Three for All

I watched this film recently - oh what a disaster! What the point of this is I have no idea. The first part of the film concentrates on the the band Billy Beethoven where as the second part concentrates on their girlfriends who are not allowed to travel to Spain with them.

The start of the film has two songs, one played by Billy Beethoven themselves who have Graham Bonnet on vocals and lead guitar (later the singer with Rainbow, MSG and Alcatrazz) shortly followed by the 1970s 50s tribute band Showaddywaddy. A painfully slow start leads to the band returning to inform their girlfriends that they cannot come with them on the Spanish tour. Quite obviously Graham Bonnet was not deemed good enough to have a speaking part in this film as he says nothing for the whole duration of the film! Bonnet looks nothing like he did in Rainbow in this film!

The inclusion of the final 30 second sequence which features the girls silently arguing with a dustman (a non-speaking role from Edward Woodward, the only part of the film to feature him) is a total mystery. This has nothing to do with rest of the poor story then the credits role!

The only good thing about this film was Arthur Mullard and his wife! If you haven't seen it, don't worry, you have not missed much!

Three for All (1975) is a musical comedy directed by Martin Campbell and it was an okay enough movie.

Positives for Three for All (1975): Unlike his first movie, this one actually has a plot for the audience to follow. The performances from Adrienne Posta, Robert Lindsay, Paul Nicholas, Cheryl Hall, Richard Beckinsale, Graham Bonnet and John Le Mesurier are all very good. I enjoyed the journey our characters go on in Spain. And finally, the music is very good in the movie.

Negatives for Three for All (1975): While the movie does have a plot, I sadly didn't find it all that interesting. Aside from the trip to Spain, there isn't anything else for me to gravitate towards. The comedy was also very hot or miss for me a lot.

Overall, Three for All (1975) is a step up for director Martin Campbell, but this movie is another step for him trying to find himself in the filmmaking industry.

Although he's not in it, players of the English branch of "the six degrees of Kevin Bacon" must love this film, given the sheer number of cast members who are more famous for other things being in this together. Where else will you find links between Edward Woodward and Arthur Mullard?; Diana Dors and Richard Beckinsale?; John le Mesurier and Ian Lavender? (oh, wait a minute...); and many other pairings of your choosing. It's actually harder to find members of the core cast who *didn't* go on to some sort of fame than did.

As for the film itself, it's pretty standard mid-70s farcical nonsense that's not as funny as perhaps it might be, although the music isn't too bad. The sound design could do with some work though, given the sheer amount of screaming that accompanies the crowd and concert scenes.

Not great, but good for historical completists...

A rock/pop band ('Billy Beethoven)'s manager wins a holiday to a Spanish resort. Utter, ugly, tedium ensues. Was it deliberate that the three girlfriends's T-shirts had 'Bethoven' on them? Possibly to show that they while adorable, they were irredeemably thick, as all women were thought to be in 1975.

What's so bad about 'TFA' is the gap between what you might expect from a cast full of contemporary English thesps and the result. Richard Beckinsale through to John Le Mesurier via Diana Dors, George Baker and Robert Lindsay, are given a script written one lunchtime in a pub by Tudor Gates, who stood as Liberal candidate for Bethnal Green, coming third, and was a shop steward for Bectu, the film electricians' union. He shouldn't have given up the day job.

Everything is horrible. The locations, the clothes, the music, the jokes, the Costa Del Sol, the cars, the BA Trident pumping out fumes, the direction, the lighting, the sound. The cast probably each set their careers back 10 years just by appearing in it.

If you're ever tempted to write,"'This is the worst film I've ever seen", give 'TFA' a thought. It's the worst film anybody could ever see. It actually smells bad.

I last saw this film about 15 years ago so I'm a bit fuzzy on detail, but basically the plot is as follows: A rock band are going on tour to the Costa del Sol. Their girlfriends are excited about the trip, then disappointed to find they are not invited. After the boys have left, they decide to follow on and surprise the boys out there. Things don't quite go to plan and the girls have a number of mishaps along the way in their pursuit of their boyfriends. I was 16-ish when I saw this and loved it - its funny, silly, tacky and there is lots of sun, sea, sangria plus fantastic 70's teen fashion. The only thing I can't guarantee is that my description in any way matches the reality of the film as its been so long since I saw it that I might have dreamt the whole thing. I hope not.