George and Mildred (film)

Last updated

George and Mildred
George and Mildred (1980 film).jpg
British quad poster by Tom Beauvais
Directed byPeter Frazer Jones
Written by Dick Sharples
Based on George and Mildred
by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
Produced by Roy Skeggs
Starring
CinematographyFrank Watts
Edited by Peter Weatherley
Music by Les Reed
Production
companies
  • Chips Productions
  • Cinema Arts International Production
Distributed by ITC Film Distributors
Release date
  • 27 July 1980 (1980-07-27)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

George and Mildred is a 1980 British comedy film directed by Peter Frazer Jones. [1] It was an adaptation of the television series George and Mildred , with Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy reprising their roles as the two title characters. [2] It was written by Dick Sharples. [1]

Contents

Plot

Mildred is keen to ascertain whether or not her husband George has remembered their 27th wedding anniversary. Needless to say, he has not. When he finally remembers, he books a table at the restaurant where he first proposed to Mildred. But to his horror, he discovers on arrival that it has been turned into a greasy spoon café run by Hells Angels style bikers. Mildred then decides that she and George will celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary in style at the plush, world famous London hotel – however unhappy George might be at the cost involved. But on arrival, George is mistaken for a ruthless hit-man by a shady businessman, who wants a rival eliminated.

Release

Released on 27 July 1980, less than a month before the death (on 24 August 1980) of star Yootha Joyce, the film was neither a commercial nor a critical success. [3] The film first aired on ITV television on Christmas Day 1980, only five months after its theatrical release. [4]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Spun-off from a TV series that was originally a spin-off from an earlier series, George and Mildred is flaccid entertainment even by routine sit-com standards, and amounts to no more than one attenuated music-hall joke: the boorish husband. Brian Murphy's snivelling, runtish Roper drives a beat-up Morris Minor, guzzles brown ale and sports woollen underwear; Yootha Joyce (an icily accomplished comedienne) matches the tone with a caricature that trades on loud costumes, cheap accessories and ambitions way beyond her means. Whatever sparks may once have fired this screen relationship have long since been snuffed by the overwhelming pettiness of the characters. They behave here exactly as they would in the half-hour TV sit-com, but by nature of the expanded format are forced into more socially embarrassing confrontations than the characterisations can cope with. Hence the hasty wrapping-up of the absurdly exotic gangster plot, and the cop-out solution of the closing car chase (in which Stratford Johns finally loses one of several hairpieces he has essayed in the course of the film)." [5]

Bright Lights Film Journal described the film as "one of the worst films ever made in Britain ...so strikingly bad, it seems to have been assembled with a genuine contempt for its audience." [6]

The Guardian stated that the film's failure marked "the death knell" for the 1970s British practice of producing motion picture spinoffs based on sitcoms. [7]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Abysmal TV spinoff, seeming even more lugubrious since it was released after the death of its female star." [8]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce were consistently funny on TV as the Ropers, first in Man about the House and then in their own series George and Mildred. But this desperate, smutty comedy of errors is no laughing matter. Made a year after the series ended, it was a sad finale for Yootha Joyce, who died before the film was released." [9]

Cast

Related Research Articles

A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.

A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same story as the original but uses a different set of casts, and may use actors from the original, alter the theme, or change the flow and setting of the story, in addition since a remake is released some time after the original work it may incorporate new technologies, enhancements, and techniques that had not existed or was commonly used when the original work was created. A similar but not synonymous term is reimagining, which indicates a greater discrepancy between, for example, a movie and the movie it is based on.

<i>Threes Company</i> American television sitcom (1977–1984)

Three's Company is an American television sitcom that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. Developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, it is based on the British sitcom Man About the House created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer.

<i>Man About the House</i> British TV sitcom (1973–1976)

Man About the House is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. It starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 April 1976. The series was considered daring at the time because it featured a man sharing a London flat with two single women. The show was made by Thames Television and recorded at its Teddington Studios in Greater London. It is regularly repeated on ITV3.

