Captain Paris (Alastair Sim), chaplain of an army camp, in charge of providing entertainment for his flock, presents off-key string quartet musicales from which his parishioners stay away in droves. However, his programs acquire a new popularity when the padre organizes a “brains trust,” comprised of local citizens who are set to answer questions put to them by the G.I.s. Little brains and less trust are revealed when Private Jessie Killigrew, the captain's secretary, pops the 64-pound question, “What makes a happy marriage?”
“Folly to Be Wise is undoubtedly the definitive Sim role, if not his funniest film. It was written for him specifically as a stage vehicle by James Bridie, and transferred bodily to the screen with little attempt to open it up in any way. It is in fact a talk fest, hung on a loose single situation rather than a plot, but it gives Sim magnificent opportunities to run through the entire gamut of his facial and evocal pantomime. Incidentally, the original title, ‘It Depends What You Mean,' was a deliberate and none too subtle dig (or kick) at one Professor Joad, a somewhat pompous British intellectual who was a member of the enormously popular ‘Brains Trust,' a team that delighted wartime radio audiences in England. The catchphrase was Joad's launching pad to intellectual analysis LONG before he got to the question at hand, and he is beautifully satired, mannerisms and all, by Colin Gordon in this film. Martita Hunt, Britain's own Margaret Dumont, provides indomitable support.”