Are You Being Served? (film)

1977 British comedy film by Bob Kellett

Are You Being Served?
British quad poster
Directed by	Bob Kellett
Screenplay by	David Croft Jeremy Lloyd
Based on	Are You Being Served? by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft
Produced by	Andrew Mitchell
Starring	Mollie Sugden John Inman Frank Thornton Trevor Bannister Wendy Richard Arthur Brough Nicholas Smith Arthur English Harold Bennett
Cinematography	Jack Atcheler
Edited by	Al Gell
Music by	Ronnie Hazlehurst
Production company	Anglo-EMI
Distributed by	EMI
Release date	31 July 1977 (1977-07-31)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Are You Being Served? is a 1977 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and written David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, based on the 1972–85 BBC sitcom of the same name, which follows the staff of the men's and women's clothing departments of the London Grace Brothers department store.

The story is adapted from the successful stage production of the show, which played at Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The film features the performers from the television series, including Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith.

Plot

As Grace Brothers undergoes redecorations, the management sends the staff on a paid holiday to the resort of Costa Plonka, on the Spanish coast. On the first night they think they are allocated seven "penthouses" but it is in fact "tent-houses" outside the hotel – save for Mr Harman, who is given one of the hotel's luxury suites, much to the chagrin of the others.

After various misfortunes and misunderstandings, the staff narrowly survive a gunfight between the revolutionaries and government troops. They are rescued by a group of tanks that arrive on the scene; revealed to have been commandeered by Young Mr Grace, who wanted to visit his beleaguered underlings, but was unable to find a taxi.

Cast

John Inman as Mr Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, the senior sales assistant on the men's counter.
Mollie Sugden as Mrs Betty Slocombe, the head of the ladies department and the film's main female protagonist.
Frank Thornton as Captain Stephen Peacock, the floorwalker at Grace Brothers.
Trevor Bannister as Mr Dick Lucas, the junior of the men's department.
Wendy Richard as Miss Shirley Brahms, the Cockney junior of the ladies' department and Mrs Slocombe's friend.
Arthur Brough as Mr Ernest Grainger, the head of the men's department and the oldest member of the staff. This was Arthur Brough's last appearance as Mr Grainger as he died before filming of series 6 began.
Nicholas Smith as Mr Cuthbert Rumbold, the manager of the floor.
Harold Bennett as Young Mr Grace, the elderly head of Grace Brothers department store.
Arthur English as Mr Beverley Harman, the head of the packing department.
Karan David as Conchita, a young waitress who works at the hotel.
Glyn Houston as Cesar Rodriguez, a terrorist with a crush on Mrs Slocombe.
Andrew Sachs as Don Carlos Bernardo, the moderately dishonest hotel manager, and Cesar's unwilling accomplice.
Derek Griffiths as the Emir.
Nadim Sawalha and Sheila Steafel as various Grace Brothers customers.
Penny Irving as Miss Nicholson, Mr Grace's new secretary.
Raymond Bowers as Henry, the barber at Grace Brothers.
Paul Grist as the Customs Officer

Production

EMI Films had enjoyed success adapting a number of TV shows into films such as On the Buses, Up Pompeii, Steptoe and Son and The Sweeney. It approached David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd to adapt Are You Being Served? into a film. The writers agreed and decided to use plot from a stage show they had already written based on the sitcom. The stage show had been presented in Blackpool 1976 by Bernard Delfont who was head of EMI. The stage show had been successful but was expensive to produce because of its characters.

The job of directing the film went to Bob Kellet who had made a number of comedies for EMI including Up Pompeii and Spanish Fly. "At first the cast found it strange having someone intrude into their happy family," said Kellet. “But they were a wonderful team and quickly got used to me as the director, particularly when they began realizing that working on a film requires a different discipline and I could help."

The film was mostly shot at at Elstree Studios with one day of filming at London Gatwick Airport. The tight budget meant the unit could not go on location to Spain, so the resort had to be recreated on the backlot. Frank Thomson recalled, "I didn’t think it was very good; there wasn’t enough money spent on it. In the film the characters had to sleep in tents because all the rooms were full, but when you see the dining-room or the reception desk, the place is empty — there could at least have been a few other visitors strolling around making it look less deserted."

Release

The film opened in British cinemas from 31 July 1977 onwards.

Reception

Kellett recalled the film being "fairly successful." David Croft said "It was made entirely in a studio and it shows. It didn’t make much money, but if it had been handled differently, I believe it could have. I felt it was badly distributed. But even though it wasn’t terribly well made, it was funny." Jeremy Lloyd called the movie "moderately successful, even if it didn’t make us much money." Loyd and Croft took a percentage of the profits but never received any.

Critical

In a contemporary review, John Pym of the Monthly Film Bulletin gave the film a negative review, stating that "The humour consists mainly of a withering selection of patent British puns; an inflatable brassiere, some let's-insult-the-Germans jokes and a rickety thunder-box which bolts from the outside are thrown in for good measure."

In a retrospective review, DVD Verdict's Michael Stailey regards it as a film that is "guilty of violating almost every law of comedy and film." The film is widely considered to be lacking in originality, plot, and focus. At present, the film holds a 60% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the cutoff for a positive rating is 59%.

References

^ Pym, John (1977). "Are You Being Served?". Monthly Film Bulletin. 44 (516). London: British Film Institute.
^ "John Inman & Mollie Sugden". Art & Hue.
"Are You Being Served?". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
Webber p 153
Webber p 150-151
Webber p 153
Webber p 154
Webber p 154
Webber p 155
Webber p 155
"DVD Verdict Review – Are You Being Served? The Movie". DVD Verdict. 6 September 2002. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
"Rotten Tomatoes: Are You Being Served/". Rotten Tomatoes.

Notes

Webber, Richard (1998). Are you being served? : a celebration of twenty-five years. Welcome Rain.

External links

v t e Are You Being Served?
Original series	Episodes Film
Spinoffs	Are You Being Served? (Australian TV series) Grace & Favour

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