Grand Slam

Saw most of those play for today TV films on British TV in the late 70s, but missed out on this, so was looking forward to a bit of nostalgia by watching this highly rated comedy. In its favour, it captures a time when British society had more that united us than divided us - I enjoyed that, but it also shows what was wrong with us too. Glorifying men getting drunk, having a punch up and falling over just looks pathetic now.

I disagree with the comments that only Welsh people will enjoy Grand Slam. I traveled Australia last year and was very shocked to learn that it was quite popular there also. Perhaps it's a rugby thing. I have also showed it to some English and American friends (who have no concept of Welshness) and they enjoyed it also.

It has everything you could possibly want. A solid storyline, great humour, drama (on occasion), great comics, attractive women and a Hollywood (Oscar winner) legend in Hugh Griffith.

If you get a chance to see this (no matter where you live), see it. It'll make you want to have a weekend in Paris with your drinking buddies at the least.

It doesn't matter whether you are Welsh or not or whether you love rugby, good comedy is always funny. This film has a lovely down to earth feel that all will appreciate.

If you are Welsh then you'll appreciate the humour and it will feel very familiar even if you don't love rugby. If you do love rugby then it's even more enjoyable.

If you are not Welsh then the comedy, story and charisma of the main stars will entertain you anyway.

Windsor Davies and Oscar winning Hugh Griffith are my favourites but my wife loves camp Boutique owner "Maldwyn" played by Sion Probert.

It's only an hour long but manages to pack in comedy, violence, sex, sport and camaraderie.

In a year that Wales won a fantastic Grandslam (2005) what more can you ask for from a motion picture?

First broadcast in 1978, GRAND SLAM is a period-piece now, especially in its dated attitudes towards homosexuality and gender construction. The outrageously camp Maldwyn Pugh (Sion Probert) minces through the film with a limp-wristed élan, while making jokes at the expense of the aggressively heterosexual Mog Jones (Windsor Davies) who blenches at the thought of having to share a bed with him.

Another sequence taking place in a Paris strip-club shows the group of Welsh rugby supporters getting ever more excited as one of the performers removes her clothes. In particular Mog enjoys the opportunity to feel the stripper's bottom and turn towards his friends as if expecting approbation. Meanwhile the youthful Glyn Lloyd-Evans (Dewi Morris) enjoys a one-night stand with the owner's daughter Odette (Sharon Morgan). Casual sex; male ogling; breasts and bottoms galore; all these themes are redolent of the Seventies when gender divisions were far more pronounced than they might be today.

On the other hand GRAND SLAM does make some significant points about the value of rugby union as a sport. The prospect of going to Paris delights Glyn's father Caradog (Hugh Griffith), who can relive his wartime experiences of meeting his French butterfly (Marika Rivera). As he dreams, so the screen dissolves into sepia shots of the city being liberated in 1944 - an occasion witnessed by the young Caradog. Clearly rugby provides the opportunity to bring people of different cultures together, as well as reliving the past.

Rugby also provides the opportunity for small nations to bond together. Mog relishes the prospect of fighting the French fans in the strip-club, as he can assume the role of a general marshaling his forces, just as Caradog might have done for real thirty or so years previously. At the film's end, when the Welsh team have lost, Mog stands in a deserted stadium holding a rugby ball and hears the sound of the Welsh national anthem in his imagination. The entire weekend has given him the chance to be proud of his identity as a Welshman, while joining his friends in happy revelry.

For nostalgia buffs, the film offers the chance to see brief glimpses of past greats - J. P. R. Williams, Phil Bennett, Gareth Edwards - at the height of their playing careers. For non-rugby fans, GRAND SLAM is a joyous celebration of national identity, as well as an evocation of past delights (signaled by the regular use of the theme "Plaisir d'Amour" on the soundtrack).

This film is set around Wales' attempt to win the Rugby Union Grand Slam against France in Paris in the mid 1970's.Windsor Davies plays Mog the tour leader,Oscar winner Hugh Griffith plays II World War veteran Mr.Lloyd-evans and Sion Probert plays camp boutique owner Maldwyn.Most of the film is filmed in Paris and it uses real footage from the game to give us the atmosphere of a Rugby Union international played between these two great rugby teams.The film is hilarious and moving but the particular facets of Welsh humour may not translate for you so my advice is go and spend a couple of years in Wales and then watch the film.