Nearest and Dearest

A friend of mine often cites this as the greatest film of all time: which just goes to show what too many drugs can do to your head...

It was for many years the received wisdom that the British Quota Quickies of the thirties were among the worst films ever made. The few of those fossils that still survive possess a certain period charm; however, utterly lacking in the average British feature film of the seventies, with their ugly colour, flaired trousers and dreadful haircuts. The top-grossing British feature film of 1971 was Hammer Films' big screen spin-off from the TV series 'On the Buses'; in consequence of which they promptly rushed a feature film reprise of 'Nearest and Dearest' into production, and there were two (repeat, two!!) sequels to 'On the Buses'.

For the rest of the decade the floodgates opened, with Britain's cinema screens awash with longer and generally coarser film versions of the likes of 'Up Pompeii', 'Dad's Army', 'Steptoe and Son', 'Man About the House', 'The Likely Lads', 'Are You Being Served?', 'Porridge', 'Rising Damp' and 'George and Mildred'.

The film version of 'Nearest and Dearest's bigger budget allowed for location filming in Blackpool, but the end result was still dashed off in just four weeks, complete with occasional fluffed lines by Hylda Baker. Two interesting additions to the regular cast are John Barrett as the Pledges' father Joshua who had originally died in the series' first episode in 1968 and whose final hours are here recreated; and Yootha Joyce, who naturally gives the film's best performance as a widowed Blackpool landlady desperate enough to be romantically interested in Eli.

Nobody enticed away from their TV set by the tagline 'From HAMMER who gave you 'ON THE BUSES'' was likely to have any problem with Nellie's constant excruciating malapropisms; but the endless sexual innuendo manages to sound more distasteful still when mouthed by a gallery of grotesques worthy of Breugel.

Hammer and Granada joined forces to turn ITV's much-loved sitcom 'Nearest and Dearest' into a ninety-minute movie.

A few years back, I worked my way through 'Nearest and Dearest' and 'Not on Your Nellie.' It's fair to say I became a big fan of Hylda Baker and her wonderful destruction of the English language.

It's watchable. If you liked the series, I'm sure you'll enjoy this; the whole gang is here, including the hilarious Walter and Lily, along with a few new faces. Yootha Joyce is wonderful here as the lustful hotelier.

It looks rather nice; it's obvious that a bit of money was spent on it, and the location filming looks terrific.

If you like cheeky, picture-postcard humour, this will have you chuckling; if you're after more highbrow comedy, avoid it like the plague.

Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel had a few good moments here. I always thought they worked well together, in spite of their well-documented dislike of one another.

It's a watchable film.

6/10.

I really liked this as a TV series in the past. I haven't seen an episode in many years and this film is the only evidence I've encountered recently. It is a desperate disappointment.

This feeling isn't that surprising. In the 1970's most major British sitcoms were turned into film versions, every time with inferior results. The best of these sitcoms, like "Steptoe and Son", "Porridge" and "Rising Damp" still managed to produce quite good films. However the results with the second rank comedies were generally poor. This is such an example.

It is difficult to turn a 25-30 minutes format into a workable feature film. The writers and producers always took the characters out of their original situation and then struggled to keep quality and pace going for 90 minutes. Here the characters are sent to Blackpool for part of the film (a holiday being a standard plot device) and then pad the rest out with a marriage. Where "Nearest and Dearest" especially struggles is its lack of real comic quality. The best sitcoms had really well-drawn characters and were capable of social comment and even pathos. It is one of those sitcoms that relies very heavily on innuendo, which has not fared well over time. There are the habitual comic confusions of the time over sex, with any suggestion of pre-marital action provoking apoplexy in those more traditional times. It also has the standard inclusion of some large-breasted young women for laughs, an approach we have rather transcended.

Other humour comes from Nellie's malapropisms. These are quite amusing in small doses but lose their impact over time. Most frustrating is the use of stupid behaviour in a feeble attempt to amuse.

There are some funny lines and the film will certainly hold some nostalgic interest for fans of the series and of the seventies in general. However after seeing this it is hard to seriously see those days as the halcyon ones they are often portrayed - certainly not in terms of comedy. I think we should be thankful that our modern favourites are not subjected to this sort of demolition on the big screen.

The filmed version of Nearest and Dearest was released a year before the television show finished with its final series.

The film goes back to when the show started and the death of Eli and Nellie Pledge's father. Both siblings now inherit their dad's pickle business in Colne, Lancashire.

Even though Eli has been away for a number of years, hoping to make his fortune in London. He arrived back home potless.

Eli and Nellie go to Blackpool for a seaside break. He attracts the attention of amorous widow Mrs Rowbottom (Yootha Joyce.) Then has the idea of marrying Nellie off to Vernon Smallpiece (Norman Mitchell.) A middle aged pickler from Oldham who is also single.

Only Vernon agrees to reluctantly marry Nellie as he is in desperate financial straits himself.

The film aimed for Carry On style cheeky postcard humour. It lost the pull of the television series. Both Jimmy Jewel and Hylda Baker struggle with the script. It is plotless and witless.

The early scene when Eli strands his girlfriend Freda (Pat Ashton) in London and they nastily throws a portion of chips at her. That is basically assault. It gets worse later, Eli does a striptease.

Then there are lazy scenes to reunite the characters from the show. On the trip to Blackpool, Eli and Nellie bump into Walter and Lily. As well as factory workers Stan and Bert.

Overall a dismal offering.

Yes this is rather non PC in today's PC world. But come on this is classic British seaside postcard humour. The film brings together main characters from the long running itv sit com, some of the settings you can tell What will happen but it's just fun.

People criticise this film for its dated humour, but it still holds up well alongside others like Are you Being Served & On the Buses