The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film

I remember seeing this some years ago Spike Milligan had just bought a movie camera, and so they (The Goons) decided to make a film If you like off-beat humour, try and rent this movie

The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959) is a 11 min short by Richard Lester. Supposedly one of his first films, The Running Jumping is basically one sight gag after another, cleverly crafted yet somewhat rudimentary; obviously it was produced as an experiment. Lester's use of droll antics and irony predated what would manifest itself in A Hard Day's Night, although Lester had already developed a certain style in preceding films. Nevertheless, what ignited Lester's career was soon to come, however, as funny as it seems, The Running Jumping billed an actor who would garner more stardom than Lester himself: Peter Sellers. Peter Sellers is featured as a sly Nimrod who prances around a field and soon engages in a duel with a muscleman. This is a far cry from a serious role as Chance the Gardener, however Sellers still is riot and it is appropriate considering that The Running Jumping was made at the height of a postmodern British Slapstick movement. Other hilarities in the film include a frustrated photographer at his wits' end, a family of buffoons dragging an English kite, and the absurd yet cliched boxer signaling a fool into his direction. Although a fun trip, The Running Jumping is not a good introduction to Lester's oeuvre. If you can try to find that rare copy of Hard Day's Night with Running Jumping tagged on at the end: that's how I saw it. Then give How I Won The War, Help, and The Forum a chance.

This hilarious homemade short is a key moment in British comedy.

Two years before "A Hard Day's Night," Richard Lester (then a TV director) made this movie, starring Goons Peter Sellers & Spike Milligan with the wonderful Leo McKern (who would later play the zany cult leader in "Help").

Here, in 1962, you can see the seeds of the revolutionary style Lester applied to the Beatles, and that was hugely influential in the look of 60s films and media. It's clearly an ancestor of Monty Python, for one.

The movie features an oddball group of deadpans who look like they could come from a Beckett play. For no reason, they're outside in a landscape somewhere, where, for no reason, they play a series of silent-movie gags on each other.

Improvised and loose, it's a record of a bunch of guys (who happen to be comedy geniuses) fooling around with a camera, just like the video posters of today. Only much, much funnier.

Richard Lester is credited as co-director (with Sellers), co-writer, cinematographer, editor, and composer. It's the earliest piece of his work we're likely to see. (Try to catch his other early ones... "It's Trad, Dad," a feature that's half early 60s pop music and half crazy gags, is in rotation on TCM and is wonderful... "Mouse On The Moon," the one just before "A Hard Day's Night," is also enjoyable, but not so much in Lester's typical style.)

When "A Hard Day's Night" was released on DVD a few years ago, the advance information and even the packaging said that the disk would include "The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film." In sad fact it didn't. So for now, it's unavailable commercially. (Though as we know, in the cyber universe, everything is SOMEWHERE.)

There is no plot as such. This is a slapstick comedy. It shows a lots of gags.

By itself, this film is nothing special. A weird experiment with some gags, it somehow got nominated for "best short film". What really makes it noteworthy is that the film contains Peter Sellers, who went on to be one of the greatest comedians of all time.

Also, this film leads to "A Hard Day's Night", which changed the way the world looked at music on film. Apparently the Beatles loved this short film and just had to have director Richard Lester work with them. Who knew?

Its just mad. I'm a big fan of Sellers. This just blows everything else out of the water. When it comes to craziness this beats anything. Well almost anything. It makes No sense! please note it is not actually on this DVD its on another DVD in the UK REGION 2 The Peter Sellers Story... As He Filmed It please note this DVD also contains a short film called 'I Say, I Say, I Say' as well as a documentary about Peter Sellers, this includes an interview never seen before as Sellers confiscated the film the day after it was shot at his home in Ireland, feeling that it was too revealing about himself. Interesting Stuff I'm Sure You'll Agree. Anyway go watch "The Running Jumping Standing Still Film" Watch it just to say you have. If You are a fan of Milligan/Sellers/Secombe You must watch If You are a fan of short films or a student watch it. Its just so odd!!