Sir Henry at Rawlinson End

Mad, propelled by language and stereotype reinvented by surreal humour, this is a unique and brilliant film of a text which ranks with 'Under Milk Wood'or 'Facade' by Edith Sitwell. There are, however, too many references to 'sambos' and 'jungle bunnies' for my liking although I appreciate that the characters are supposed to be reactionary, the narrator also joins in. I suspect that Vivian Stanshall both loved and hated his subject matter. If you want a living parallel, try the poetry of Mike Haslam.

Given the junk, like Pirates of the Caribbean, which gets 7.5 +, I don't think the assessment of this film reflects its uniqueness. It's good to see Trevor Howard debunking Englishness too.

I absolutely love this film. I have watched it so often I could dictate the screenplay from memory, but still new subtleties become apparent, even twenty years after I first saw it. Imagine a festering synthesis of Evelyn Waugh and Bunuel via Monty python, then make it ten times better than you might imagine. The fevered and eccentric imagination of 60's Dada-jazz-pop-freak Vivian Stanshall has brought to life a film that is by turns insanely funny, intellectual, schoolboy coarse and charmingly nostalgic for a never-been, golden age of Englishness. If you think you have wrung out every subtlety and pun from the dialogue then you have probably not been listening carefully enough. Layers of meaning run through everything (visuals, dialogue and songs). Apparently Vivian, never satisfied with his own work, hated it but, for me, this film is very nearly perfect. I saw this before hearing any of the Sir Henry radio or LP recordings and to be honest, there are some things that can't be fathomed from the film alone but they only serve to make it more surreal. 'Bizarre' magazine voted it the weirdest movie of all time. That is open to debate but it is decidedly, wilfully odd. If you are one of those (irritating) people who like to quote whole chunks of pungent comic dialogue then leave the safe waters of Monty Python and Derek and Clive and set out on an epic journey to Rawlinson End. It's not hip, it's in B&W and it has ukelele music, it makes no concession to commerciality and 95% of the population will not understand the appeal, but if you are one of the lucky twentieth then your life (and your repertoire of quirky film quotes) will be enriched. A lost British classic.

A truly eccentric British film based upon an even more eccentric story by Viv Stanshall. Trevor Howard is magnificent as Sir Henry and is supported by many other stalwarts of the UK film industry. Trevor Howard was a true actor - tackling both mainstream and experimental parts - some of todays famous actors should take note. The plot, Sir Henry's attempt to exorcise the ghost of his brother Humbert, has many strange and entertaining asides woven around it. Look out for the "pet prisoners of war", the unicycle scene, the dinner party and the incredible Mrs E. The film suffers from a very low budget - the sound is appalling at times and I suspect it may have been shot on 16mm. It was also in B/W though this seem to add to the overall feel. Sir Henry is also available as a book and was also an LP though this seem to be very rare. The LP is quite different to the film in both content and expression. This film is not for anyone wanting a British "carry on" style comedy - but rather a highly sophisticated and subtle film with comic elements. The UK film industry should have taken note instead of producing the comedy dross that it did at this period.

I don't have a lot to add to the previous comments - just wanted to get that one-line summary in.

I saw "Sir Henry" when it first came out, not knowing the Bonzos or Viv Stanshall at the time and not knowing the characters' previous incarnations. Sometimes baffling but incredibly amusing. The "German" prisoners are wonderful. Sound was pretty bad, a problem for American viewers given the thick, country-ish English accents. Most annoying during the scene where Old Scrotum sings a comic song at a (comically) ratty town festival of some kind. I was laughing, but not knowing exactly why.

Direction is good, too. Alan Mowbray and Peter Chelsom are the only other true representatives of this drolly rambling style, and Roberts seems to have given it up subsequently. There's definitely a method to the madness.

Favorite lines: "Germany calling!" "Fetch me my antlers - no, not those antlers - the ones I use to deface Reader's Digest!"

It's 18 years since I saw Sir Henry at the cinema. My friends and I had to go two nights in a row, just to make sure we hadn't imagined it the first time.

Sir Henry is a stroll through the mind of Director, writer, performer, and Bonzo Dog Band frontman Vivan Stanshall's mind - which, by the early 80's, was probably coming seriously unravelled. Fans of hard-core British surrealism absolutely must see this movie. Everyone else should probably avoid it. Rooms filled with rotting fruit, ghostly mechanical bulldogs, face-jumping competitions, and not least of all Sir Henry's Brother Hubert (Viv), who goes fishing for hairdressers. Stanshall's humour has far more in common with Dali than with Eddie Murphy, and the overwhelming majority of (at least, American) filmgoers will simply be stupified.

A few things should be said about sir Henry. First, Trevor Howard, in the lead role, plays such a magnificent drunk that it's a little hard to believe he was putting it on (I do believe it was his last movie.) Secondly, the film alternately plods and lurches in such a fashion that , as with early Woody Allen films, you'll find yourself sitting through a fair bit of material that doesn't work, just for the blinding moments when it comes together. Thirdly, as wonderful as this movie is (and despite its faults, my memory insists it _is_ quite wonderful), it isn't as good as the album. Sir Henry the film is terrific. Sir Henry the LP is a comic masterpiece; Stanshall's finest moment.

8 out of 10.