Up Pompeii

Howard has the knack of knowing when to give the audience the eye, with a just perfect leer. This film is one that shows you that it is possible to break the 4th wall to include the audience in the scene. A movie any teenage boy would love and should be viewed by all the staff at "MAXIM". When the film was first shown on TV here in North America it was a little scandalous. The English were not as prudish and had more fun that way.

This silly period comedy lives or dies depending your taste for Frankie Howerd. Me, I quite like him: I love his asides to the camera, his constant exasperation, his little quips and wisecracks. Others may find his humour stale and repetitive, and they'll be in trouble because this film is the Frankie Howerd Show in all but name.

A movie version of a once popular TV series (which I never saw), UP POMPEII is a bawdy spoof of the Roman costume drama. Howerd plays Lurcio, a slave who finds himself being chased by various ne'er do wells after a mix up involving a cucumber and a scroll (no, I'm not making this up). The film is an excuse for a parade of actors to embarrass themselves or amuse the audience, depending on how much you like smutty, silly and slapstick humour, and rarely a scene goes by without a scantily clad woman in sight.

As with most British comedies of the 1970s, a lot of the fun these days comes from spotting the star. There's Bernard Bresslaw as a champion, there's Hammer starlet Julie Ege as a noblewoman. Michael Hordern is fairly good as a politician who wanders around thinking of his next speech, as is Lance Percival as the heavy constantly on Howerd's tail (oo er). Watch out for Hammer players Maddy Smith and George Woodbridge in minor roles, a bit part for Darth Vader himself, Dave Prowse, and Barbara Murray as Howerd's alluring owner.

Frankie Howerd will be forever remembered as the creator of the knowing glance. He develops a relationship with the audience that lets us know that he thinks this stuff is bad too. Somehow that allows us to forgive the corny puns, lame jokes and sexist humour. "Just bear with me," he seems to be saying, "It'll all be over soon." Somehow it all worked, and Up Pompeii managed to rise above its seventies comedy contemporaries to become a classic.

The film perhaps lacks the freshness of the TV series due to the loss of the studio audience. Howerd was able to react to them in a way that made the whole show appear to be improvised. This was of course down to his genius, as everything was very well rehearsed. Despite this it's still a very enjoyable film. My only complaint is that Hammer starlet Madeline Smith is not in it more!

Depending on whether you like 70's britcom, you will either love this or hate it. For me it epitomizes a simpler era - one where sexist humor was acceptable and not everything had to be so PC. The thing it is most like is a series from the same era - the name escapes me but it had a black and white couple living next to each other with the men making snide racist comments across the garden fence, but respecting each other underneath, while the wives sat in the kitchen bitching about men over a cup of tea.

Frankie Howerd is, well, Frankie Howerd. He brings the audience right into the film acting as both lead actor and narrator. It is full of his classic one line wit which has never been emulated by anyone (some may say this is good thing, but not me; Nay, Nay and thrice Nay!). The sets were clearly done on a budget, and if you like whiz-bang special effects then forget it. This was clearly a Frankie Production.

So (in the words of jib-jab) if you are a left wing weenie, forget this film, but if you are a stupid dumb ass (like me), take a look.

Poor Frankie didn't have a lot of luck in the world of film - making a string of Norman Wisdom type of comedies in the 50's, two Carry Ons in the sixties, and then this, the first of a trilogy of "Up..." films. This is probably his best starring vehicle. Scripted by Dave Freeman, Sid Colin and Talbot Rothwell, this, at least fairs better than the average sitcom-to-film venture; for this doesn't rely on the string of half-hour stories lifted from the television show to support the 90 mins. The reason is simple, all the writers were already experienced with writing films. All that has been lifted from the show is the majority of double entendre groan-worthy gags which, thankfully, when performed by Howerd, still raise a titter. With fine support from Patrick Cargill, Michael Hordern, Bernard Bresslaw, Hugh Paddick, Julie Ege etc. this is bound to make you laugh... even if it's just a bit.