What a Whopper

I saw this film advertised in the paper but with no review. So I taped it off BBC2 then watched it having just seen that it had Adam Faith and Sid James in it. I would rate it as a 12 because although there is no swearing or actual sex scenes in it;the humour is mostly innuendo. This film is not mentioned in 1)the Virgin film guide

2)Halliwells Who's Who in the movies

3)Leonard Maltins movie & video guide. Which I have found to mean films they want to forget which are generally gems.Another example being "Langrishe go down" with Dame Judi Dench. Besides the afore mentioned "What A Whopper" also had Wilfred Bramble Charles Haughtrey, Spike Milligan and Clive Dunn make for an impressive if refreshingly UNPC mild comedy.

I have just watched this film on b.b.c 2 , it was on a Wednesday morning at 10:30 which I feel is about right for this type of film, definitely a film of it's era with a good if somewhat unusual (in some aspects )cast. Spike Milligan seems to be a little out of place in this movie and Sid James as a Scottish hotel owner is a little strange as well,but if you can overlook the obvious flaws and not be to critical of this movie you can just enjoy an hour and a half of pure nostalgia spotting the various stars many of whom turned up later on in there careers on television,also surprised to see Terry Nation involved. p.s theme tune made me cringe!

A silly British comedy written by Terry Nation rife with leering sexual and regional stereotypes (like Adam Faith in a kilt and fake beard adopting a Scottish accent pretending to be 'Hamish MacSporran'), that actually went to Loch Ness for a few shots (although with outdoor night scenes obviously shot in broad daylight).

The plot is based on a central fallacy, since Faith is reduced to faking a photograph of Nessie on the Serpentine as he can't get his book on the subject published because the Great Orm hasn't been seen for ages; yet the simple fact that this film was being made attests to the current topicality of the Loch Ness Monster. And his popularity as a pop idol accounts for his presence in this nonsense woodenly playing the lead; compensated for by a supporting cast ranging from Amanda Barrie & Trevor Peacock seen uncredited in long shot even before the credits (which do include Peacock for the original story) are over, Jamaican actor Lloyd Reckford in his only credited film role prior to the 1990s, Spike Milligan as a tramp, Terry Scott in his days typecast as a police sergeant to Fyfe Robertson and the late Freddie Frinton (the latter totally forgotten to any Briton under sixty but a household name in Germany thanks to his annual appearances every New Year's Eve in 'Dinner for One').

(SPOILERS COMING:) It's a typical bit of cynicism on Nation's part that once Faith claims to see Nessie, everybody standing alongside him on the shore jumps on the bandwagon by claiming to see him too. While the actual sound and visual effects of Nessie himself are in fact rather good.

"There's something funny going on", mutters Terry Scott's policeman to his colleague Gordon Rollings. Well, I'm not sure about that, but "What a Whopper!" is at least mildly diverting, mainly for the pleasure of spotting the stars in the extraordinary cast. It is also noteworthy for the screenplay by future "Daleks" scribe Terry Nation, music by Laurie "Avengers" Johnson and for Adam Faith's quite dreadful theme song, which is arranged by none other than John Barry!

The film itself is innocent seaside postcard humour, full of comic misunderstandings. Charles Hawtrey plays a beatnik artist (!), Spike Milligan is a befuddled fisherman and Sid James a Scottish publican, although he wisely makes no attempt at a Scots accent. There is also a rare big screen outing for Freddie Frinton's famous sozzled aristocrat performance. This film is truly a souvenir from a bygone age, when the idea of an inebriated man driving from London to Scotland was funny and when outrageous sexism was tolerated. The treatment of women in this film makes the "Carry On" series positively 'PC' by comparison!

I don't see why this film as so many bad reviews, It's a pleasing British comedy of it's era (1961) with a cracking cast.

It's the type of film you'd get on BBC2 on a wet afternoon when I was a kid.

How can any film with Sid James, Spike Milligan (Who seems to be in the wrong film...), Charles Hawtrey not be an easy pleasing nostalgic view?.

Maybe I'm of the last generation that appreciates this type of film...I hope not.