The Wrong Box (1966)

A 60s movie with a cast including Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Nanette Newman, John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock? Sounds too good to be true? Well it is true - and strangely, The Wrong Box remains something of an unknown quantity.

Despite the era, this isn't a swinging sixties movie - it's actually a Victorian farce. But as the style of the 60s owed much to a Victorian revival, that doesn't take too much effort. The plot however is something that might require a few spare brain cells.

DVD Review: What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

In the mid-sixties Woody Allen became a hot property after scripting the hit comedy What's New, Pussycat? (1965).  Exploitation legends James Nicholson and Sam Arkoff at American International Pictures promptly purchased a Japanese spy movie called Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi ("International Secret Police: Key of Keys") and roped Allen in to re-dub and re-script the picture, transforming it into a zany comedy.  The result was What's Up, Tiger Lily? 

Allen's version recasts star Tatsuya Mihashi as Phil Moskowitz (!), the ace superspy recruited to track down a top secret egg salad recipe.  His employer, the High Macha, ruler of "an exotic country that isn't real but sounds believable", warns him villains are also on its trail.  "They kill, they maim and they call information for numbers they could easily look up in the book."  Aided by sexy sidekicks: Suki Yaki (Akiko Wakabayashi) and Teri Yaki (Mie Hama), Phil tangles with no-goods Shepherd Wong (Tadao Nakamura) and Wing Fat (Susumu Kurobe) in a wild and crazy caper, interspersed with interviews with "creator" Woody Allen ("Danger is my bread and butter") and musical numbers by The Lovin' Spoonful. 

Part of American pop's response to the British invasion, The Lovin' Spoonful were spliced into the movie against the wishes of rock music hater Woody Allen.  Indeed, Allen was scathing about the whole enterprise, calling it: "stupid and juvenile" and tried to sue the producers (including Henry G. Saperstein, who co-produced many a Japanese monster movie with Toho) to prevent the film being released.  He recanted after the film drew good reviews and proved a box office success.  Forty years on, What's Up, Tiger Lily? remains frothy fun with some choice Allen witticisms ("I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that's flogging a dead horse"). 

DVD Review: Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 10th Anniversary Special Edition (1997)

Is it really 10 years since the world 'shagadelic' came into being? It must be, because Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 10th Anniversary Special Edition is on the market.

I've got to be honest, I was dreading re-watching this. Time hasn't been too kind to the movie's legacy - the name 'Austin Powers' conjures up images of bad fancy dress costumes and even worse impressions, not to mention those tired old catchphrases. In fact, if someone proposed burying the movie (and its two sequels) underground for 100 years, I would have backed them all the way. But I did watch it again - and you know what? I actually enjoyed it.

Because despite all the baggage, this is a very funny, very well-written comedy spoof. And if you happen to have an obsession for 60s cinema (as I do), there's also the opportunity to bore your friends with a spot of 'reference spotting' from the likes of Our Man Flint, Dr Goldfoot, (original) Casino Royale, The Silencers, Valley Of The Dolls, Girl on A Motorcycle, Smashing Time, Blow-Up and various Bond movies to name just a fraction.

DVD Review: Sleeping Dogs (2006)

Comedians don’t generally translate well into script-writing, especially when it comes to film. Not nowadays, anyway. Britain’s seen enough of its finest comic talents who trod the boards on Saturday Live or The Secret Policeman’s Ball go on to make crappy big-screen adaptations of their best-loved characters (Kevin And Perry Go Large, Ali G Indahouse) to reinforce the point. Trouble is, most characters are a one-note joke – you can’t do a lot with a character that’s so ubiquitous thanks to a catchphrase or an action. Borat only really succeeded because he was a “sleeper” character, and as such was able to get away with a lot more than Ali G, for example, couldn’t. We knew what Ali G would say, but not Sacha Baron Cohen’s other creation.
   
Even in America, comedians tend to shy away from writing their own film scripts because they’re either too outrageous or they prefer the safety of television, where they only have to fill half an hour and they call the shots. Jerry Seinfeld, for example, will never make a Seinfeld film. There won’t ever be a Cheers or Frasier movie. Dave Chappelle, who was so successful with Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, only went with a ‘concert film’.

