An Alligator Named Daisy (1955)

Against his will, an Englishman (Donald Sinden, MOGAMBO) finds himself the guardian of an abandoned alligator named Daisy. The alligator takes a shine to him and they bond but Daisy causes havoc among his household, his place of work and at a posh ball thrown by his fiancee's (Diana Dors) father (James Robertson Justice). Based on the novel by Charles Terrot and directed by J. Lee Thompson (CAPE FEAR). When one thinks of director Thompson, one thinks of films like GUNS OF NAVARONE, not cute animal comedies with songs. Nevertheless, it's hard to resist the likable reptile or the innocuous comedy that's built around her. Sinden is a rather pleasant presence but his leading ladies, the statuesque Dors and the auburn haired Jeannie Carson, brighten up the film. With Margaret Rutherford as a dotty pet shop owner who talks to animals, Stephen Boyd, Frankie Howerd, Stanley Holloway, Roland Culver, Joan Hickson (whose indignant piano customer is one of the film's comedic highlights) and Ernest Thesiger.