Not Now Darling

Sets its stall out immediately with an over the titles nip-slip & a bare-chested bather, OK, so this is an adult 'Carry On' a la '70's 'Confessions of an etc etc', unfortunately & obviously, this has none of the charm & sparkle of that iconic film series.

The editing is bizarrely poor & the direction's not much better, they must both have just been chucked out of film school. It's difficult not to feel sorry for poor Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims & Babs to have needed to do this, but work was work then & I'm sure they had fun together. To add to the discomfort, modern audiences will find the situation of a top furriers very uncomfortable, fur coats are indeed lovely, but they're probably best left with their original owners!

Honestly don't bother, even if you love films of this period, stick to something better & revisit a Carry On or similar.

One can tell in the fashion of the writing that this is adapted from the stage: the feature is characterized by long scenes, with deliberate timing and no meaningful variation in setting, and a small rotation of characters coming and going. That tight focus allows the interactions between characters to flourish, and it's a great pleasure that star Ray Cooney and co-writer John Chapman do us the honor of translating their own play to film - and that Cooney also doubles (triples?) as co-director. With these sharp minds guiding the production, 'Not now darling' is allowed to revel in the utmost farce of the scenario, the characters, and the fantastic dialogue. I wasn't sure what to expect as I began watching, but in no time I was laughing - this is so, so good!

The twisted tangles the characters quickly knot is rife with outstanding comedy - exaggerated characters, sight gags, marvelous wordplay and repartee, sex jokes and innuendo, and a little bit of physical humor to taste. The fun is as endless as it is fast-paced, and while the timing from one instant to the next is impeccable, every minute is filled with so much wild freewheeling that I never once lost the smile from my face. The entire cast is exceptional, all true delights as they bring these snappy 90 minutes to life. For all the madcap energy herein, they nonetheless demonstrate great range, nuance, and physicality befitting the ridiculousness - showing even in this capacity that each is a swell actor. One can hardly even name a favorite; the moment I do, I think of one of their co-stars.

Relatively simple as the production is, everything here looks and sounds good, even though it didn't need to be. Needlessly but gratifyingly complementing the silliness are elements like Cyril Ornadel's vibrant original music, the cheeky costume design, smart set design and decoration, vivid cinematography, and so on and so forth. Of course, these take a back seat as the bustling romp never loses our attention; one doesn't like to make one comparison after another, but I'm reminded at times of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus.' And I think that's really about all the more I can say without beginning to betray plot points or some of the jokes: anchored with superb performances and terrific, funny writing, 'Not now darling' strikes me as an underappreciated gem that demands more recognition. I should note a fair bit of nudity, and that the narrative revolves an antiquated concept (high-end fur coats) that are thankfully going away, but even with those caveats in mind, I enthusiastically give this my very highest recommendation - this is worth going out of your way to find!

When it comes to stripping beautiful young women down to their underwear for the most gratuitous of reasons, no one can outdo the English. The plot, such as it is, revolves around Leslie Phillips conniving attempts to get Janie McMichael into bed. His plans inevitably go astray, leading to half-naked girls hiding in the closet, jealous husbands raging through the office, and at three of the female cast least losing their clothes in this unmistakably British comedy of errors. Probably the best of Leslie Phillips' seventies bedroom farces, which included "Spanish Fly," "Don't Just lie there, Say Something," "Doctor in Trouble", and the infamous "Not Now Comrade".

It takes something special to make a miserable old git like me laugh out loud but this managed it. Farces like this (in many ways identical to this!) have been filmed since Ben Travers' Aldwych Farces back in the thirties so it was a tried and tested formula. This might actually be the apex of that genre.

Sophisticated and cerebral humour this isn't but neither is it, as some people labelled it, 'a 70s sex comedy.' Just because various attractive young women end up hiding in cupboards in their underwear does not place it in the same category as those dreadful 'Confessions of' films. This is very much a superbly honed, very funny comedy in the tradition of bawdy old fashioned English farce.

Whether or not this is for you would depend on whether you find Barbara Windsor, carrying a bird cage asking people if they'd like to see her tits, an outdated disgraceful example of sexism or silly schoolboy humour.

Farce doesn't film well. There's are very few exceptions to that axiom (Peter Bogdanovich's "Noises Off" (1992) is one of them.) What can be hilarious on the stage often falls totally flat on the big screen. The sheer physicality of madcap farce gets lost as does the frenetic excitement inherent to the genre. Even the classic Feydeau farces "A Flea in Her Ear" (1968) and "Hotel Parasdiso" (1966) failed to deliver the goods, despite their star casts.

Farce became a mainstay of the British theatre where for decades there was hardly a time when some farce wasn't pulling in the crowds in the West End. Noted farceur Ray Cooney enjoyed particular success with a string of hit plays which were performed all over the world and have become staple fare for amateur dramatic societies.

It's seems only natural that a stage success should be put onto the big screen. "No Sex Please We're British" (1973), "Not Now Comrade" (1976) and "Don't Just Lie There Say Something" (1974) were all lame affairs and Cooney's "Run for Your Wife" (2012) bombed.

In the light of that preamble, 1973's "Not Now Darling" is something of a miracle. One of the reason's for the success of the movie is that it is in fact not really a movie at all, but rather a filmed stage play. The wise decision was made not to open it out, something screen adaptions felt obliged to do in an attempt to avoid staginess. Opening out a farce drops the pace which can be ruinous. "Not Now Darling" remains a rare record of British farce at its best.

Cooney was at the top of his game, penning smart and funny dialog delivered here by some true pros, all, or almost all, with vast stage experience, and all exhibiting spot-on timing, First and foremost is the great Leslie Philips, doing pretty much what he always did: the charming cad. He is partnered by Ray Cooney himself, in a hilarious turn. They are wonderfully supported by Carry On stalwarts Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor, together with seasoned stage performers Moira Lister, Bill Fraser and Derren Nesbitt. Rounding out the top-notch cast are the husband-and-wife veteran stage and screen stars Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge (her last screen performance) who are a joy to behold.

And then there's former beauty queen Julie Ege. No self-respecting sixties farce was without one or more sexy ladies who did little besides show off their bodies. Unlike her co-stars, Ege had no stage experience at all and after a brief and very minor screen career, returned to her native Norway and became a nurse. She had previously been signed to Hammer films who hoped "Creatures the World Forgot" would shoot her to international stardom as their "One Million Years B. C." had done for Raquel Welch. It was not to be. Ege's finest hour on screen is without doubt her appearance in "Not Now Darling". She is stunning to look at and turns in a very competent and funny performance and seems to be enjoying every minute.

Farce isn't for all tastes. While considered a lowbrow genre, done well it clearly demands dramatic skill, impeccable timing, physicality and great teamwork. "Not Now Darling" has all of those and shouldn't be missed by fans of the genre.