DVD Review: Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998)

Strictly speaking, films about homosexuality are no longer about an ‘alternative’ lifestyle. This isn’t a recent demarcation, off the back of say, Kissing Jessica Stein or Brokeback Mountain. Homosexuality hasn’t been illegal in most countries, and certainly Western democracies, for decades, and so films that deal in sexuality should no longer be taboo. Romantic comedies should deal in both sides of the argument.
   
But strangely, they don’t. This has less to do with social acceptance and more to do with the prudish attitudes of cinema audiences. I mean, think about it: homosexuals of both genders are responsible for some of the most brilliant, awe-inspiring and inventive entries into the artistic canon as any heterosexual, but because of a biological imperative and centuries of social conditioning, we have to distinguish between the two sexualities, especially in the fields of film and literature.

It sucks. Just because someone prefers to get up to something ‘other’ in the bedroom, it must be made clear that their art is different because they themselves are. Gender politics are too complicated an argument to place into a film review, but I will say this – if you can enjoy Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, you can easily sit through this “trifle” by director Tommy O’Haver.

The Party (1968)

“Birdie num num”

The Party is one hell of a funny film and one that director, Blake Edwards should be rightly proud of with its abundant (and hilarious) sight gags and a sparkling script adding the finishing sheen to a colouful, stylish vehicle for the comedic talents of a certain Peter Sellers.

‘The Pink Panther’ (1963) had of course, propelled Messrs Sellers and Edwards into the stratosphere and having worked together again on another Clouseau adventure, ‘A Shot In The Dark’ (1964), they embarked on this foray into unadulterated daftness.

Hrundi V Bakshi (Sellers) an incompetant film extra, fresh from fouling up his last movie, is erroneously invited to a swish Hollywood party. From the moment he arrives at the oppulant pad he causes chaos and as he moves from one excruciating situation to another, the party starts to unravel resulting in psychedelic pandemonium.

One More Time (1970)

Following on from Mark's piece about Salt And Pepper, I noticed the trailer for the sequel is also on YouTube - and One More Time looks a prime candidate for a 'so bad it's good' movie.

Another mad 60s theme (going down the psych route this time) and cameos from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (in full Dracula get-up would you believe).

No idea of the film is good or bad - but I can guess, The trailer is worth the effort though...

DVD Review: A Fine Madness (1966)

Sean Connery became popular in the sixties for his amazing run as James Bond, but in-between making numerous spy thrillers Connery managed to appear in a few dramatic roles as well. One of the most unusual films he starred in during the sixties was undoubtedly Irvin Kershner’s dark comedy A Fine Madness (1966).

In the movie Sean Connery plays a womanizing poet with a bad temper named Samson Shillitoe, who’s suffering from a terrible case of writer’s block. This bout with writer’s block is starting to wear on the poet's nerves and he’s desperate to publish some work in order to make some much needed money. When the law shows up and demands that Samson pay his overdue alimony he begins to get a little crazy. He abuses his current wife (Joanne Woodward) and goes on a rampage at a poetry reading. His wife becomes so distraught that she spends what little money they have to get Samson some psychiatric help, but things only get worse. The angry and rebellious poet soon finds himself headed for a lobotomy.

DVD Review: Rien Sur Robert (1999)

Who’d be a critic, eh? What a terrible life; getting paid to sit through work that you couldn’t possibly create in your wildest dreams, slag it off beyond all redemption, and then expect to get served canapés and sparkling white wine at the release party. It sucks, let me tell you. It’s only the hors d’oeuvres and the highbrow chit-chat that keep me going.

Patently, for most critics, that’s not the case. Presenting a balanced opinion is the name of the game, and most reviewers do a terribly good job. Think about it – how many times have you watched a film or bought a CD because a friend recommended it? They may not be celebrated, but reviews keep the wheels of entertainment turning just as much as a film studio or a record company.

Rien Sur Robert (Nothing On Robert) uses the field of criticism as a backdrop for a quirky comedy of manners and relationships, and what can happen when a critic feels he wields too much power. Pretentious journalist Didier Temple (Fabrice Luchini) has the nice-work-if-you-can-get-it task of reviewing films for a Paris newspaper, and is highly respected by the people that matter to him, i.e. the rich intelligentsia.

