Helter Skelter

I saw this film many many years ago on television with my parents. As a child I used to watch Richard Hearne as Mr Pastry in his comedy shows on television and quite liked those.

So I was intrigued by this film when it was shown to see what it would be like. The omens were quite promising, it was written by Patrick Campbell who I knew from the many times he was a captain on Call My Bluff (the other captain was Frank Muir and it was hosted by Robert Robertson). It was directed by Ralph Thomas who directed many popular British films of the 50s and 60s (Campbell's Kingdom and some of the Doctor films), It starred David Tomlinson (best known for the father in Mary Poppins).

I think the film was supposed to be a comedy, about the efforts made to try and stop a girl from hiccupping.

I and my parents found the film to be completely unfunny and we did not even manage a smile at any time. It was so bad that I have never forgotten this film and have no hesitation in saying that, of the many thousands of films I have seen, this stands out as the worst film of all.

I see that a DVD of this film is due to be released in April in the UK. I will not be buying a copy.

When I first saw the film, 'Helter Skelter', I saw the connection. When David Tomlinson appeared as Nick Martin, Special Investigator, heard nightly on the BBC I thought of 'Dick Barton, Special Agent'. The film was made in 1948 at the height of Dick Barton's popularity. There were thoughts at that time what would happen if Dick Barton (played by Noel Johnson) failed to turn up for an episode? Virtually the whole of Britain stopped at 18.45 each evening during winter to hear the next instalment. And look what happened in the film: Nick's girlfriend was accidentally looked in one of the rooms at the BBC and wasn't found in time for the programme so Nick refused to go on air. The whole country stopped. No-one went to the football or the races. I haven't seen any comments on the connection but anyone who heard 'Dick Barton' at that time would have recognised it. Only 'The Devil's Galop' was missing. Great film with old-time stars!

This is a riotous and sometimes chaotic comedy that was probability years ahead of its time. The story is a straightforward romantic comedy about a woman who can't cure her hiccoughs, she is told that a fright will cure her ills so she visits a haunted house.

However what differentiates this film from comedies of this time is that it is littered with cameo roles from some of the all times greats of British film comedy.... Terry-Thomas, Wilfred Hyde-White, Jimmy Edwards and Jon Pertwee (twice) to name a few.

This film is directed by Ralph Thomas of the 'Doctor' films and it is easy to see many parallels with those classic movies.

This film is clearly a spoof of radio stars of the era.Many of the actual stars appear sending themselves up.If you look at the full cast list you will see the large number of uncredited cameos.Carroll Marsh plays a rich woman who falls in love with radio detective David Tomlinson,but gets a bout of hiccups.All sorts of tricks are used to try and cure her.All are truly crazy.Jimmy Edwards plays a Doctor and Harry Secombe his nurse when they Carol a silent film.It does make you wonder if Spike Milligan was inspired by this film since so much of the humour of this very funny film bears a great similarity to the Goons.I Also there is Richard Hearne in a variety of guises.There are just so many laugh out loud moments.

This film is periodically repeated on Australia's ABC and each time I watch it I am struck by how far ahead of its time it was. Sure, it's black and white, but the jokes are funny and the story actually takes advantage of tricks one can do with film which hadn't been possible with theatre.

The story centres around heiress Susan Graham (played by Carol Marsh) and her quest to rid herself of the hiccups. She is alternately aided and hindered in her quest by two guardian uncles (each of whom has a son who they hope will marry Susan), 'heroic' radio man Nick Martin (David Tomlinson) who in fact is brow-beaten by his domineering mother Mrs Martin (Judith Furse), but the film also segues into little comic vignettes.

Look quickly and you'll see Wilfred Hyde-White (of "My Fair Lady" fame) playing Dr Jekyll, Harry Secombe, Terry-Thomas, Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns and many other notables of the time.

All in all, Helter Skelter is good clean fun and well worth watching at least once.