grendelkhan I first heard about the Are You Being Served? movie in a book about the series. Our local PBS station eventually procured it and broadcast the film. Well, to say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly. If you had never seen the series before, the film is somewhat amusing; but, rarely laugh-out-loud funny. You really do have to have some acquaintance with the characters to fully appreciate things. Meanwhile, if you have seen the series, most of the jokes are recycled. The same was true in the series; but, there is a big difference: timing. The live audience for the TV tapings gave a sharper timing to the jokes. Here, the actors have no one to react to, apart from each other. They don't pause to let the jokes take hold, since there is no laughter from the audience. It was often those pauses that really sold the jokes and built to the bigger laugh. The film was actually adapted from a successful stage version, which, again, had an audience to react to.Meanwhile, what we are left with is rather clichéd farce. There is the multiple switching of tents, which leads to a series of unexpected (by the character) encounters with the wrong partners. It's old material and it isn't handled in a unique manner, so it falls flat.One of the worst sins of the film is the complete lack of any location or outdoor shooting, apart from boarding the plane. If you are going to film a movie, take advantage of the opportunity. Instead, we have a studio shot on film, instead of videotape, without an audience.It's not all bad. The actors are in good form and the characters get their little moments. Andrew Sachs is well used and the addition of the revolutionary provides plenty of fodder for the farce.This was one of several British films adapted from popular TV shows. I have also seen the Rising Damp movie and Callan and have to say that the latter was the only one that really took advantage of the opportunity that a film version offered.If you are a fan of the series, the film is worth a look, if only to see what else was done with the characters. Other than that, there isn't much to offer.

WakenPayne If recycled or tired were words to describe anything it would be the Are You Being Served movie. The idea was to take a bunch of running gags and merging plot points from the original show together and turn that into a 95 minute movie.The plot is that the Grace Brothers store is closing for redecoration and the Ladies and Gentleman's department are given a holiday... Why? It's never explained. They set up what they need and leave. Once they get to the hotel they are forced to live in tents instead of rooms and also staying there is the most dangerous man in the country. And Hi-jinx ensues.You can pretty much make a list of all the jokes they recycle from the original show. I'm not a fan of it anymore but when I was watching this movie was distracting because of that. There might have been a few new gags as well as the classic double entendres that the show produces and recycles all the time.I would probably recommend this to hardcore fans of the show. Nothing about the original show screamed "movie" anyway. Anyway, if you really enjoy the show enough to hear these jokes being cracked again then this is for you as well as seeing how the subplots (as well as to an extent - the main plot) were borrowed from the show. Other than that I would probably recommend it to people who don't know there actually is a show.

ShadeGrenade The 1977 film version of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd's hit B.B.C. sitcom set in the fictional London department store of 'Grace Brothers' has acquired notoriety for all the wrong reasons. A poll a while back listed it as the worst ever film based on a television show ( what? Worse than 'Sex & The City 2'? Surely they jest? ). Some twit who shall henceforth remain nameless ( and deserves to be ) wrote on a blog devoted to old horror paperbacks: 'The 70's was a time when the film of 'Are You Being Served?' was regarded as the ultimate in hilarity'. It goes to show just how some will brazenly distort facts in order to make a cheap point. I was around then, and it was not regarded as the 'ultimate' in anything, just the latest in a long line of British sitcoms to make a fair-to-middling transfer to the big screen. Critics poured scorn on 'Served?' and the cinemas in which it played were barely full.The cast are all present and correct; Mollie Sugden as bossy 'Mrs.Slocombe', John Inman as camp-as-a-row-of-tents 'Mr.Humphries', Arthur Borough as grumpy 'Mr.Grainger', Frank Thornton as urbane 'Captain Peacock', Wendy Richard as sexy 'Miss Brahms', Trevor Bannister as randy 'Mr.Lucas', Arthur English as 'Mr.Harmon' the janitor, Nicholas Smith as pompous 'Mr.Rumbold', and, last but by no means least, Harold Bennett as 'Young Mr.Grace', who despite being of pensionable age is still going round lusting after pretty girls. The film has the gang off to the Costa Plonka ( groan! ) where, after encountering the usual stereotypes - including Andrew Sachs as the hotel manager - they become involved in a revolution in a scene reminiscent of the climax of 'Carry On Up The Khyber', only to be saved from annihilation by Young Mr.Grace at the controls of a tank. What can one say? Its cheaply made and full of corny - even for those days - jokes and is on the whole pretty appalling, yet somehow manages in its own cock-eyed way to be rather endearing. The original theme tune has been wisely retained, and overall 'Served?' has the feel of a long episode rather than a film. There's something very British about it - and that's no bad thing.Sadly, Borough died a year later, making this one of his final appearances as 'Grainger'. Bob Kellett also directed the film of 'Up Pompeii' which made 'Served?' look like 'The Importance Of Being Ernest' by comparison.It is a sad man who does not laugh when 'The Emir' ( Derek Griffiths ) has his inside leg measured with a tape stuck to a balloon, which then deflates noisily ( like a colossal fart ), causing Mrs.Slocombe to remark: "Its supposed to be a sign of good manners in their country!".

filmbuff69007 This is like a Carry on.with loads of laughs Mr Rumbold is absolutely hilarious.Its surprising that so little of the cast were used in carry ons they certainly could tell the same jokes with a twinkle in there eye.this is bawdy postcard humour at its best.