Nuts in May (1976)

If there's a downside to Mike Leigh's celebrated oeuvre, it's the occasional whiff of depression that can occasionally overwhelm his work. Not so with Nuts In May. This gloriously funny offbeat ode to tree-hugging veggies Keith and Candice-Marie, is chock full of joyous calamity as the pair blitz their way through Dorset in search of the good life.

With evidently no social graces outside the perimeter of their tent, the green couple from hell (brilliantly played by Tony Sloman and Alison Steadman) embark on an odyssey of lecture and conceit, where anything that falls outside of their well-honed ecological sensitivities is treated with abject disdain. Into the mix comes Ray, a rugby loving student teacher who has the misfortune to be sited next the couple's tent. The amiable Welshman is subjected to all sorts of shenanigans as the pair lecture him with the potty views and bizarre observations. As if this wasn't enough, Finger and Honky two midland ravers, arrive on a motorbike wanting nothing more than get pissed, fry up beans and sausages, and gawp at the "bleeding bluebells".

DVD Review: The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer (1970)

We hear a lot about the genius of Peter Cook, but rarely see any evidence with it - his finer moments being lost of locked in some TV and film company vault. Thankfully, one lost gem has finally got a DVD release - The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer.

It's a 1970 movie, but its themes of spin and media manipulation are just as relevant today - possibly more so. Cook is the mysterious and sharply-dressed Michael Rimmer, ghosting unannounced and uninvited into Fairburn’s, a failing an advertising/polling agency. Assuming a role as troubleshooter, he takes control of the agency, before using sex to boost the fortunes of its clients and to get the agency onto the newspaper frontpages.

In fact, Rimmer uses polls and his growing personal influence to manipulate all areas of life, including politics – with his agency able to boost the fortunes of the Tory party and its leader, as well as undermining the incumbent Labour Prime Minister. With the Tories in the ascendency, Rimmer moves into politics himself, gets a safe Tory seat and the perfect wife (Britain’s second most-loved woman, according to the polls), before moving rapidly up the ranks to the top job - and beyond.

DVD Review: L'Homme de ma Vie (1992)

A funny thing, romance. In the right hands, at least. Although derided by many serious cinema fans, a film like When Harry Met Sally is actually a pretty accurate depiction of that crazy thing called loved, although most of us don’t have to sit opposite a spunky blonde pretending to have an orgasm when we’re trying to make a connection. Like most things, l’amour feels right when there’s room to have a giggle about it, and films have long reflected this, from the greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts There’s Something About Mary to the oddball film it references, Harold and Maude.   

A French romantic comedy, on the other hand, is a different thing altogether. The French invented the art of seduction, the idea of troubadors, and they seem to have a monopoly on clichéd marriage proposal. I mean, nobody makes a special trip to the Millennium Bridge to propose, do they? Yet taking someone nine hundred feet up a rickety steel tower is romance incarnate. Still, it takes all sorts to keep the world turning. You wouldn't get me up there though - I'm afraid of heights.

The Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection

Surf's up in July! MGM will releasing a new Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello Movie Collection on DVD just in time for summer. This impressive new movie Box Set will feature eight different romantic comedies that the two popular teen idols made together in the sixties, which is sure to please surf movie enthusiasts.

The new DVD set will include 4 Region-1 NTSC Discs with two films on each Disc. The eight different movies included in the collection are Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), Ski Party (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Fireball 500 (1966), and Thunder Alley (1967). All of the films will be presented in widescreen. I haven't been able to find any information about possible DVD extras, but if I do I'll report them here.

Besides beach parties, surfing contests and rowdy motorcycle gangs, these entertaining films also feature lots of musical numbers performed by Frankie & Annette. Many popular bands and musical artists from the period also appeared in the Frankie & Annette films such as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Lesley Gore, Dick Dale and The Del Tones, The Kingsmen, The Pyramids and Fabian. The Frankie & Annette films also seemed to attract horror legends who wanted to try their hand at comedy such as Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Boris Karloff.

Le Maqnifique (1973)

One of my favorite spy spoofs is the French comedy Le Magnifique, which was made in 1973 by Philippe de Broca. Director Philippe de Broca made many adventure films and comedies during his career and Le Maqnifique is one of his most entertaining movies.

Le Maqnifique features the popular French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo as a reclusive novelist with a wild imagination, who spends his days writing novels about a suave and handsome spy named Bob St. Clare. Belmondo escapes from the real world by loosing himself in Bob St. Clare's fantastic adventures.