<i>George and Mildred</i> British TV sitcom (1976–1979)

George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from Man About the House, and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple George and Mildred Roper. The premise of the series had George and Mildred leaving their flat as depicted in Man About the House and moving to a modern, upmarket housing estate in Hampton Wick. Their arrival horrifies their snobbish neighbour Jeffrey Fourmile, a middle-class estate agent who fears the Ropers' presence will devalue his home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yootha Joyce</span> English actress (1927–1980)

Yootha Joyce Needham, known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom Man About the House (1973–1976) and its spin-off George and Mildred (1976–1979).

<i>Threes a Crowd</i> Television series

Three's a Crowd is an American sitcom television series produced as a spin-off and continuation of Three's Company that aired on ABC from September 25, 1984, until April 9, 1985, with reruns airing until September 10, 1985. It is loosely based on the British sitcom Robin's Nest, which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House, on which Three's Company was based.

Brian Trevor John Murphy is an English actor and comedian. He is best known as the henpecked husband George Roper in the popular sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off series George and Mildred. He also played Alvin Smedley in Last of the Summer Wine. Other notable roles include Stan the shopkeeper in the 1990s children's series Wizadora, and Maurice in the comedy drama series The Booze Cruise.

John Mortimer professionally Johnnie Mortimer, was a British scriptwriter for British TV whose work, along with creative writing partner Brian Cooke, also served as inspiration for American television projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Cooke</span> British writer

Brian Cooke is a British comedy writer who, with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer, penned scripts for and devised many top 1970s/80s television sitcoms, including Man About the House, George and Mildred, and Robin's Nest.

<i>Sparrows Cant Sing</i> 1963 British film by Joan Littlewood

Sparrows Can't Sing is a 1963 British kitchen sink comedy, the only film that Joan Littlewood directed. It starred James Booth and Barbara Windsor. It was written by Stephen Lewis based on his 1960 play Sparrers Can't Sing, first performed at Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the Theatre Royal Stratford East. The producer was Donald Taylor.

<i>Charlie Bubbles</i> 1967 British film by Albert Finney

Charlie Bubbles is a 1968 British comedy-drama film directed by Albert Finney and starring Finney, Billie Whitelaw and Liza Minnelli. The screenplay was by Shelagh Delaney.

Mildred Dorothy Roper is a fictional character from the Thames Television sitcoms Man About the House and George and Mildred. She was portrayed by Yootha Joyce.

<i>Man About the House</i> (film) 1974 British comedy film by John Robins

Man About the House is a 1974 British comedy film directed by John Robins and starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett,Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. It is a spin-off of the TV sitcom of the same name, starring the same main cast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Bond-Owen</span> British actor

Nicholas Bond-Owen is a child actor of the 1970s and 1980s best known for playing Tristram Fourmile in all five series of the popular comedy George and Mildred and in the film of the same name.

L for Lester is a BBC sitcom first broadcast in 1982, starring Brian Murphy. The programme followed the misfortunes of a small town driving instructor. It was intended as a new vehicle for Murphy after his previous hit show - George and Mildred - was retired following the sudden death of Yootha Joyce in 1980.

References

  1. 1 2 "George and Mildred (1980)". Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  2. "George and Mildred (1980) - Peter Frazer Jones - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. Hogan, Michael (29 June 2016). "From the Ab Fab movie to George & Mildred: the best (and worst) big screen Britcoms". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. "Thames TV, 25th December 1980".
  5. "George and Mildred". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 47 (552): 157. 1 January 1980 via ProQuest.
  6. Julian Upton, "Carry On Sitcom: The British Sitcom Spin-off Film 1968-1980", Bright Lights Film Journal , no. 35 (January 2002).
  7. Bentham, Jon (13 January 2006). "Funny money". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  8. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 395. ISBN   0586088946.
  9. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 358. ISBN   9780992936440.