Stella Street

I found this on DVD at my local blockbuster among the ex rental titles for 2.99 and bought it as I used to watch the TV show of the same name. What happened with this movie?I had not as much as read a review of it in any magazine (and I read them all), seen an ad or even heard of it being in the pipeline? Was it a secret, did it just appear on DVD shelves overnight? Anyway now that I have found it and watched it, I can say that it will appeal to fans of the TV series,its not cinema at its best but it has transfered quite well to the big screen (or DVD small screen)with the same sort of humour. The DVD has a fair few extras as well that are quite entertaining.

In the beginning, there was a cleaning woman called Mrs Huggett. She's lived in Stella Street since it was built, and was bombed in the war. One day, in the 1960s, she took in some lodgers. In a clip from series 4 (introduced by a voice that sounds remarkably like an uncredited Harry Enfield)*, we are shown the Beatles running down Stella Street pursued by hyper-hormonal teenagers, much to the aggravation of their co-lodger Richard Burton. At once we are aware, Stella Street is no ordinary thoroughfare.

Michael Caine, just making a name for himself, is the first celebrity to set up home on the Street. Jimmy Hill isn't far behind him.

We jump to 2001, when Michael tells Jack Nicholson of Stella Street's charms. After this, the word spreads and soon detached houses are changing hands for £3million, which is quite expensive even for Surrey. The Stones come to run the shop, and the stage is set.

A notable addition to the original cast is Ronnie Ancona. She has a few brief appearances as an American reporter, Madonna, Victoria Beckham and an evil Irish girl. Sadly, I don't think the film really benefits from her presence; if anything, Sessions and Cornwell dressed as women are funnier.

With the exception of a couple of clips in flashback scenes, all the material for the movie has been freshly shot, and any previous Surbiton happenings have been long since forgotten. Except for the interior of the corner shop, the location has changed from London, W12, to an anonymous cul-de-sac in Surrey. This made filming easier (so the commentary tells us) due to less traffic, although the grander the houses get, the less absurd Stella Street's core conceit becomes.

Those already familiar with Stella Street will find the opening scenes of the movie a little slow, as they are reintroducing the set-up that the first 30 seconds of episode 1 did so well. You will also miss Dirk Bogarde, Roger Moore, Alan Rickman, Jimmy Saville, Patrick Moore, John Hurt, Marlon Brando and The Slurreys, all of whom have been omitted. Strangely, Jack Flatley (graduating from Mr Gale's Honey Bee), Mike Duggan and Vince Chuff have survived the suburbanite cull to become the villains of the piece. The enigmatic Dave Haskell has a speaking part as a milkman (including a great feed-line for Jack Nicholson), and Dean Barraclough remains intact. Another generic TV character to make it through is Len MacMonotony, who is more overtly bonkers than his original incarnation. (In my view, Len was funnier when there was some doubt of his mental stability.) John Sessions' Scottish policeman also makes a brief appearance.

The style is different to the TV show, although there are still examples of the fast editing and use of stand-ins that make the original work so well. It's clear the pace has been slowed to carry the story over 80 minutes (not long for a feature these days), and the film is very even by modern standards, where so often a film descends into by-the-numbers mechanics after the first dazzling 2 reels.

Gone is the Art of Art theme tune that welcomed each episode of the original series. In its place, we have a superb Frank Sinatra impression taking off tracks such as `The Good Life.' I do not know who this singer is, but I believe he also sang the introduction to Armando Iannucci's Friday/Saturday Night Armistice on BBC2. Also, on the Bowie parodies, there are some excellent impressions of the guitar work of Robert Fripp.

Whilst shot on video, the movie is in Panavision (an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1).

My view has always been that Series 1 was the funniest. Whilst it had the lowest production values, being shot on Hi8, it had an energy, speed and freshness (not to mention a cinema verity look) that left most other TV comedy of the time standing. Series 2 built on 1's strengths, and was also very funny, with more characters and a bit more money spent. Series 3 was the first attempt at a feature-length episode, but when broadcast as 10 minute chunks, the rhythm of the piece suffered. Series 4, on the whole, wasn't very good. With the movie, the style appears to be midway between the quickfire series 2 and the extended series 3. As this movie is not intended to be watched in 10 minute chunks, the problems with series 3 do not arise. The movie also has some of the finest impression work of any of Phil and John's output to date.

