Eat the Rich | |
---|---|
Directed by | Peter Richardson |
Written by | Peter Richardson Pete Richens |
Produced by | Tim Van Rellim |
Starring | Lanah Pellay Nosher Powell Ronald Allen Nigel Planer Miranda Richardson |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | CBS/Fox Video Ltd. (UK) New Line Cinema (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Language | English |
Eat the Rich is a 1987 British black comedy film directed by Peter Richardson, who also wrote the screenplay with Pete Richens. A co-production between Channel 4 Films, Iron Fist Motion Pictures and Michael White Productions, it features cast members from the popular television series The Comic Strip Presents... .
The film stars Lanah Pellay as Alex, Nosher Powell as the Home Secretary, and a number of cameos, including by Miranda Richardson, Nigel Planer, Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall, Paul McCartney, Shane MacGowan, Jennifer Saunders, Jimmy Fagg, Kathy Burke, Koo Stark, Sandie Shaw, Dawn French, Bill Wyman, Jools Holland, Hugh Cornwell, Adrian Edmondson, Angela Bowie and Lemmy.
The film initially focuses on a waiter on a high-class restaurant, who is met with constant contempt by the customers. After being fired, he forms an anarchist gang who attack and take over the restaurant. They start serving the clients and their former co-workers as food for other rich people. A number of would-be revolutionaries have figured out the gang's scheme and try to use them in a scheme against their own archenemy, the loutish Home Secretary.
Alex is a waiter in high-class London restaurant Bastards, subject to the upper-class customers' daily contempt. He is fired for being rude to the clientele. After witnessing a terrorist act on an embassy, he robs a benefits office and goes on the run with his new friend.
The Home Secretary is a menacing, beer-swilling, fornicating lout with his own way of dealing with trouble, usually with his fists. He is the darling of the voters, the press, and Fiona, a glamorous KGB agent. It was he who ended the terrorist situation earlier. His enemies include the sinister Commander Fortune, who plots a people's revolution with a difference, and General Karprov and Spider, who plot to derail the Home Secretary's campaign to become prime minister.
Alex returns to Bastards with a four-person team of anarchists and lays waste to the clientele and staff. He serves them up for consumption by other rich people in their new restaurant, and changed from Bastards to Eat the Rich. When Commander Fortune and Spider realise what's on the menu they formulate a plot to get rid of the conservative Home Secretary for good.
The film performed poorly at the box office, taking $200,723 across 4 screens in the USA. [1] Channel 4 were disappointed with the returns on the film and shelved another Richardson project, Five Go To Hell. [2]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 36% based on reviews from 11 critics. [3]
Hal Hinson writing in The Washington Post gave it a lukewarm review, writing "The punk jaggedness they bring to their derivations is the only hint of originality, but this, too, seems a little staid. It feels like punk on the downward swing, after most of its rude energy has dissipated." [4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave it a positive review and drew comparisons to "an upscale John Waters satire" and "Jean-Luc Godard's pre-Maoist period." [5]
In January 1988 the film was one of those attacked for its critique of Thatcherite society by University of Oxford historian Norman Stone, which he condemned in The Sunday Times as being "worthless and insulting" and "riddled with left wing bias". [6]
Eat The Rich featured at #49 in Time Out London 's list of "Cinema's 50 greatest flops, follies and failures." [7] The feature stated: "[The film] may not have had the budget to be considered a true flop, but the back-alley production values and total lack of comic invention on display in this Thatcher-baiting misstep meant that any hopes of a Pythonesque run at the movies were knocked way back on their heels."
The soundtrack album was released on the Filmtrax label, and featured six tracks by Motörhead, including the track "Eat the Rich", written especially for the film. The track also appeared on the Motörhead album Rock 'n' Roll , and was released in the UK as a single in its own right. It also featured a solo track, "Bess", by Würzel (Motörhead's second guitarist at the time).
The remaining Motorhead tracks are from their album Orgasmatron .
The soundtrack album also featured several pieces of incidental music from the film, as well as the synthpop track "Pistol in My Pocket" by Alan Pillay (credited as Lannah).
Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member, and a member of Hawkwind from 1971 to 1975.
Motörhead were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precursor to the new wave of British heavy metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Though several guitarists and drummers have played in Motörhead, most of their best-selling albums and singles feature drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor and guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke. From 1995 until the band's break-up in 2015, the group consisted of Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee.
