The Smallest Show on Earth

Struggling writer Matt Spenser (Bill Travers) and his wife Jean (Virginia McKenna) receive a telegram announcing that Matt's long-lost uncle has died and left them his rundown cinema, the Bijou, in Sloughborough. Expecting a windfall, they travel there to sell it, only to discover a decrepit building staffed by aging, comically incompetent employees. After a lowball offer from rival cinema owner Albert Hardcastle (Francis De Wolff), they opt to reopen the theater, deploying clever marketing tactics to lure audiences away from him, though their plans soon unravel.