All in all, the Stella Street movie is very good, and if you've enjoyed the series you'll get something out of it. If you've never seen Stella Street before, you're in for a treat.

Finally, as a fan myself, I urge you to buy the DVD of this movie, as the more sold, the better the chance of a DVD release of the first two series!

* Harry Enfield is involved in Peter Richardson's current project Churchill: The Hollywood Years. This makes it far more likely that Enfield is the voice-over artist.

In the 1960's, the Beatles took up residence in a small suburban street starting a minor trend for celebrities moving into the unassuming Stella Street. Decades later, in the 1990's, Michael Caine convinces Jack Nicholson to move into the street, bringing a load of other Hollywood stars to the area including Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and two of the Rolling Stones. However the influx of stars brings burglars, tourists and a criminal plot to rob the stars of all their money.

If you have never seen the 10 minute programmes that make up the series Stella Street, this film version is certainly not the place to start! The rough impressions and rather loose plots and storylines will almost certainly not be to everyone's tastes - a fact that was reflected in the film going straight to video and being screened on the BBC within a week of it being released. Can't understand the logic to that myself - why not just wait a few months at least and keep it quiet, that way at least fans will buy it not knowing it was due to TV.

Anyway, not being a massive fan, I forced myself to wait the week to see it on TV and save myself £15 (nice job BBC - that'll recoup your million investment!). The film manages to do a better job at creating a plot than series three did, but is still a bit episodic until the final 25 minutes where the stars lose their cash. The first 10 minutes will also be quite meaningless for fans as it just sets up the street and why all the stars are there. In some ways the film actually steps backwards as we have Dustin Hoffman moving into Hill's house here where he already had in the series. It still works pretty well though; the characters are funny for the same reasons they were in the series - being juxtapositioned with the English suburb and having their characters and mannerisms exaggerated. If you enjoy the series for what it is then it is likely you will enjoy this film. The plot may not be great but that shouldn't be a problem if you are used to the episodic nature of the series.

The cast (all three of them) are really good. The impressions are never spot on but many of them sound pretty good and the fact that they aren't the actual people is part of the joke! Sessions and Cornwall work together really well and the `shooting from back of head' trick when they are playing two characters in the same scene is not overused or very obvious. The addition of Ancona is important to move the plot forward, but she also gets a few funny parts as Madonna and Posh Spice.

Overall I enjoyed this film but then I have always enjoyed the series. If you are a fan then this will be good enough for you but it is an acquired taste that will likely alienate as many first time viewers as it pleases.

to be honest i prefer films that either make me think or make me want to watch them again to make sure i didn't miss anything.. but i saw the TV series of stella street and thought it was blatant but good comedy. hell i didn't even know they had made a movie until last week when it was shown on TV...

i made sure i had a few beers by me as i sat and watched this film. I knew what to expect and i was left in stitches laughing my ass off to most of the sketches and scenes. the old house cleaner helping jimmy greeves and then getting wasted on class a, to David bowie pretending he doesn't care that no one likes his singing. this is a decent attempt at a comedy from the British. it beats sex lives of the potato men and the rest easily...

in my opinion only blackball is as good as this... again a brit flick but you cant compare a British movie to a Hollywood blockbuster unless you have the monetary figure behind it to back you up...

i would recommend stella street the movie to anyone who likes British movies, odd comedys, or a dodgy movie to have a laugh with your mates.

Not anywhere as good as the series. The impressions by Phil Cornwell and John Sessions (plus Ronni Ancona) are still great, and spot-on, but, beyond that, the movie is quite weak. Has some incredibly funny moments, but many flat spots too.

Basically this film suffers the same problem most TV series suffer when being transformed into a movie: it's much tougher having a decent plot for 90 or so minutes than 25 or so minutes.