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When new neighbours move in next door, Sid fails to hit it
off with the pompous civil servant, while Jean gets on with
the wife like a house on fire (or in this case, like a shed
on fire). Matters are further complicated when their son,
Mike secretly starts dating the neighbours daughter...
Shenanigans
aplenty and lots of running around ensue in this slapstick
film version of the seventies sitcom series of the same name.
Whilst hardly enthralled, I do have somewhat fond memories
of the series. This film doesn't quite live up to its standards.
For anyone who doesn't remember Bless This House, imagine
a cocktail mix of Carry On capers, Terry and June
(Terry Scott and June Whitfield are the neighbours), and Confessions
of a Window Cleaner (Robin Askwith). What do you mean,
you don't remember any of those either? Where have you been?
Doing something useful with your life?
There's
a veritable who's who rogues gallery of comedy names from
the sixties and seventies. Aside from the aforementioned,
we have Sid James (not at his best here), Diana Coupland,
Peter Butterworth, Janet Brown, Bill Maynard, Wendy Richard
(for anybody who's interested, she was in Are You Being
Served before Eastenders), and countless others.
The
slapstick elements, accompanied by guffaws and "oops" type
sound effects make you wish for a hole to open up and swallow
you. In other words, you feel embarrassed for the cast. However,
this was often the style of comedy from the era. The throw
away one-liners work best; for instance, Jean waking up Sid
to tell him the job she wants him to do isn't urgent. This
is timeless comedy, and the expression on Sid's face speaks
volumes. In fact, Sid James plays the long-suffering father
subsequently adopted by Geoffrey Palmer in Butterflies
and As Time Goes By, and more recently, Robert Lindsey
in My Family.
I
doubt that this film will find much of an audience alone,
and with only an extra trailer to its credit, will not tempt
the causal buyer. I would package this with other films as
an example of comedy from the period, or even better, with
the Bless This House series.
Ty
Power
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