Nearest and Dearest

The other reviewers here seem to have missed the point. Nearest and Dearest ran for 7 series based almost entirely on Hilda Bakers eccentric and malapropism prone Nellie. The jokes were meant to crude northern humour and not some high brow Woody Allen type comedy. Yes it has dated badly and Jimmy Jewel was no Laurence Olivier but every time I watch this movie I chuckle frequently at the ridiculousness of the content and Hylda Bakers classic character. Maybe it's because I was born in the north west in the 70's but I find this movie an amusing diversion from every day life. Oh yes it's quite funny in parts too!

This is another 1970's spin-off film from a tv series of the same title. It's quite funny and is typical of the time. We went through all these spin-off films, Carry On films, Confession of a...films, which are really all quite innocent and humorous with added innuendo. Reading some of the other reviews on here makes me wonder what people actually expect from this genre!

The filmed version of Nearest and Dearest was released a year before the television show finished with its final series.

The film goes back to when the show started and the death of Eli and Nellie Pledge's father. Both siblings now inherit their dad's pickle business in Colne, Lancashire.

Even though Eli has been away for a number of years, hoping to make his fortune in London. He arrived back home potless.

Eli and Nellie go to Blackpool for a seaside break. He attracts the attention of amorous widow Mrs Rowbottom (Yootha Joyce.) Then has the idea of marrying Nellie off to Vernon Smallpiece (Norman Mitchell.) A middle aged pickler from Oldham who is also single.

Only Vernon agrees to reluctantly marry Nellie as he is in desperate financial straits himself.

The film aimed for Carry On style cheeky postcard humour. It lost the pull of the television series. Both Jimmy Jewel and Hylda Baker struggle with the script. It is plotless and witless.

The early scene when Eli strands his girlfriend Freda (Pat Ashton) in London and they nastily throws a portion of chips at her. That is basically assault. It gets worse later, Eli does a striptease.

Then there are lazy scenes to reunite the characters from the show. On the trip to Blackpool, Eli and Nellie bump into Walter and Lily. As well as factory workers Stan and Bert.

Overall a dismal offering.

This movie is both lazy and pointless. Having recently discovered and enjoyed the sitcom it's based on, I was excited to see it, especially since the character Nellie is so funny and gets all the best lines, delivered in her signature style like, "Don't be Riciedoodleous." However, the film is simply a rehash of the first three seasons of the show. It uses the exact same script and scenarios, just refilmed for the big screen. There's nothing new here.

If you're already a fan of the show and have watched the first three seasons, there is absolutely no reason to watch this movie.

Hammer obviously thought that they would hit paydirt at the box office with ths television spin off. If you were a cinema goer at this time the choice would be either this type of film or a sex comedy. I would prefer the later but many would chose to stay at home leading to more cinema closures.

I never watched the TV series on which this film was based. All I can say is that if both TV and film were more or less equal how on earth did either get made let alone viewed.

The fact that so many companies were involved in it's making makes you wonder if raising finance for making the film provide to be difficult.