Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me

After the three excellent preceding entries in this quartet, (Steptoe,Hancock,Hughie Green)this was a considerable disappointment.

I've no complaint with the performances, both David Walliams and Rafe Spall as Howerd & Heymer respectively were on top form. Where Rather You Than Me falls down, as opposed to the three previous entries is it's lacklustre script, which can't make up its mind whether to concentrate on Howerd or Heymer and falls limply between the two.

This cramped production lasting barely sixty minutes, seems more interested in Heymer's uninteresting sex life than exploring Howerd himself. So we are then subjected to scenes of dimly lit homosexual nightclubs and sweaty couplings, whilst Howerd sits morosely at home.

Poor old Frank is made to look so miserable and dull, you wonder how he ever made people laugh at all. Further insight into his character by the writers would have revealed that despite his depressive nature, he could also be humorous and great company as his many friends including Cilla Black and June Whitfield would bare witness to. (Happiness doesn't sell progamme's it seems)

I'm sad to say that Rather You Than Me is a kick in the teeth to a great comic.

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (2008) -

I seemed to recall enjoying this biographic film a lot more the first time around. Maybe it was the titillating sexual bits that aroused my attention at the time, but I certainly felt that I would have given David Walliams awards for his role as the leading man Frankie Howerd back then, but actually on this second viewing I wasn't sure that he was actually all that amazing.

I've never really liked Dave as an artist anyway, but he made Frankie out to be a bit of a perve here, he was greasy and lecherous in a seedy way. I could however see that there were perhaps some blurred lines that had to be dealt with regarding his suppressed sexuality and feelings of shame, that could only have been done in that sort of way, but it didn't endear me to the real Frankie.

While David did achieve some of the mannerisms and the inflections of the 'Up Pompeii' (1969-70 & 1971) star, I didn't feel that he delivered his rendering of the comedian as well as many of the others that I've seen from the same biopic films - Michael Sheen as Kenneth Williams in 'Fantabulosa!' (2006) for one and Daniel Rigby & Bryan Dick as Morecambe and Wise in 'Eric & Ernie' for another.

Rafe Spall however certainly stood out as Howerd's Manager and life partner Dennis Heymer. I think this might have been the first thing that I saw him perform in and the one that made me appreciate him as an actor to the point where I watch almost everything that he turns up in.

In a lot of ways the film was more about Heymer than of Frankie, with the star used as a vehicle to tell Dennis' story instead, which I didn't mind, but felt it was off topic and not what I'd turned up for.

Unfortunately, because of Frankie's own personal issues with being gay and what seemed like a mental health issue of some sort, it made being a homosexual almost appear to be as dirty and wrong as Frankie thought it was, but I wasn't sure if that was deliberate. I supposed that because of the time the film was set, between the 1950's and the 1960's, there was a lot of seedy get togethers behind closed doors, but as the film was depicting what was most likely a loving relationship in reality, there wasn't a lot of the niceties of a romance. Maybe if it had been 15-20 minutes longer it could have included some light in their couples life as well as what seemed like a lot of dark. Surely Dennis didn't stay with him for all of those years without feeling some affection towards Frankie? And although his reasoning for that was shown in little bits, it was very subtle and I personally would have liked to have seen a lot more affection between them.

I still enjoyed the story and generally the artistic and sometimes thoughtful way that the film was made. As someone who longs to be a part of it all I've always appreciated tales of celebrity, so it was interesting to see how one of those that I've laughed at and enjoyed watching had made it through each day to keep entertaining, despite some low points in his career, that seemed to mar the high ones for him.

Not a bad film, but I thought that it could have been a really great one with a bit more attention.

699.02/1000.

I saw this rather dull and odd drama when it was shown 15 years ago on BBC4 and had, unsurprisingly, forgotten all about it. But in 2023 the BBC showed it again and I can see why I had forgotten it.

Frankie Howerd was a British comedy legend, a master raconteur and a complicated man. However very little of what made him popular comes across in this rather boring tv movie. The film seems to be obsessed by his closet homosexuality and relationship with Dennis Haymer. It also finishes in the early 1970s, just as . About twenty years before he died, missing out a large chunk of his later career.

David Walliams may have been a huge fan of Howerd but he gives a strange interpretation of the character, lacking in conviction and a bit bland, whilst Rafe Spall and the late Dilys Laye seem very underused. Out of all the 'comedy greats' season TV movies that were shown on BBC4 in 2008, this is by far the least interesting and adds very little to the Howerd legend. Walliams seems a bit out of his depth too and the dullness of the script really doesn't help. And the way the film ends is what inspired me to say 'Is that it?' as the title of this review, because that genuinely was my reaction.

Dennis Heymer is working as a waiter when he first meets Frankie Howerd, who is famous but is not having the best period of his career. At first their interactions are little more than homosexual trysts followed by awkwardness and Dennis heading home but with persistence Dennis manages to form a sort of relationship with Howerd. A difficult character to love, this film follows the intimate and professional relationship between the two through personal tragedy and a revival of Howerd's career.

I didn't do it on purpose but my brief plot summary points to the problem with this film in the way that it seems to be more about Dennis than Frankie Howerd and indeed that is how the film seems to play out. Rather than just using Dennis as a narrative device (a "way in" to the character of Howerd) the film puts him as the main character and so for much of it we are following his story rather than Howerd's or, where Howerd does something we get the event not as something that happened but as how it emotionally impacted on Dennis. In terms of general story-telling this is all well and good and I was reasonably interested by it, however in a film that was meant to be about Frankie Howerd it only serves to annoy and detract.

It was a real shame because the other "Curse of Comedy" films had been pretty good and focused on the subjects so I'm not sure why this one managed to miss the mark so badly. In terms of general impression Wailliams does pretty well as Howerd but he falls down in key areas. The main failing I do not think is really his because it is with the character and the material and focus is not there in the making to help him with this. The secondary failing is that Wailliams' Howerd is not funny – and I say this as a fan of the great man. Spall's performance is better but again this may be because the material offered him more to work with. The supporting cast is solid but they cannot make up for the material and focus of delivery.

I was looking forward to Rather You Than Me because I had just watched the really good "Curse of Steptoe" and do like Howerd and I was disappointed that this film seemed more interested in Dennis, leaving Frankie Howerd a secondary character in a film that was meant to be about him.

This is a wonderful piece that rightly centres Frankie's relationship and his family history. It's isn't a comedy. It's a careful examination of how someone's upbringing informs their choices, and how gay love can be expressed in public and private at this repressive time. Rafe Spall is a revelation.