THE LAVENDER HILL MOB ★★★

UK tour until February 18 Tickets: lavenderhillmobplay.co.uk

The classic Ealing comedy about mild-mannered bank clerk Henry Holland, who hatches a scheme to steal a van load of gold bullion, is one of the great glories of 1950s British cinema.

While Phil Porter’s inoffensive stage version can’t hope to scale the film’s comic heights, it has its enjoyable moments.

Set in Rio de Janeiro on New Year’s Eve, criminal fugitive Holland’s (Miles Jupp) celebrations are interrupted by the arrival of Farrow (Guy Burgess) who has come from England to find him.

A police inspector mistaken for a film director, Farrow is persuaded to stay as the British expats act out the story of Holland’s criminal adventure, which included melting down the gold and smuggling it out of Britain as Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

The cast – particularly posh girls Lady Agnes (Tessa Churchard) and Audrey (Victoria Blunt) relishing their Cockney geezer roles – are very watchable, even when the amateur theatricals of the playwithin-a-play threaten to capsize the story.