shozzas15

For the life of me I cannot understand why this gets such good reviews.

Despite the best efforts of Herbert Lom, a superb actor, the cod 'psychology' of the script is risibly simplistic. The directing isn't up to much either. The actors haven't a chance dealing with such an appalling script, so I'll let them off.

Portentous & pretentious rubbish. Compare & contrast to the Scales Of Justice or Scotland Yard series from a similar era, which are generally sharp, fast paced, intriguing & narrated in an understated ironic & intelligent manner by the excellent, if slightly odd, Edgar Lustgarten.

For Lom's sake I really wanted to like this series, but it really is awful. Oh - the theme music was rather good. I'll give it an extra star for that

I don't do lists, but this may be the loveliest film I've ever seen. It grabbed me from the opening sequence, the camera sweeping over Islington while there is a distinctly odd, & oddly amusing conversation going on. At this point though you feel this film could go either way. But as soon as the angel appears at the pawnbrokers you know it's going to be good. Cilento is just perfect; innocent & wise at the same time, her beauty transcending sexuality. What followed was a small scale unpretentious masterpiece. There are caricatures & characters, some good performances, some excellent, some lovely comic touches (the drunken drummer confused as he exited the dance amused me inordinately). Possibly the only complaint was Aylmer's accent, which I think was meant to be Oi Vey Jewish but kept wandering across several ethnic possibilities. Apart from that his actual performance was excellent.

Are we supposed to take any of it seriously? Of course not. But there was a serious message at its core, something rather wonderful about things that really matter, something sometimes more effective for being told in a whimsical, light-hearted way.

It's the oldest & most important message ever. It's inherently implicit in every significant piece of art, literature & music - even if by it's absence. Love. Genuine transcendental love & compassion for all the human race, for all that lives & breathes. That quality suffused this modest little film, & it moved me immensely, far more than many big budget extravaganzas that hit you over the head trying to force a similar response. I adored it. I will treasure it till the day I (hopefully) acquire a harp of my own :-)

Just watched this on TV. I suppose having no expectations helped, but this knocked spots off many other high budget comedy horror efforts I've seen. The scene between Lois, tired & careworn, & Herbert, tired but frisky on their anniversary night, was genuinely touching. The love between them looked tender & genuine (incidentally, in real life they've been married for 34 years now). My heart went out to Lois' put-upon timid doormat who looked like .... well, she wouldn't win any beauty contests. BUT the transformation when she put the ring on! Hubba hubba! It just proves it ain't what you got, it's what you do with it. The rest was pretty well what you'd expect - but done with panache. In fact the whole thing was directed & edited with so many nice touches; one that springs to mind was the cuts to the waxwork faces looking at Danny DeVito when he steals the ring.

Brilliant. An unpretentious little gem.