Helter Skelter

This film is periodically repeated on Australia's ABC and each time I watch it I am struck by how far ahead of its time it was. Sure, it's black and white, but the jokes are funny and the story actually takes advantage of tricks one can do with film which hadn't been possible with theatre.

The story centres around heiress Susan Graham (played by Carol Marsh) and her quest to rid herself of the hiccups. She is alternately aided and hindered in her quest by two guardian uncles (each of whom has a son who they hope will marry Susan), 'heroic' radio man Nick Martin (David Tomlinson) who in fact is brow-beaten by his domineering mother Mrs Martin (Judith Furse), but the film also segues into little comic vignettes.

Look quickly and you'll see Wilfred Hyde-White (of "My Fair Lady" fame) playing Dr Jekyll, Harry Secombe, Terry-Thomas, Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns and many other notables of the time.

All in all, Helter Skelter is good clean fun and well worth watching at least once.

In the days when having a million dollars made someone rich, Carol Marsh is a carefully brought up girl who has developed the hiccups. Aided by figurative characters, she and mama's boy BBC broadcaster David Tomlinson fall in love, but how can they find true love when they live in an Olsen & Johnson HELLZAPOPPIN' world?

Gerald Thomas' second movie is a crazy comedy filled with a lot of well-known comics of the era doing their shticks. There are lots of good ones, including Terry-Thomas doing his 'Technical Hitch' routine and Jimmy Edwards showing Walter Forde silent comedies, but just as you're getting into the rhythms of the ridiculous revue, the film makers switch gears to advance the ridiculous 'Love Among the Hiccups' plot, and just when that seems to be going someplace, it halts to show us a ridiculous series of mishaps at a haunted castle or the BBC. I would imagine that if you were a member of a contemporary audience, you would be charmed to see your favorite players interrupt this pre-Goon-Show nonsense, but if you're not, it seems more chaotic than funny.

When I first saw the film, 'Helter Skelter', I saw the connection. When David Tomlinson appeared as Nick Martin, Special Investigator, heard nightly on the BBC I thought of 'Dick Barton, Special Agent'. The film was made in 1948 at the height of Dick Barton's popularity. There were thoughts at that time what would happen if Dick Barton (played by Noel Johnson) failed to turn up for an episode? Virtually the whole of Britain stopped at 18.45 each evening during winter to hear the next instalment. And look what happened in the film: Nick's girlfriend was accidentally looked in one of the rooms at the BBC and wasn't found in time for the programme so Nick refused to go on air. The whole country stopped. No-one went to the football or the races. I haven't seen any comments on the connection but anyone who heard 'Dick Barton' at that time would have recognised it. Only 'The Devil's Galop' was missing. Great film with old-time stars!

This film is clearly a spoof of radio stars of the era.Many of the actual stars appear sending themselves up.If you look at the full cast list you will see the large number of uncredited cameos.Carroll Marsh plays a rich woman who falls in love with radio detective David Tomlinson,but gets a bout of hiccups.All sorts of tricks are used to try and cure her.All are truly crazy.Jimmy Edwards plays a Doctor and Harry Secombe his nurse when they Carol a silent film.It does make you wonder if Spike Milligan was inspired by this film since so much of the humour of this very funny film bears a great similarity to the Goons.I Also there is Richard Hearne in a variety of guises.There are just so many laugh out loud moments.

I watched Helter Skelter about 30 years ago at the time when Monty Python was in its first series. Helter Skelter is equally amusing, but in an innocent way that I suppose would now be sneered at! Interesting at the time though to compare it with 'Python'. I recall that the plot centres around a 'hooray henry' character who for some reason cannot stop the 'hiccups'. His girlfriend (can't remember the actress's name) tries to find a cure or solution. No complications in the plot! The movie is filmed extensively inside the BBC in what I assume must be the building in Great Portland Street. Some of the scenes are extremely funny but generally the comedy is rather dated, still enjoyable though.

I recall one of the characters (I think maybe the leading lady's aunt) portrays a typical British girls public school sports mistress. Again I cannot recall the actress's name, but she is easily the funniest character in the movie. An enormous lady, who rides around on a tiny motor scooter, bizarre! Very funny though, and her best line is in recommending a psychiatrist to cure the hooray's hiccups because "he cured me completely of collecting hockey sticks". Terry-Thomas is also very funny, playing a pre-pop disk jockey who smashes all his records and is forced to impersonate the various acts.

As mentioned, the comedy would now be considered dated, but this zany movie has stuck in my memory since 1970 and I wish I could get to see it again.