The film does a terrific job of blending the real world that Belmondo inhabits with the imaginary world he longs to escape to. Le Maqnifique pokes fun at macho spy films featuring infallible heroes like James Bond and does it in a smart and sometimes sentimental way. The jokes don't always work, but when they do they're very funny. The comedy becomes almost slapstick at times, but I think it works well with the movie's bizarre plot twists and turns. The film also features a good soundtrack by the award winning jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling.

DVD Review: Bigas Luna Collection (1990-94)

We all carry preconceptions. Just as Brits are thought of as reserved types who’d rather have a cuppa than a roll in the hay, we in this country (fuelled by fortnights on the Costa Brava and repeats of Duty Free) tend to think of the Spanish as lazy, ill-educated and obsessed with sex and siestas. When pressed, that’s the image most people get in their mind’s eye.

Bigas Luna, the Spanish director, tends to see things just that little bit differently. He sees his compatriots as passionate, imaginative, highly sexual and as vibrant a culture as any country assumes they have the monopoly on. Perhaps not as celebrated as fellow Spaniard Pedro Almodóvar, Luna still manages to make films that bristle with energy and ideas. They’re just a bit skewed in their execution.

One of his earlier efforts, The Ages of Lulú (1990), kicks off this collection. Lulú (Francesca Neri) is a fifteen year old girl who fancies her brother’s best mate, Pablo (Óscar Ladoire). That may be a common tale, but taking her home and introducing her to the wonders of shaving foam certainly isn’t, and before long Pablo and Lulú are at it like Duracell bunnies. Separated by time and the Atlantic, Lulú meets up with Pablo and their affair sparks again. They marry, and spend most of their time, spare or otherwise, testing the bed for durability.

The Sandwich Man (1966)

If England swung "like a pendulum do" during the mid-1960’s, then London was its heart, mind and soul. The Sandwich Man attempted to buy into the bright colours of the swinging capital in 1966, and succeeds (if nothing else) by capturing some great images of the West End and surrounding areas.

The storyline finds Michael Bentine as "Horace Quilby", a cheeky sandwich board advertiser who touts his message around town. On route, he bumps into a menagerie of characters in a variety of comic situations. To be honest, the majority of the humour has its roots in the conscription era, although the cast carries off the wooden script fairly well. It’s a pretty impressive cast list though, with the likes of Harry H Corbett, Ian Hendry, Norman Wisdom, Terry Thomas, and Bernard Cribbins putting in cameos. For connoisseurs of feminine beauty, the luscious Suzy Kendal fills the screen with her enormous screen presence. Tasty visuals aside, the film benefits hugely from a top-notch soundtrack by Manfred Manner Mike Vickers, who by 1966 was branching out in the world of film accompaniment. (For further confirmation of the man’s prowess, check out Vicker’s other 1966 soundtrack, "Press for Time").

DVD Review: Daisy Chain (1965)

Daisy Chain (a.k.a. Das Liebeskarussell, 1965) is a sixties style sex comedy made in Germany by directors Rolf Thiele, Axel von Ambesser and Alfred Weidenmann. The movie was released on NTSC Region-1 DVD late last year by Televista and I recently decided to give it a look since it features two of my favorite actresses, the lovely Catherine Deneuve and Anita Ekberg. Unfortunately Daisy Chain has very few laughs and it's rarely sexy, which makes it impossible to recommend.

The movie is narrated by a loony psychiatrist who tells four different stories about his various patients and their sexual problems. The stories are all played for laughs, but the jokes really fall flat.

Anita Ekberg and Catherine Deneuve look fabulous in Daisy Chain, but these talented actresses are both wasted in their lackluster roles. Anita Ekberg plays a woman named Lolita who charms her shy neighbor Peter (played by the popular Austrian entertainer Peter Alexander). Catherine Deneuve has the more interesting role as one of the psychiatrist's "troubled" patients. She plays a young bride who's unhappy with her much older husband and she pretends to sleepwalk so she can carry out an affair with her handsome male neighbor.

DVD Review: S*P*Y*S (1974)

In 1970 Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould made movie history with their portrayals of Hawkeye and Trapper John, two young wisecracking surgeons working at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. The success of M*A*S*H (1970) catapulted Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould into superstardom and audiences wanted to see them together again in more films.

