Penny Paradise

Penny Paradise is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver and Jimmy O'Dea.

[1] The film is set in Liverpool, where tugboat captain Joe Higgins, believing he has won £20,000 on the football pools, resigns from his job and throws a party in a local public house where family and friends – some of whom have an eye on a share of the winnings – gather to celebrate his good luck.

The party grinds to a halt with the arrival of the hapless Pat, Higgins' Irish first mate on the tugboat, who is forced to admit that he forgot to post the winning pools coupon.

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Good character drawing, unaffected and telling dialogue, and many clever directorial touches help to make up the total excellent effect. ...

"[3] Kine Weekly said "This topical story, with its original tale of wholesale reaction to unexpected riches, presents both an amusing and human experiment in mass psychology.