Hugorelly

Adapted from a stage play, this hilarious production stars Patrick Barlow and Jim Broadbent as leading lights in the 'National Theatre of Brent'. It's nearly 30 years since I saw it, yet I remember well falling on the floor at Broadbent's depiction of the virgin Mary. But there is really nothing mocking or sacrilegious about the show at all; it's a gentle, heart-warming kind of comedy. Whereas Monty Python's Life of Brian strove (very effectively) for a realistic depiction of the Holy Land around the time of Jesus, with broad characters and outlandish behaviour, most of the humour here derives instead from the brilliantly understated subtlety of the acting, and the touchingly amateurish production values.. This is long overdue for a repeat, or preferably a video release.

Saving the best for last, the final Foghorn short is quite simply the funniest, wittiest short cartoon in the whole Warner Brothers library. Yes, the ending even tops Some Like It Hot!

There are so many memorable images - and great lines - in Banty Raids that it's hard to know what to pick. The whole script is hilarious, and while Foghorn fans will have some idea what to expect, the introduction of a new character (the beatnik rooster) gives the usual set-up an unusual, updated flavour. Finger-clickin' good!!

That it still hasn't been released (along with another great Foghorn classic Fox Terror) on DVD is utterly disgraceful. But mere words in a review cannot do this little gem justice - you just gotta see it and you know, like, dig it man! Wow.

All the elements seem to be in place to make The Liquidator a success: a witty script, a strong cast, an over-the-top Shirley Bassey theme song, crisp cinematography in glorious 1960s Technicolor. But having said that, the whole package doesn't quite come off.

The basic idea is a clever one: to take the familiar secret agent movie premise and subvert it by making the central character a reluctant assassin who "wouldn't hurt a fly". The problem is, Rod Taylor is just too "straight" for the role. Like the Royal Air Force's new top secret spy plane, Taylor often seems to be running on automatic pilot.

The comic elements here should have been exploited for much greater effect. Comparisons with Connery's James Bond are wide of the mark, since this film does not aspire to match the serious thrill quotient of a Bond movie. But it does contain some delicious irony, and a couple of neat twists that even surpass the usual formula at times.

The scene in which Taylor, imprisoned in a cellar with his captor's floozy, is openly encouraged to escape, is neatly handled - until the poor girl is needlessly gunned down by another member of the gang to "silence" her. This provokes a cliff-top chase that culminates in a dangling moment of rare high tension, evoking the original Italian Job.

Younger fans of the Austin Powers series may enjoy seeing what actual swinging '60s films were really like. But where Mike Myers' films take the tiniest germ of a funny idea and magnify it over and over, The Liquidator does the reverse: a potentially promising humorous situation tends just to be left hanging in the air.

For connoisseurs of British pictures of the period, there are little treats on offer too, in the appearance of familiar faces like Trevor Howard, Eric Sykes, Wilfred Hyde White and Richard Wattis - although again, their talent is mostly wasted. The delightful Jill St. John (who would go on to do the "real thing" in Diamonds Are Forever) is eminently watchable throughout, and her performance raises the whole tone; indeed she and Howard are the best things on view here.

Overall then, whilst The Liquidator is certainly an enjoyable film, with the right leading actor, or perhaps a director with a keener eye for comic possibilities, it could have been a much funnier romp through contemporary spy film clichés. So while it must go down as something of a missed opportunity, for me it's better fun than Casino Royale - either the new version or the 1967 one.