Wonderful character development!

the audience applauded

Instant Favorite.

Absolutely the worst movie.

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.

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!".

This film, based on the tremendously popular "Are You Being Served" British television show that ran from 1972-85 (and still endures on American public television), falls pitifully flat. It plays like one long episode of the television series, but without the spark that earned the series its large and affectionate following.Had this film come at or near the end of the television series' original production run, we might have concluded that the writers and/or players had lost some creative energy. But it didn't. It was released in 1977, at the height of the show's popularity. After the film, the same people went back to create some of the most enjoyable and memorable episodes of the show--they were by no means washed up.The plot plods doggedly through bits recycled from the television series, including some wince-inducing cultural slurs and too much toilet/fart humour. The writers even stoop to the "walk this way" gag, which is as old as time itself. Regular viewers of the TV show will tire at the cut-and-pastedness of the script; newcomers will sit puzzled by the running gags and in-jokes that one can only "get" from the TV show.The actors, while masterful at playing to a live audience (which they did for the television series), seem off balance without the buoyance of audience response, often pausing for laughter that never comes.The aural atmosphere is either dead and silent, containing only the players' voices, or filled in by a Muzakesque musical score entirely indifferent to the events on screen. The lighting also has an unnatural spotlight quality at times. Like makeup, good lighting should look like none at all.That there is tremendous talent here, both in the players and the writers, has been well demonstrated before and after this film. But not during.

This is a film spin off to a sit-com more memorable for its characters at Grace Bros clothing store than its jokes: Mr Humphries ( A camp homosexual ) Ms Brahms ( A slutty single girl ) Mr Harman ( a sleazy janitor ) Mr Lucas ( A jack the lad ) Captain Peacock ( An uptight former military man ) and of course Mrs Slocombe where many of the jokes revolve around her losing her cat - " Has anyone seen my pussy ? " In short it's a comedy that relied on two dimensional characters and innuendo , British humour at its most basic and unsophisticated . It might have been funny at the time but it probably wouldn't raise too many smiles now As most people on this page have noticed this is a very poor film version of the TV series . The first third of the running time is taken up with the characters working at grace brothers clothing store then the action switches to the holiday resort of Costa Plonka and a plot involving a rebel leader about to stage a revolution , but this is secondary to things like a comedy of errors involving Mr Lucas sending a dirty note to Ms Brahms only for Mrs Slocombe to receive it thinking it's from Captain Peacock . This type of humour is very dated now and while Benny Hill might still remain funny , I can't say I laughed much watching this