Man About the House ** (1974, Richard O’Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett) – Classic Movie Review 9536

Hammer Films’ tame and tiring 1974 sex comedy Man About the House is spun off from the popular 39-episode Seventies British TV series Man About the House (1973–1976) about two young women, Chrissy and Jo, and their male flatmate, Robin Tripp.

Richard O’Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett repeat their TV roles in a yarn about the threesome combining with other residents to prevent their housing terrace from being razed for redevelopment by a property developer.

Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce play their dopey landlord and landlady George and Mildred Roper. George Roper is happy to accept the developer’s money but his wife Mildred joins the residents to take a stand.

The TV writers Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke insert lots of Carry On jokes into their coarsened-for-the-movies, now badly dated script, which is stale and lazy, and possibly offensive. Affection for the performers is about the best of it. Spike Milligan (as himself), Peter Cellier, Patrick Newell and Arthur Lowe give it a touch of class.

Love Thy Neighbour stars Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker appear as themselves.

Also in the cast are Doug Fisher, Peter Cellier, Patrick Newell, Spike Milligan, Arthur Lowe, Aimi MacDonald, Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Melvyn Hayes, Michael Ward, Bill Grundy (interviewer), Michael Robbins, Berry Cornish, Norman Mitchell, Johnny Briggs, Bill Pertwee, Bill Sawyer, Bill Maynard, Aubrey Morris, Andrea Lawrence, Julian Orchard, Mark Rogers, Pauline Peart, Arthur Hewlett, Annie Leake, Corinne Skinner, Robert Dorning and Damaris Hatman.

George Roper uses racist language, which is cut in the TV version, though they might also have considered cutting out scenes involving the effeminate gay couple and the nymphomaniac neighbour.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9536

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