One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing

Published on 11th October 2014 by ianVisits in geekery, Museums

Mark a date in your diaries for one of the greatest movies ever made will make a rare return to the big screen next month.

A staple of wet winter Sunday afternoons, this totally insane film about a bunch of nannies foiling a plot by Chinese spies is deliciously British, even if it was made by Walt Disney.

It fits the genre so popular at the time of its making of dreamy eyed English traditions as seen from the USA, such as Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

one-of-our-dinosaurs-is-missing

Derek Nimmo plays the classic “Tim, nice but dim” upper class civil servant who is being chased by Chinese spies and manages to hide a secret document on a dinosaur in the Natural History Museum.

The Chinese then decide to steal the dinosaur, but their lorry is hijacked by the doughty nannies, leading to one of film history’s greatest car chases, as a lorry with a dinosaur in it races around foggy London pursued by the Chinese.

Throughout this, Peter Ustinov is a brilliant, if today somewhat racist Chinese spymaster, but done to lovingly that only the most swinish of bores would want to complain.

In the end the secret of the stolen document is revealed, and if you don’t know what it is, then get along to the Grant Museum on the 25th November at 6:30pm.

The film is followed by a free drinks reception in a private view of the Museum. This event is free and there is no need to book.

…oh, and the dinosaur? It ended up on a planet far away, called Tatooine.

Tagged with Grant Museum

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2 Comments on “One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing”

  1. If you go along, could you check something for me? I have a memory of a funny blooper in that film, but am not sure if I’m mis-remembering. There’s a scene where the Edwardian nannies are on Bankside. Across the water, behind St Paul’s, you can clearly see the Barbican towers, a good 50 years before they troubled the skyline. Would love to know if I made this up, or if it’s really in the film.

  2. Always remember this film from my childhood – seemed to be a TV staple for every school holiday. I even have this strong memory of turning on the TV one day and finding it playing on both the BBC and Granada at the same time – at different stages of the film.