In 1974 the actors got an opportunity to team-up again in Irvin Kershner's unusual comedy S*P*Y*S, which was recently released on NTSC Region-1 DVD in the US. This spy spoof was panned by critics when it was originally released and it's easy to see why the movie has received a lot of negative reviews, but I still think S*P*Y*S has a few things to offer potential viewers.

Like M*A*S*H, the film is very much a product of it's time and the radical politics of the era play a large part in the movies portrayal of government figures and the shady world of international espionage. S*P*Y*S is obviously not as smart or well-written as Robert Altman's critically acclaimed M*A*S*H, but not all the jokes in S*P*Y*S fall flat and some of the action filled comedy sequences do offer a few laughs.

DVD Review: Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953)

A talent rarely mastered on the silver screen is making everyday normality funny.  When it’s achieved through visual gags, not verbal wisecracks, first thoughts might be for the early silent pioneers like Chaplin and Keaton, but twenty six years after talkies arrived, an unassuming French director named Jacques Tati wound the clock back to (almost) silent comedy and introduced us to his on-screen alter ego, Monsieur Hulot.

Like Chaplin’s tramp, Hulot starred in several movies and became synonymous with the director himself, but without the Hollywood machine to propel him into every screen across the globe, he never quite became a household name his talent deserved.

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday follows his accident-prone footsteps through the sand of a sleepy seaside resort.  He is one of those people who, despite all the good will in the world, inhabits a world of mini-disasters and is often oblivious to the damage left in his wake.  Each character plays their part, such as the restaurant waiter carefully carving portions according to the size of his customers.

The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie (1972)

Imagine Borat meeting Crocodile Dundee, but in the early 70s and with crude, offensive and politically-incorrect humour packed into a script in more or less equal measures. You're some way near to understanding the concept of The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie.

The film is a spin-off from an early 70s comic strip that featured in Private Eye magazine, with Barry Crocker playing Barry McKenzie and Barry Humphries as numerous characters, including an early incarnation of his Dame Edna Everage character (then just simple Aunt Edna).

And it's odd. Very odd. Barry McKenzie has been left a large amount of money in a will, but to claim it, he has to visit Britain to spread some Aussie culture. So, armed with a suitcase full of Foster's lager, a bad suit and a "Pommy bastard" t-shirt, he jets off to the land of his ancestors, meeting more Australians, drinking and generally being offensive to all he meets.

Big Screen: Entertaining Mr Sloane

Another rare big screen outing, this time for the movie adaptation of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane, which is showing at London's ICA.

We reviewed the DVD recently. If you missed that, this is essentially a very "period" comedy from the late sixties about a sister and brother's love for the a mysterious stranger - Mr Sloane. Sensing the easy life by playing both off each other, Sloane works his way into their affections. But will it end in tears?

The ICA showing is on the 14th, 15th and 19th April, with prices from £6 to £8.

Find out the full details at the ICA website

Cult Clip: On The Buses (1971)

Seeing as we're on a saucy comedy tip, it seems an ideal time to show the introduction to the first On The Buses movie.

If you're not from the UK or are too young to remember the 70s sitcom, let's just say that watching this introduction just about sums up everything about the show and indeed the three movie spin-offs (all made by Hammer, you may be surprised to know).

Sophisticated it wasn't - funny it definitely was.

Cult Clip: Carry On Camping (1969)

America might have had Woodstock, but in the UK, we had Carry On Camping. Yes, rather bizarrely, the end of this classic Carry On flick saw a "rave" of British youth, led by the (probably made-up) Flowebuds, playing the kind of music that went out of fashion a good eight years earlier.

Still a great clip though...enjoy...

New Bedazzled DVD

Next week 20th Century Fox will finally be releasing Stanley Donen's Bedazzled (1967) on NTSC Region-1 DVD. The movie has been available in the UK on PAL DVD for a few years, but next week will mark the first time this classic comedy has been available on DVD in the US.

