Two Way Stretch

The inmates at Huntleigh Prison enjoy a pleasant life: milk and newspapers are delivered each morning at 7, the cells resemble luxurious bed-sitting rooms, and classes are held on subjects ranging from basket weaving to safecracking. Cellmates Dodger Lane (Peter Sellers), Jelly Knight (David Lodge) and Lennie Price (Bernard Cribbins) are visited by Soapy Stevens (Wilfrid Hyde-White), an old crony who, posing as a clergyman, has a plan for stealing a large number of jewels from a visiting maharajah scheduled to match his weight in diamonds on his natal day. The men agree that it should be relatively easy for them to break out, pull off the job and sneak back into prison with the gems. Just as their plans are being made final, however, the easygoing warder is replaced by the vicious, ever-suspicious “Sour” Crout (Lionel Jeffries).