Der 90. Geburtstag

I have been trying to see this for some years as I saw Freddie Frinton perform it on stage c 1955 where it was a standard routine of his stage act. As a television program it probably seems very stagy and dated for UK tastes but it is great that a classic piece of comedy has been preserved. I still remembered the names of the guests - Admiral Von Schneider etc from when I was 9. Good to see it again. Frinton's drunk was always a classic and I think he appeared in a number of films in the background doing just that. I do not know if May Warden appeared with him on stage but she was a regular character actress in the 60's. It would be interesting to know how many TV airings it has had in Germany. I do not think it has ever been shown in the UK.

when i was 2 and a half, my family moved to dusseldorf in germany while my dad worked in immigration. we moved back to england when i was six. i'm now nearly 15 and, thanks to satellite, watch 'dinner for one' every year. last year we watched it four times on four different german channels!

if (that's a big 'if') we miss it, we have a video of it that we watch later on. the sheer genius involved in this sketch is unrivalled even by the great monty python team. i talk about it all the time to me ill-educated friends, and my entire family joke about it all the time. i admit that the rest of britain has probably never even heard of 'dinner for one', but i must say that this is their loss. i am even considering writing to the BBC (british broadcasting corporation) and persuading them to air it on new years eve this year.

without a doubt i will be showing this to my family when i grow up, and i am certain that they will find it as entertaining as i do.

long live miss sophie, james, mr pommeroy, admiral von schneider, sir toby and mr winterbottom. same procedure as last year, ma'am?

Miss Sophie (May Warden) believes that her birthdays should be celebrated even though she has outlived her dearest friends. So on her ninetieth the party becomes a fantasy and James the butler (Freddie Frinton) has to go along with the make-believe. With only two players, it is in my opinion one of the funniest short TV movies ever to hit the screen. I laugh even at the thought of it. Freddie Frinton does a superb job as the butler serving the three courses with the accompanying drinks. He not only impersonates each of the four imaginary guests (which he does in such admirable style that at the end we feel we know each of them so very well) but the arrangement is that he must quaff down all the drinks as well. His antics as the alcohol starts to take effect have to be seen to be believed. Miss Sophie, a lady of some standing(graciously played by May Warden although she doesn't look 90) seems to be totally unaware of her butler's inebriated condition. This contrast probably heightens the humour of the piece. She keeps insisting that the party should "proceed as usual". If by the end of the birthday party you have not fallen off your seat with uncontrollable laughter, then the very suggestive final punchline should do it. In short, a wonderful little movie and a lasting memorial to Freddie Frinton who died in 1968 just 5 years after the film was completed.

This little short comedy is an annual tradition in my family. Every year on new year's eve, it's shown on Danish television. I don't think there's been a new year's eve in my life where I haven't seen it. Even though I've seen it so many times, and my family must have seen it far more times, we've never gotten tired of it. The laughs fill the room, and everyone is sitting in anticipation and with the laughs just below the surface for the whole thing... except when we're roaring with laughter, which is most of the duration. I don't believe there is anything that has a greater or even equal ratio of laughs to seconds passed than this little sketch. Here in Denmark, it's only 14 minutes long, and I don't think there is ever more than just 5 seconds in a row without a laugh or two. The comedy is universal... I don't know anyone who doesn't find it funny. Plot, pacing, acting and characters are all top-notch. I doubt there will ever be a new year's eve where I don't see this. I look forward to seeing it more so than the actual celebration of new year's. I can't really say anything more... words don't do it justice. If you have a chance, see it. Chances are you'll enjoy it. I have yet to meet one single person who doesn't. 10/10

I thought it was time to add my contribution, and to refute a misconception. Freddie Frinton is (was) my dad. I was 14 when he died. The reviews and comments here are fantastic to read, and I know that dad would have been astounded by the ongoing appeal that the sketch has in Europe.....especially in Germany. Sadly, he died in 1968, still at the top of his game in this country, but without Dinner For One ever having been shown in its entirity in the UK. Now for the clarification......I read here and elsewhere on the reviews that Freddie "did not like the Germans, or Germany", or that he "refused to speak German" ! This is not true, and our whole family are mystified as to how this rumour ever got started. Mum is in her 90's and my older sisters in their senior years, and they were with dad when he recorded the sketch in Germany. I remember waving them off as they all drove away, the car loaded with all the clothes and kit for the sketch....including the tiger skin. They were all very excited about the recording, and going to Germany, and working with the Germans at NDR. None of us in the family ever heard dad say a bad word about Germans or Germany, and he worked there on at least three occasions. I have also read somewhere on this site that dad "hated the sketch at first and had to be persuaded to do it"....this is also untrue. He LOVED doing Dinner For One, and did so from first seeing it, and of all the sketches he wrote or developed, this was the one he would always try to "fit" into whatever show he had signed-up for. Be it Panto or summer-season, or variety, he always wanted to find the 15 to 16 minutes in a show where he could show off his favourite work. As a family, we are very proud of the sketch, and still enjoy watching it and hearing of other people's enjoyment. None of us can resist saying to any German's we meet, whether here or abroad......." Hello, you don't know me, but you know my dad"......and EVERY time, they DO !.......It's priceless. Thanks, Mike.