Camera
as Bespectacled Man at Book Launch (uncredited)Just before the Nazis ascend to power in Berlin, Chris, an aspiring novelist from England, meets...
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Made in Heaven
as The vicarResidents of the small English village of Dunmow react in comical ways when the Topham family...
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I Thank a Fool
as EbblingtonAfter mercifully killing her terminally ill lover, Dr. Christine Allison loses her medical...
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The Crowded Day
as Mr. ChristopherOne day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.
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Innocents in Paris
as WilkinsonRomantic comedy about a group of Britons flying to Paris for the weekend.
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Libel
as The JudgeA California commercial pilot sees a telecast in London of an interview with Sir Mark Lodden at...
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Derby Day
as EditorEntertaining ensemble piece dealing with several characters who are on the way to the races on...
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You Must Be Joking
as ParkinsA motley group of soldiers are set loose on swinging England in an initiative test to collect a...
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As Long as They're Happy
as Hippodrome Stage ManagerThe suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his...
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The Iron Petticoat
as Lingerie ClerkCaptain Vinka Kovalenko defects from Russia, but not for political reasons. She defects because...
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Take Me High
as Sir Charles FurnessTim (Cliff Richard) is a successful ambitious young financier working for a London Merchant...
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A Touch of the Sun
as PurchaseA hotel porter is left a fortune but after living it up for a while he returns to his old place...
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Helter Skelter
as Compere of Nick Nack ShowA detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.
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Nearly a Nasty Accident
as WagstaffeThe RAF Group Captain has a hard job to restrain the aircraft-man from tinkering with everything...
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Follow a Star
as Dr. W. ChatterwayNorman Truscott is a store worker who dreams of stardom. Vernon Carew is a singer whose star is...
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Top Secret
as BarnesA British Sanitary Engineer, goes on holiday with a set of plans for a new secret weapon which...
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The Chiltern Hundreds
as Vicar (uncredited)Young Viscount Tony Pym wangles National Service leave on the pretext of standing as a Tory...
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Up Jumped a Swagman
as Lever, Music PublisherA dreamy Australian singer comes to London to seek his fortune and falls for a down-to-earth...
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It's a Wonderful World
as HaroldTwo aspiring songwriters finally manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a...
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The Ugly Duckling
as BarclayHenry Jekyll was always the outsider, a bungling and awkward buffoon, relegated to waiting for...
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Lease of Life
as SolicitorThe parson of a small rural community knows he is dying and this makes him reconsider his life...
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Diamonds on Wheels
as Sir Hilary StantonThree kids get mixed up with jewel thieves and stolen diamonds in a 24-hour road rally.
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Play It Cool
as Nervous ManA struggling singer and his band befriend an heiress who, against the wishes of her father, is...
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Your Money or Your Wife
as Hubert FryNewly wed couple Gay and Pel Butterworth are forced to take in some strange paying guests when...
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High Flight
as WilsonThe Commanding Officer of an RAF Training School must deal with a difficult cadet, but the cadet...
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Dentist on the Job
as MacreedyColonel Proudfoot of Proudfoot Industries tries to entice a couple of newly qualified dentists...
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The Time of His Life
as EdgarMr Pastry's social climbing daughter, president of a society for the rehabilitation for...
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Small Town Story
as MarshCanadian ex-serviceman Bob Regan returns to Oldchester, the English town where he was posted...
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Venus fra Vestø
as uncreditedVestø island's isolated community's prize cow is in danger of being abducted by German WWII...
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That's Your Funeral
as SimmondsTwo funeral parlours fight one another for business, one of whom is more shady than the other.
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Second Fiddle
as Bill TurnerDeborah and Charles, young executives at the thriving Pontifex Advertising Agency, are very much...
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Blood Orange
as Detective Inspector MacLeodDischarged by his employer, a private eye stays on a jewel theft case after a model with...
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Colonel March Investigates
as CabotThis is a feature-length compilation of three short episodes taken from a TV series called...
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Egghead's Robot
as uncredited'Egghead' Wentworth adapts his father's robot paratrooper to perform his chores, but forgets to...
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A Yank in Ermine
as BooneAn American airman inherits an Earldom in England along with the small matter of $3 million on...
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Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers
as Self (archive material)With film clips and photos, Eric Sykes gives a tongue-in-cheek account of his follies and...
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Jumping for Joy
as CarruthersAt the racetrack, cleaner, Willy Joy is tricked into buying Lindy Lou, a useless greyhound,...
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Too Close for Comfort
as NarratorAn extended humorous public information film (lasting around fifteen minutes) narrated by...
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Top of the Form
as uncreditedA con man hides out in a boys' school, posing as a professor. When the undisciplined and lazy...
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The Silken Affair
as WorthingtonAn accountant who is creative with his firm's books uses the money to fund a romantic spree.
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Background
as David WallaceTwo years of deterioration sees John and Barbara Lomax's marriage reduced to bitter sniping and...
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The Goodies
as uncreditedA British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s, combining surreal sketches and...
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The Goodies
as TV Show HostA British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s, combining surreal sketches and...
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The Avengers
as ClarkeThe Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr....
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The Prisoner
as FotheringayAfter resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but...
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Hancock's Half Hour
as uncreditedHancock's Half Hour is a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and...
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Sykes
as uncreditedClassic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to...
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Sykes
as Charles BrownClassic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to...
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Sykes and a...
as uncreditedA black-and-white British sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques that aired on BBC1 from...
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Colonel March of Scotland Yard
as Arthur CabotColonel March of The Department of Queer Complaints investigates unusual cases, locked-room...
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The Liberace Show
as uncreditedThis is a real treasure for the countless fans of this flamboyant pianist and singer whose...
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Coppers End
as uncreditedCoppers End is a police station where the policemen work very hard to avoid work. A crime would...
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