Horror, Oh Horror
burdurhur
I happened to catch this movie one late night over Xmas on BBC 1, and boy do I wish I hadn't. Actually, I shouldn't be cruel. My mate and I stayed up watching…
I happened to catch this movie one late night over Xmas on BBC 1, and boy do I wish I hadn't. Actually, I shouldn't be cruel. My mate and I stayed up watching it, and we've had fun taking the p*** out of it since then. This film desperately tries to go for political correctness, but it was filmed in 1972, and they were crap at being PC back then. For instance, one of the main character's daughters gets a flat above a black couple from Jamaica, and madcap hilarity ensues when Daddy gets the wrong flat and thinks his daughter is living with a black Jamaican, whose father was imprisoned for cannabis trafficking--since, ya know, English girls in 1972 weren't supposed to date non-white, non-English heathens (even though many did, i'm sure). Actually, that wasn't the most offensive thing about the film--what really got me was how camp the dad was. Patrick Cargill minces all over this film, and even has a scene in a bed with a St. Bernard--bestiality, anybody? The worst problem, though, is that the film can't make up its mind on where to go. At first you think it's about Daddy's struggles being a single parent, then you think it's about his daughters striking off on their own, then you think it's about divorce and remarrying, then it's about racial tensions, then it's over. Although the opening is pretty kick ass, with a giant party in Daddy's house that wakes him up. At first we were hoping the party would lead to some boobs onscreen, but alas, no boobies are to be seen in this film. If you come across this movie, change the channel. If you own the master copies, burn them.
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★ 6 / 10
Life with father searching for mother.
mark.waltz
This is a very amusing British comedy based on a successful TV series, filled with lots of slapstick and delightfully witty dialogue. It surrounds the divorced…
This is a very amusing British comedy based on a successful TV series, filled with lots of slapstick and delightfully witty dialogue. It surrounds the divorced Patrick Cargill who had custody of his two daughters (Natasha Pyne and Ann Holloway), searching for a new wife because his daughters seem to be out of control. He sets his sights on his attractive agent Jill Melford which creates some confusion with her daffy cleaning lady (Beryl Reid), then visits sophisticated ex wife Ursula Howells who isn't happy with her second husband. It's funny how the two husbands actually get along, and it gives any indication that Howell and her ex might get back together. Cargill also has some amusing moments with his uppity brother Donald Sinden and their dotty mother, a delightful Joyce Carey.
I'm not familiar with this sitcom, but this still makes it easy to get to know who is who although there are a lot of territory. There's a lot of fun when Cargill's old nanny Noel Dyson is around, because in spite of looking prim and proper, she has a big fun side to her, whether dealing with a book on sex written to a young perspective or putting on a gorilla mask. There's a very funny bit of slapstick when Cargill is locked out of the house and tries to get back upstairs with the help of a bunch of boxes, ripping off the roof and through both of them and basically stuck outside all night.
This is a wacky film for sure, not really sophisticated in spite of the upper middle-class setting, filled with a lot of wonderful minor characters including the friendly black neighbors of the oldest daughter who has moved out. It's fast and frenetic and never dull, and if you blink and look away for one second, you could miss some very funny moments going on in the background. This actually makes me interested in seeing the actual sitcom, a bonus for American viewers who are only familiar with a handful of popular British sitcoms.
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5.1/10
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