George And Mildred - The Movie (DVD)

...entertaining.

George and Mildred was actually a spin-off from the hit series Man About the House, starring Sally Thomsett, Paula Wilcox and Richard O'Sullivan. George and Mildred Roper were the landlords of the house in which the three lived and having made a hit with the audience, when Man About the House came to its natural conclusion, a series featuring George and Mildred and their life after moving to Hampton Wick was launched ...
...every attempt to better herself. George is very much working class and refuses to pretend to be what he isn't. This doesn't stop Mildred though; her motto is clearly 'if at first you don't succeed...'! Yootha Joyce is truly superb in this role. She has amazing comic timing and the withering glances that she gives to George are just hilarious.

I was surprised to find that Yootha Joyce actually was her real name; her full name was Yootha ... more

I have to admit that buying this was a bit of a mistake. I'm a fan of British sitcoms, particularly those from the 1970s and 1980s and like to collect series on DVD. In this case, I thought I was buying a DVD of the first series at a bargain price of £2.99 from play.com's sale. I should have looked more carefully. What I ended up with was a feature film based on the series, which was a bit of a disappointment, knowing that most feature films of this type are nowhere near as good as the original series. However, I sat down to watch in the hope that it would be at least entertaining.

George and Mildred was actually a spin-off from the hit series Man About the House, starring Sally Thomsett, Paula Wilcox and Richard O'Sullivan. George and Mildred Roper were the landlords of the house in which the three lived and having made a hit with the audience, when Man About the House came to its natural conclusion, a series featuring George and Mildred and their life after moving to Hampton Wick was launched and was later to become a hit in its own right. Another spin-off from Man About the House was Robin's Nest, starring Richard O'Sullivan.

Mildred is played by the late great Yootha Joyce. Mildred, from somewhat low beginnings, has high hopes of becoming upper class. Unfortunately, her husband George, a traffic warden, manages to thwart her at every attempt to better herself. George is very much working class and refuses to pretend to be what he isn't. This doesn't stop Mildred though; her motto is clearly 'if at first you don't succeed...'! Yootha Joyce is truly superb in this role. She has amazing comic timing and the withering glances that she gives to George are just hilarious.

I was surprised to find that Yootha Joyce actually was her real name; her full name was Yootha Joyce Needham. This film was to be one of her last pieces of work; she died of liver failure shortly after the film had been finished. According to wikipedia, it was discovered that she was an alcoholic, drinking up to a litre of brandy a day, although no-one had realised. Brian Roper was at her bedside when she died; he had no idea she was so ill and was devastated by her death. I feel so sad that her talent was wasted in this way. In today's society, she may have been able to get the help that she so badly needed.

Brian Roper does a superb job as the weak-willed George. Again, he has excellent comic timing, but I think what I find so attractive about his performance is his relationship with Yootha Joyce, They were clearly very close in real life and this really shows in the film and the series. The couple really do seem like an old married couple, with Yootha constantly carping at George for his lack of ambition, sexual prowess and asperations to a better life and George constantly complaining that Mildred spends so much money.

The film wouldn't be complete without the appearance of Norman Eshley and Sheila Fearn as the Ropers' neighbours, Jeffrey and Ann. Their part is small, but Jeffrey's total repugnance of everything that the Ropers do is truly hilarious. Stratford Johns also appears in the film as a major criminal. Although I think he is a superb actor, he lets himself down in this film with a highly exaggerated performance that adds little to the comedy of the film.

As the background for the film, it is George and Mildred's anniversary. Wanting to live up to her aspersions to a wealthy lifestyle, Mildred insists that George takes her away for the weekend to a posh hotel. As usual though with George and Mildred, nothing goes quite according to plan and they unwittingly become involved with a gang of criminals. George is mistaken for a hit man and in the following confusion, George and Mildred manage to avoid being killed by a series of fortunate coincidences.

I am a huge fan of George and Mildred. They are one of comedy's funniest couples and as far as I'm concerned, they can do little wrong. Unfortunately, their appearance in this film is the only thing that saves it from being total pants. The plot is highly contrived and while it would have been fine for a thirty minute episode, dragging it out for an hour and a half is just too much. I watched the film purely for the interaction between George and Mildred; the storyline left me totally cold and I really didn't care all that much what happened.

It isn't all bad. The writer, Dick Sharples, does throw in some funny moments, but on the whole the comedy is lacklustre and based on pure silliness, which gets a little tiring after a while. One or two people being totally stupid is fine, but when it extends to everyone that appears in the film, it is just too much.

There are a number of feature films based on sitcoms from this period; I suppose it is the equivalent of the 'specials' that we tend to have nowadays. However, whereas specials generally tend to be good, the feature films, like this one, appear rushed and thrown together simply to make a few bucks. This is a shame, because as an introduction to the series, this does not do a good job.

I am reviewing the DVD, but unfortunately, there are no extras included. Not surprising bearing in mind that it was made in 1980 and one of the main characters is now dead, but I would have really liked to see something about the main actors.

I can't really recommend this film unless you are a diehard fan of George and Mildred and know that the series is much much better. I enjoyed watching it because of the Ropers, but as a film in its own right, it is pretty poor. If you haven't watched any of the series, please don't start with this, it is unlikely to persuade you to watch more.

Luckily, I only paid £2.99 for this on play.com. It can now be bought on Amazon for £4.97, although my advice would be to stick at buying the series, which are available from about £6.

Running time: 89 minutes

Classification:15 (purely for the sexual innuendo rather than anything else).
 

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