The movie stars Dudley Moore as the hapless Stanley Moon, a cook working at Whimpy Burger who is hopelessly in love with a waitress named Margaret (Eleanor Bron), but Margret hardly knows that he's alive. When Stanley decides to kill himself and end his misery, the smooth-talking George Spiggott (Peter Cook), a.k.a. Satan, appears and grants Stanley seven wishes to help him win over Margaret. Unfortunately his attempts are thwarted at every turn by the appearance of the Seven Deadly Sins, which include the lovely Lilian Lust (Raquel Welch).

DVD Review: The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini was the last film in AIP’s “Beach Party” movie series and the corny jokes, bad acting and poorly plotted scripts were starting to wear on audiences. The studio decided to spice things up a bit by bringing in horror legend Boris Karloff along with Basil Rathbone, and having the beach party take place inside a spooky mansion with a pool, but the results are a mixed-bag.

The movie begins when a cute ghost in an invisible bikini named Cecily (Susan Hart) returns to earth to help her recently deceased lover Hiram (Boris Karloff) get into heaven. Hiram spent his life making money by swindling people in the carnival business and now that he has died, he must perform a good deed in order to pass through the pearly gates to spend an eternity with Cecily.

Hiram soon realizes that his money hungry lawyer Mr. Ripper (Basil Rathbone) is planning to steal Hiram’s hidden fortune for himself, so Hiram & Cecily come up with their own plan to stop him so that the rightful heirs to Hiram’s estate can get what’s coming to them.

Cinema Art: Entertaining Mr Sloane (1969)

As we have just reviewed the DVD reissue of Entertaining Mr Sloane, it seems like a good time to feature the movie's cinema poster.

And it's a fine poster. Focusing on Mr Sloane in his chauffeur gear, it also features some snapshots of the main characters, each with a choice quote, along with a fine gothic-style font (ideal with all the action taking place in a converted chapel).

If you're after one, it's likely to cost you £300 - £400 in excellent condition.

More Cinema Art

DVD Review: Entertaining Mr Sloane (1969)

For me, the transfer of Joe Orton's Loot from theatre to film was entertaining, but a little uneven overall. The same can probably be said of Entertaining Mr Sloane, although the movie version of this Orton play does sit better on the big screen.

It's still very much a play in all but name - the limited cast of just four main characters, the almost farce-like plot and the limited number of location shots. All the action revolves around Mr Sloane, a hip teen played with some style (and occasional menace) by Peter McEnery. He's "adopted" by Kath (Beryl Reid), a mature woman still in mourning for her long-dead lover and despite the concerns of her "Dadda" - who believes he knows Mr Sloane as the murderer of a past acquaintance.

But there's another problem - Mr Sloane also catches the eye of Kath's brother Ed (played superbly by Harry Andrews), a slightly camp man who drives a large pink US car and has no time at all for the role of women in society. Ed wants Mr Sloane to come under his wing and follow his example - and for personal gain, Sloane is all too willing. And as the adoration for him grows, Sloane starts to play brother and sister off each other for further gain - until things start to go very wrong.

DVD Review: Loot (1970)

I'm guessing that you're more familiar with the Loot soundtrack than the Loot film - the Keith Mansfield/Steve Ellis theme still keeps dancefloors busy over 35 years after its release. Does the film live up to it? Well, not entirely.

It's not a bad movie - how can a Joe Orton play, amended for TV by Galton and Simpson (Steptoe & Son/Hancock) and starring the likes of Richard Attenborough, Dick Emery, Hywel Bennett and Lee Remick be a complete disaster? It isn't - it just doesn't quite live up to expectations.

The story is all about the "loot". Two friends (Dennis and Hal - played by Hywel Bennett and Roy Holder) use the death of Hal's mother as a cover to rob a bank next door to the funeral parlour. The money is hidden in the mother's coffin, then taken back to the family home (which happens to be a hotel), But it needs moving out of the coffin and out of the house - and that's not easy with the vicious Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough) on the case.

DVD Review: Cool It, Carol! (1970)

Cool It, Carol! is a rather dark British sex comedy that was recently released on NTSC Region-1 DVD in the US by Image Entertainment. The movie is directed by the creative British exploitation filmmaker Pete Walker, who made lots of horror films and sex comedies in the late sixties and seventies, and it features the popular period actor Robin Askwith along with Janet Lynn.

Carol (Janet Lynn) is a pretty, but simple young girl who likes showing men her knickers and dreams about becoming a model. Joe (Robin Askwith) likes fantasizing about working for high-end car dealerships and driving expensive sport cars.

