The Movies (The Goodies)

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"The Movies"
The Goodies episode
Episode no.Series 5
Episode 1
Original air date10 February 1975 (1975-02-10)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"The Race"
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"Clown Virus"
List of episodes

"The Movies" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies .

Contents

This episode is also known as "The British Film Industry" and "The Black & White, Western, Epic Movie" as well as "BBC" and "The Choices of Film Creation".[ citation needed ]

As with other episodes in the series, this episode was written by members of The Goodies, with songs and music by Bill Oddie.

Award

The Goodies won the Silver Rose in 1975 for this episode at the Festival Rose d'Or, held in Montreux, Switzerland.

Plot

After complaining about the decline of the British film industry, the trio purchase Pinetree Studios (for £25) in the hope of making some good films. They then fire all the directors, whom they consider to be making films which are either "very boring or extremely pretentious in many cases both" and decide to make a film themselves.

Their attempt to remake Macbeth with less violence and more family interest is a complete failure, and leads to the three Goodies falling out with each other and attempting to make their own films, separately. Tim wants to make a Biblical epic while Graeme wants to make a violent Western, and Bill wants to make a silent black and white comedy (believing that to do this he has to paint everything monochrome, and not talk). Bill comments: "Buster Keaton must have spent three weeks painting the whole town black and white. And then a ruddy great building falls on him, and he doesn't make a sound."

Arguing over which type of film should be made, Graeme comments to Tim: "At least I can act which is more than I can say for some people present." Feeling hurt, Tim asks: "And what's that supposed to mean?" to which Graeme replies: "Well lets face it darling, you're no Glenda Jackson are you?"

Later, they start filming in an overcrowded studio outside, but wherever Tim, Bill and the other casts and film crews go, they keep running into Graeme's film set which is bigger than the others, as well as running into each other's sets. Bill joins up with his favourite legendary comedians Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. Then the battle of the Goodies begins when Tim's film crew bump into Graeme's film crew and all three extras fight alongside the Goodies. But the fight doesn't go well as the Goodies get hurt by their own extras. So they flee around the studios arguing and running about in the theatre. When the Goodies reunite, on stage, they are still arguing - until the huge word "The End" appears to drag the Goodies up in the air as they call for help.

Cultural references

Notes

DVD and VHS releases

This episode has been released on DVD.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Goodies</span> Trio of British comedians known for the TV series of the same name

The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie. The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comedy show from 1970 until 1982, combining sketches and situation comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buster Keaton</span> American actor, comedian and filmmaker (1895–1966)

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently maintained a stoic, deadpan facial expression that became his trademark and earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brooke-Taylor</span> English actor and comedian (1940–2020)

Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies.

<i>The Goodies</i> (TV series) British TV comedy series (1970–1980)

The Goodies is a British television comedy series shown in the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by the BBC, initially on BBC2 but soon repeated on BBC1, from 1970 to 1980. One seven-episode series was made for ITV company LWT and shown in 1981–82.

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References

    (the episode is listed under the title of "Movies" on IMDb)