What a Whopper

A silly British comedy written by Terry Nation rife with leering sexual and regional stereotypes (like Adam Faith in a kilt and fake beard adopting a Scottish accent pretending to be 'Hamish MacSporran'), that actually went to Loch Ness for a few shots (although with outdoor night scenes obviously shot in broad daylight).

The plot is based on a central fallacy, since Faith is reduced to faking a photograph of Nessie on the Serpentine as he can't get his book on the subject published because the Great Orm hasn't been seen for ages; yet the simple fact that this film was being made attests to the current topicality of the Loch Ness Monster. And his popularity as a pop idol accounts for his presence in this nonsense woodenly playing the lead; compensated for by a supporting cast ranging from Amanda Barrie & Trevor Peacock seen uncredited in long shot even before the credits (which do include Peacock for the original story) are over, Jamaican actor Lloyd Reckford in his only credited film role prior to the 1990s, Spike Milligan as a tramp, Terry Scott in his days typecast as a police sergeant to Fyfe Robertson and the late Freddie Frinton (the latter totally forgotten to any Briton under sixty but a household name in Germany thanks to his annual appearances every New Year's Eve in 'Dinner for One').

(SPOILERS COMING:) It's a typical bit of cynicism on Nation's part that once Faith claims to see Nessie, everybody standing alongside him on the shore jumps on the bandwagon by claiming to see him too. While the actual sound and visual effects of Nessie himself are in fact rather good.

"There's something funny going on", mutters Terry Scott's policeman to his colleague Gordon Rollings. Well, I'm not sure about that, but "What a Whopper!" is at least mildly diverting, mainly for the pleasure of spotting the stars in the extraordinary cast. It is also noteworthy for the screenplay by future "Daleks" scribe Terry Nation, music by Laurie "Avengers" Johnson and for Adam Faith's quite dreadful theme song, which is arranged by none other than John Barry!

The film itself is innocent seaside postcard humour, full of comic misunderstandings. Charles Hawtrey plays a beatnik artist (!), Spike Milligan is a befuddled fisherman and Sid James a Scottish publican, although he wisely makes no attempt at a Scots accent. There is also a rare big screen outing for Freddie Frinton's famous sozzled aristocrat performance. This film is truly a souvenir from a bygone age, when the idea of an inebriated man driving from London to Scotland was funny and when outrageous sexism was tolerated. The treatment of women in this film makes the "Carry On" series positively 'PC' by comparison!

Adam Faith can't sell his book about the Loch Ness Monster. All the publishers say that Nessie hasn't been seen in a long time. So he and Charles Hawtrey drive up to Scotland to fake evidence, picking up Marie France and Carole Lessley along the way. Once on site, their plans become mixed up with Sid James'. He's the owner of the pub they're staying at who's catching salmon out of season and selling them to a black marketeer.

The burlesque-like sexuality of this comedy is set in the first shot, with the camera following Miss Lessley on the street, with a close-up of her derriere. The rest of the movie seems to consist of CARRY ON hijinx, mixed with a plot which handles Faith's duplicity as if it is the most normal thing in the world. Credit, if that's the right word, with a script co-written by Terry Nation.

Faith was transitioning from a two-hit musical wonder to an actor. He seems to have had moderate success with the latter career. He died in 2003 at the age of 62.

A young, raffish down-on-his-luck writer with a gimlet-sharp eye for the young ladies (Adam Faith) ambitiously hatches an ingeniously madcap plot to orchestrate a sighting of the infamously elusive Loch Ness Monster with a little help from his amiably eccentric, Nessie-faking beatnik chums in Gilbert Gunn's delightfully kooky 60s comedy caper! 'What A Whopper!' is not only endowed with a truly 'whopping' cast of iconic film and telly-box favourites, including Terry Scott, Clive Dunn, Wilfrid Brambell, Spike Milligan and bawdy comedy Lothario par excellence Sid James, and Blake's 7 showrunner Terry Nation's pratfall-perfect, wonderfully whacky, slapstick n' tickle script, while admittedly a small scale, frequently fishy cinematic affair is also a Loch of monster-sized laffs!

The soothingly nostalgic British comedy 'What A Whopper!' is atmospherically set against the bucolic majesty of mountainous, myth-laden Scotland, a suitably bracing backdrop for the hilariously outlandish hi-jinks and blissfully bonkers buffoonery of our bungling beatniks! Their intrepid attempt to contrive a media frenzy about the sudden return of the legendary lake dwelling diva Nessie not infrequently inspires some especially inspired lunacy by our endearingly shambolic, far from expert fraudsters! Frothily factor in some dreamy sing-along Adam Faith pop, alongside no less fine compositions by music maestro Laurie Johnson, heroically hyping up the crowd-pleasing multitude of amusingly silly rough N' tumble comedy shenanigans, all being breezily directed by the talented Gilbert Gunn guarantees that fans of vintage British comedy will find the galloping gag-fest 'What A Whopper!' a warmly-fuzzy feel-good delight from start to finish.

I saw this film today and must say, it made me laugh. It didn't aim to be a major box office smash and it wasn't, but it was fun and relaxing to watch. I was amazed and glad to see so many great names appear, and it made a nice change to have a plot that wasn't so complex that it gave you a headache. I enjoyed it greatly and i know my cousin of eleven years old enjoyed it too!