Joe & Carol decide to leave their small town and low-paying jobs behind them, and move to swinging London to pursue their dreams. Together they explore the city while looking for work, but they don’t have much luck. The young couple soon finds out that London is a tough place to survive in if you're jobless, so they naively turn to prostitution and performing in stag films for extra money.

DVD Review: Man About The House Series 5

I've been spending the post-Christmas weeks staying in and catching up with some viewing, including a glut of reissued 70s sitcoms, including Man About The House - The Complete Fifth Series.

With this being series five, there's not much to add to what's already been said. If you've never encountered the show, it revolves around three young people (the point being stretched in the case of Richard O'Sullivan) who rent a house above the property owners, a battling couple going by the name of George and Mildred (who got their own successful sitcom as a spin-off).

At the time it was probably quite racy - a man sharing a flat with two women could still raise eyebrows, but it never goes beyond a spot of flirting and a few suggestive comments in the flat. And it doesn't really need the smut - it's a well-written comedy, obviously on a budget judging by the lack of locations used, and featuring some top-notch comedy performers.

DVD Review: Peter Sellers Collection

Think Peter Sellers today and you'll think Pink Panther, Dr Strangelove and just maybe The Party (in my view, his finest hour). But before those Hollywood roles, Sellers had made a name for himself and his character acting on the British circuit, appearing in a number of fondly-remembered movies, some of which are featured in the Peter Sellers Collection.

The package includes three features films - I'm Alright Jack, Heaven's Above!, Only Two Can Play and a compilation of clips, The Very Best Of Peter Sellers. And as you'd expect, it's something of a mixed bag.

The pick of the titles is definitely I'm Alright Jack, a Boulting Brothers satire against the unions and indeed the managing classes. The management want to make more money, the unions want to do the same - but without doing anymore work. When the naive Windrush is placed on the shopfloor by the management, they hope it will lead to a strike and a big arms deal. Instead, it leads to a strike and big problems for both sides.

DVD Review: Please Sir! Series One and Two

I recently caught the movie version of Please Sir! on TV, a UK sitcom from before my time, but entertaining enough for me to seek out the original episodes - which coincidentally, have just started to re-appear on DVD, starting with Please Sir! Series One and Two.

If it's new to you, here's a brief introduction. With the success of To Sir With Love in 1967, writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey (known for a variety of shows since, including The Good Life) wrote a sitcom around a similarly unruly school, starring John Alderton as a newly-qualified teacher (Bernard Hedges), starting his first job at Fenn Street School.

Circumstances (another teacher being on the long-term sick - nothing changes) lead to him being given the unenviable job of teaching 5C - the worst class in the school. The show was a big success, ran for 56 episodes and even had its own spin-off show (The Fenn Street Gang) as well as the previously-mentioned movie.

But times (and tastes) change - and what worked 35+ years ago doesn't necessarily work in 2006. Except in this case it does.

DVD Review: Tony Hancock Movie Collection

The Rebel (1961)
The Punch And Judy Man (1963)

Growing up, Tony Hancock was just a name to me - he died before I was born and his TV shows from the 60s were rarely seen on TV. In fact, my first encounter with his work was through an afternoon TV showing of one of his films, The Rebel, which has been reissued on DVD along with Hancock's other movie appearance - The Punch And Judy Man - as The Tony Hancock Collection. And the set is well worth picking up.

The main reason for purchasing this DVD set is definitely The Rebel from 1961. Written by Galton and Simpson (his TV writing team and later, the people behind Steptoe and Son), it's a satire on both the art world and the emerging beatniks.  Hancock plays Anthony Hancock, a middle-aged man stuck in a dead-end office job, but with aspirations to make his mark in the art world. After being disciplined at work for excessive doodling and getting an ultimatum about his art clutter off the landlady (played by Irene Handl), he decides to pack up his easel and head to Paris for the sake of his art.

DVD Review: On The Buses Movie Collection

I've never hidden my love of 70s British sitcoms, but I am hesitant when it comes to the movie spin-offs. As I've said in previous reviews, the longer format can often show the lack of depth in many of the 30-minute shows, with only a select few able to carry a thin plot over 90 minutes. For my money, only two shows