Viz is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and generally sexual or violent storylines. It also sends up tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. It features parody competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition' tat, as well as obsessions with half-forgotten kitsch celebrities from the 1960s to the 1980s, such as Shakin' Stevens and Rodney Bewes. Occasionally, it satirises current affairs and politicians, but it has no particular political standpoint.
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents..., which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane, Alexei Sayle and others.
Peter Richardson is an English director, screenwriter, actor and comedian. He founded the Comic Strip troupe of performers, which showcased his double act with Nigel Planer and boosted the careers of French and Saunders, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, and Alexei Sayle. Richardson approached Channel 4 to make a series of short, self-contained one-off comedy films with this group, which led to The Comic Strip Presents..., the majority of which featured Richardson in acting, writing and directing roles.
Rock 'n' Roll is the eighth studio album by English rock band Motörhead, released in August 1987. It is their last album with the GWR label, as more legal issues embroiled the band with yet another label. Reaching only No. 34 in the UK Albums Chart, Rock 'n' Roll was, in that respect, the worst performing of all of Motörhead's top 40 chart hits.
"Eat the Rich" is a song by British Rock 'N' Roll band Motörhead. It was released as a single in 1987, in 7" and 12" vinyl pressings. Both formats featured the B-side "Cradle to the Grave", and the 12" also included "Just 'Cos You Got the Power".
Michael Richard Burston, commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician who played professionally for three decades. He played guitar in British rock band Motörhead from 1984 to 1995, playing on six studio albums and two live albums. Würzel died at the age of 61, following heart complications.
The Producers is a 2005 American musical comedy film directed by Susan Stroman and written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan based on the eponymous 2001 Broadway musical, which in turn was based on Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Gary Beach, Roger Bart, and Jon Lovitz. Creature effects were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Five Go Mad in Dorset was the first of three Five Go Mad specials from the long-running series of The Comic Strip Presents... television comedy films. It first aired on the launch night of Channel 4, and was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, and directed by Bob Spiers. It was entirely filmed in Devon rather than Dorset.
Skins is a British teen comedy drama television series that follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial storylines have explored issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness, adolescent sexuality, gender, substance abuse, death, and bullying.
Old Ebbitt Grill is a historic bar and restaurant located at 675 15th Street NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is Washington's oldest bar and restaurant, and is owned by Clyde's Restaurant Group. It first opened as an unnamed restaurant in the Ebbitt House Hotel. The Hotel distinguished itself as the first hotel in Washington to remain open all summer instead of closing when Congress adjourned. In 1827, the Hotel was razed and rebuilt in the same location. Ebbitt House Hotel was razed in 1925 to make way for the National Press Building, built in 1926. The restaurant was incorporated by Anders Lofstrand, Sr., as a stand-alone business. It moved into new quarters at 1427 F Street NW. After Lofstrand's death in 1955, the restaurant was purchased by Peter Bechas in 1961. The restaurant was sold at a tax sale in June 1970, and was purchased by Clyde's Restaurant Group. The 1427 F Street NW location was demolished in 1983 during redevelopment, and Old Ebbitt Grill moved into its current quarters at 675 15th Street NW.
Lanah P is an LGBT English entertainer.
Adrian Charles Edmondson is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–1995), which he wrote together with his collaborator Rik Mayall. Edmondson also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. For two episodes of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News, and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star.
Whoops Apocalypse is a 1986 British comedy film directed by Tom Bussmann and starring Loretta Swit, Herbert Lom, and Peter Cook. The film shares the same title as the TV series Whoops Apocalypse, but uses an almost completely different plot from the series.
Safetray is a brand name for a retractable finger receiver incorporated into the underside of a round wait staff tray to assist in handling the tray when carrying food and drinks for service in the hospitality industry. The handclip design provides leverage, helping to prevent toppling. The Safetray, invented in 2009, is now sold worldwide by Edinburgh-based Safetray Products Ltd.
The following events occurred in October 1949:
Live at Brixton '87 is the fifth live album by the band Motörhead, recorded on 23 December 1987, at the Brixton Academy in London, but wasn't released until 12 April 1994.
Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu, from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. It follows a Chinese-American professor, Rachel, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick and is shocked to discover that Nick's family is one of the richest families in Singapore.
The Orgasmatron Tour was a concert tour by heavy metal band Motörhead in support of their album, Orgasmatron. It would be the final tour with Pete Gill, as he would be fired in 1987 and replaced with Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor for the remainder of the tour.