Not Now Darling

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!

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.

Leslie Phillips made a number of bedroom farces in the early to mid-1970s. These were DOCTOR IN TROUBLE, DON'T JUST LIE THERE, SAY SOMETHING, NOT NOW, COMRADE, Spanish FLY and this film. NOT NOW DARLING is probably the best of the five films. Unlike the two of the remaining four films to be based on a stage production, this one doesn't go to great lengths to hide its stage origins.

The plot is simple as most farces start from a basic idea - a furrier wants to buy his girlfriend an expensive mink coat but is worried about her husband finding out. So he tries to sell the coat at a huge discount, hoping the husband will fall for it. One event after another leads to things spiraling out of the furrier's control, with his assistant noting "what a tangled web we weave" (an often used line in Cooney's farces) about halfway through the film.

Leslie Phillips is perhaps at his best in this film. He seems to have a ball of a time as the fast-paced film goes on. His caddish screen persona is perfectly suited to the role and I really couldn't imagine anyone else being able to play the part so well, not even the late, great Sid James.

In many reviews of the film I've read, people have said that Ray Cooney was wrong to take on the role of Crouch himself. I disagree completely. Cooney is brilliant as Crouch and steals every scene he's in with such glee. He livens up the film immensely and it's just as well that he gets such a great deal of screen time with Phillips because they make a great double act.

Julie Ege is fantastic as Janie, the girlfriend of the furrier. She really fits into the world of this CARRY ON-style humour as though she had been in it throughout her career. She is also shown topless several times and fully nude in the uncut version.

Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor bring their CARRY ON personas along and it blends perfectly with the humour of the film.

Derren Nesbitt is brilliant as the bloke who the furrier tries to dupe into buying the mink coat. The expressions on his face as he reacts to the various things happening around him are simply hilarious.

The rest of the cast - Bill Fraser, Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge and Trudi Van Doorn - are all great too in their supporting roles.

I think the sheer genius of the film itself, though, arises from the fact that 80 per cent or so of it takes place not only on a single set, but in just one room. It's incredibly difficult to translate stage works of this kind to the big screen at the best of times. So Ray Cooney is to be applauded for making such a phenomenal success of it. In a book about Tony Tenser and the films of Tigon (who distributed NOT NOW DARLING), Cooney planned to make a series of NOT NOW... films, in the same vein as the CARRY ON gang had their series. The NOT NOW... films were obviously intended to be cheekier outings, closer to the UP POMPEII! film with Frankie Howerd. Sadly only two films were made. That is a great shame because I would have loved to have seen at least half a dozen of these films made. I've read many of Cooney's farces and they are all incredibly funny and hold your attention like this film does.

One other thing I haven't mentioned yet is that I read the play and didn't think it was as good as the film. The faster-pacing, the cheekier dialogue and the perfect choices of casting lead to the film being better than the stage version itself.

Finally, make sure you see the uncut version of the film, which can only be found on a DVD with a pink cover, distributed by a company called WHAM. All of the other DVD versions and VHS releases are the cut UK cinema version, which cuts out many of the best cheeky lines as well as most of the nudity.

Overall, NOT NOW DARLING is a masterpiece of farce, one of my all time favourite comedies. For fans of 1970s British comedy (particularly the CARRY ON films and Benny Hill), this is a must-see.

It has been a quarter-century since I saw this movie, which was making a far-east tour of military bases in the early 70's (1974?), and I thought then (and still think so now) that it was one of the funniest movies I had ever had the pleasure of seeing. Although it was probably not as well made as some movies, it made up for that in hilarious content. I can still remember how much I laughed and enjoyed myself. Don't know if you can (or will) use these comments, but I've been looking for this picture ever since I first saw it, and just wish I could find it again. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best), I would rate this film a 9 or 9.5.

I recall that this film was made using a multi camera system.So that two or three cameras would be used to save time on setups.I also believe that it was taped,edited and then transferred to film.Ray Cooney who wrote this takes a rare leading role.He also co directs with David Croft of Dads Army fame.The problem is that he acts as if he is on the stage.Every line accompanied by a gesture.Compare this with the more restrained performance of Leslie Phillips.There are a lot of well known actors in this.Cicely Courtneidge making her last screen performance and Jack Hulbert his penultimate one.Jackie Paolo makes an appearance,then at the height of his TV wrestling fame.The problem is that the play may have been funny on stage but lacks sparkle on film.