Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James.The story is an adaptation of a 1954 Whitehall farce by John Chapman, who also wrote the screenplay, in which the sketchy story plays second fiddle to the quick-paced action and unlikely situations. The plot concerns the practice of gambling, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time, other than at racecourses.