Sir Henry at Rawlinson End

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.

Sir Henry, a bigot, unfit father, drunkard, thug, commandant of his personal prisoner of war camp 40 years post world war two, one of Trevor Howards best parts and reminiscent of his part as Lord Cardigan in Charge of the Light Brigade. The rest of the cast is excellent although not 'Big' names. Viv Stanshell directs and appears as Sir Henry;s younger brother, coincidentally Viv died on the same day of the year as the real Sir Henry Rawlinson. Explaining the stream of consciousness that makes up this film is difficult to explain to the uninitiated but Rawlinsons End is haunted by the ghost of Sir Henrys brother, enter erstwhile exorcist the Rev Slodden and cockney wideboy partner hoping to benefit financially. At the same time a family gathering for a drunken Viking orgy of violence. This film needs the understanding of the English class system and 1500 years of oppression to fully appreciate so I would not expect much of an American audience to truly understand the finer graining but give it a try and have a limey friend on hand to explain. However still the funniest film you are likely to see. Favourite Line. "Silence, if I want your opinion I'll thrash it out of you!" Stanshall himself was a product of an authoritarian upbringing his father being an RAF officer, Sir Henry is what he is a bigot and a stone cold killer the sort of person that made and ran the English empire and we need these examples to remind us of what has gone before and what can change, if you really have difficulty in understanding the concept of irony just cuddle up with your friends DVD boxset. BACK OUT ON DVD, POUNCE NOW BEFORE THEY GO!

I saw this film in the Cinecenta in Panton Street when it was first released. I was so surprised that I went back in to watch it a second time. That was probably not the best use of £3.25 but I didn't regret the spending of it. I have seen it many times since and am still filled with that original sense of awe and mystification. And I love to share it. The sheer poetry and feeling of Theatre de Absurdisme. The unpredictability and blunt refusal to genuflect at the altar of political correctness (gone mad).

I recently had the opportunity of watching it with an American film buff. At the end he turned to me and asked "Can you tell me what that was about?" From this I gathered that American film buffs need to know about things like themes and analysis. Anyway, the answer still is that I don't know what this film is "about", any more than I know what my son's haircut is "about".

Some years ago I had the chance to ask Vernon Dudley Bowhay-Nowell (the ukulele player who gets stabbed with the bison horn) what it was all about. He didn't know either.

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.