★ 6 / 10
The cheek of it! Ooh... You Are Awful
John Chard
The cheek of it! Ooh... You Are Awful, but I like you! This was the catchphrase of the comedian Dick Emery. Emery became a household name in 1960s/70s British…
The cheek of it!
Ooh... You Are Awful, but I like you! This was the catchphrase of the comedian Dick Emery. Emery became a household name in 1960s/70s British light entertainment. There was a time when the likes of Emery and Mike Yarwood seemed to constantly be on the radio or television, doing their thing. Chances are that if you were watching, listening and enjoying back then, then there's a good chance you will like this film outing for Emery.
Plot involves a con-man caper scenario where Emery plays Charlie Tully, who along with his side-kick Reggie Peek (Ronald Fraser), manages to con half a million pounds out of two Italians. But circumstances lead to Charlie doing a short stint in jail and after Reggie is killed, Charlie has to locate the bank account number where Reggie stashed the cash. The number, as it transpires, has been tattooed over the derrières of four beauties once involved with Reggie. Cue Charlie having to use his cunning number of disguises to reveal the special code. But others are on his tail as well...
It's as corny as it sounds, a little bit of innuendo here and there, some nudity and cheeky asides, while Emery gets to run through his various characters in search of the golden bottoms! It's a hard sell to anyone not familiar with the work of Emery and the era of British film it was made in, but it's a fun enough romp, even if it's instantly forgettable once over. 6/10
Read full review
★ 6 / 10
Not too bad -- but not too good either!
JohnHowardReid
The screenplay here seems to have been primarily designed to allow Dick Emery to slip into as many disguises as possible. This feat it certainly does well, but…
The screenplay here seems to have been primarily designed to allow Dick Emery to slip into as many disguises as possible. This feat it certainly does well, but unfortunately it falls somewhat short just about everywhere else. The credits sequences are the dullest I've ever seen, and while the movie certainly improves after that, it nosedives again with the demise of its most interesting and colorful character, namely Reggie Campbell Peek, played by Ronald Fraser. All the same, it's still moderately suspenseful and the action spots are staged in a reasonably exciting manner. The girls are rather nice too, but lovers of wit and comedy are still in for a big disappointment. Fortunately, Emery himself displays a bouncy, never- say-die personality and manages to keep the movie afloat, even when the dialogue is at its shallowest. The scenes in which he impersonates a doddering butler are the film's funniest, but the rest of his material doesn't even halfway approach this standard. The Victoria Station scene, for instance, could have been amusing, but it is muffed by Cliff Owen's leaden direction. Fortunately, the scenes in the Police Academy, with its most unlikely cluster of beauties, will at least delight women lovers, but generally when the film tries to be risqué, it is at its flattest and dullest. Fortunately, these moments are not too many, although there are enough clumsy attempts to justify the film's title and publicity.
Read full review
•••
Many thanks