''Comfort and Joy'' is a 1984 Scottish
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
written and directed by
Bill Forsyth
William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946). known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films '' Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Ma ...
and starring
Bill Paterson as a radio disc jockey whose life undergoes a bizarre upheaval after his girlfriend leaves him. After he witnesses an attack on an ice cream van by angry competitors, he is led into the struggle between two Italian families over the ice cream market of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. The film received a
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
Nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1985.
[.]
Plot
A few days before Christmas,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
radio
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
Allan "Dicky" Bird is stunned when Maddy (
Eleanor David
Maria Eleanor David (born 30 November 1955) is an English actress who has worked on projects in the UK, the US and New Zealand. She won positive reviews for her starring role in the biopic '' Sylvia'', in which she played pioneering educational ...
), his
kleptomania
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...
c girlfriend of four years, suddenly announces that she is moving out. His doctor friend Colin (
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in ''The Inspect ...
) tries to console him, but Bird is heartbroken.
One day, he goes for a drive to take his mind off his troubles. Noticing an attractive girl, Charlotte (
Clare Grogan
Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as ...
), in the back of a "Mr. Bunny"
ice cream van
An ice cream van (British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near ...
, he follows it under a railway bridge on a whim and when the van stops, purchases an ice cream cone. (As in ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'', the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
has followed a rabbit through a tunnel, with sometimes bizarre consequences.) To his amazement, three men drive up and proceed to smash up the van with baseball bats. The occupants retaliate with squirts of
raspberry sauce. By sheer chance, Bird finds himself involved in a
turf war
A turf war is a fight over territory or resources, or may refer to:
Music
* ''Turf Wars'', a 2007 album by the Canadian band Daggermouth
* "Turf War", a song on the 2001 album ''Filmtracks 2000'' by American composer Bill
Television
* ''Turf Wa ...
between rival Italian ice cream vendors: the young interloper Trevor (
Alex Norton
Alexander Hugh Norton (born 27 January 1950) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in the STV detective drama series ''Taggart'', Eric Baird in BBC Two sitcom '' Two Doors Down'', DCS Wallace in ''Extremely Dangerous' ...
) and the older, more established "Mr. McCool" (Roberto Bernardi).
As an admired local celebrity, Bird meets with McCool and his sons Bruno, Paolo, and Renato. He then goes back and forth between them and Trevor and Charlotte (later revealed to be McCool's rebellious daughter), trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Various misadventures follow, with his red
BMW 323i Baur convertible suffering more and more damage each time. Bird becomes obsessed with resolving the war. To contact the combatants, he starts broadcasting
coded messages on his early morning show, causing Hilary (
Rikki Fulton
Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appea ...
), his boss, to ask his secretary if Mr. Bird's contract includes a "sanity clause". Hilary then orders Bird to see a psychiatrist about the Mr. Bunny he keeps trying to reach.
In the end, Bird proposes that the rival
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
s, who turn out to be uncle and nephew, join forces to market a new treat: ice cream
fritter
A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...
s. Both sides are impressed by the product's potential. It appeals both to Trevor's fish and chips frying background as well as Mr. McCool's ice cream expertise. Since Bird alone knows the secret ingredient of the ancient
Chinese recipe, he cuts himself in for 30% of the gross as well as repairs to his abused car.
During the credits, he is heard trying to record a commercial for the new product: "Frosty Hots".
Cast
*
Bill Paterson as Alan Bird
*
Eleanor David
Maria Eleanor David (born 30 November 1955) is an English actress who has worked on projects in the UK, the US and New Zealand. She won positive reviews for her starring role in the biopic '' Sylvia'', in which she played pioneering educational ...
as Maddy
*
Clare Grogan
Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as ...
as Charlotte
*
Alex Norton
Alexander Hugh Norton (born 27 January 1950) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in the STV detective drama series ''Taggart'', Eric Baird in BBC Two sitcom '' Two Doors Down'', DCS Wallace in ''Extremely Dangerous' ...
as Trevor
*
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in ''The Inspect ...
as Colin
*
Rikki Fulton
Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appea ...
as Hilary
* Roberto Bernardi as "Mr. McCool"
*
George Rossi
George Rossi (28 September 1961 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish actor, best known for playing Duncan Lennox in ''The Bill'' from 1998 to 2003.
Early life and education
Rossi was born in Govan, Glasgow, on 28 September 1961. He was of Itali ...
as Bruno
* Peter Rossi as Paolo
* Billy McElhaney as Renato
* Gilly Gilchrist as Rufus
* Caroline Guthrie as Gloria
* Ona McCracken as Nancy
* Elizabeth Sinclair as Fiona
* Katy Black as Sarah
* Robin Black as Lily
*
Ron Donachie
Ronald Eaglesham Porter (born 26 April 1956), known professionally as Ron Donachie, is a Scottish actor. He is known for starring as DI John Rebus in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of the Ian Rankin "Rebus" detective novels and for his supporti ...
as George
*
Arnold Brown as Psychiatrist
*
Iain McColl as Archie
* Billy Johnstone as Amos
Production
Forsyth originally had an idea for a film about a local DJ. He said "When local stations like
Radio Clyde
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
started, it was the first time we had the phenomenon of the local celebrity, famous in a radius of 10 miles, who would open supermarkets in Drumchapel. It was new to Scotland and it was soulful, a guy in his little pod broadcasting to a city in the middle of the night. It gave people a sense of local identity when they heard people on the radio who talked like them."
Forsyth felt he did not have enough for a film, so he added a love story. He needed more, when
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
, who came from an ice cream family, told him stories of the ice cream war. "But the way he was telling it, the rivalry was simply over who had the best ice cream," said Forsyth.
“The whole tenor of the film was fluffiness and silliness because that’s what local radio was," said Forsyth. "While the real
ice-cream wars in Glasgow were about territories for offloading drugs – they weren’t getting antsy about someone else’s ice cream tasting better – the film was a metaphor for the empty-headed niceness of local radio.”
Forsyth was able to raise money to make the film on the basis of his success with ''
Local Hero''. "''Local Hero'' created the impression that my films make money, because it got a lot of coverage and a fair amount of people went to see it. So, in that sense, it made it a bit easier for me to raise money for the next film."
[BILL FOSYTH'S OFFBEAT CONTRIBUTIONS ENRICH THE WORLD OF LOW-BUDGET FILMS Reich, Howard. Chicago Tribune 19 Sep 1985: 7.]
The film was announced in 1983 by
Verity Lambert
Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer.
Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...
as part of a slate of movies by EMI, the others including ''
Dreamchild
''Dreamchild'' is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is ...
'', ''
Morons from Outer Space
''Morons from Outer Space'' is a 1985 British comedy-science fiction film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, Joanne Pearce, Jimmy Nail and James B. Sikking.
Plot
The story begins on a small spaceship docking with ...
'' and ''
Slayground
''Slayground'' is a 1983 British crime thriller film directed by Terry Bedford. Starring Peter Coyote, Mel Smith and Billie Whitelaw, the film is adapted from ''Slayground'', the 14th Parker novel (although the main character has been renamed ...
''. Forsyth said the film was about a man getting a "second
adolescence
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
".
Paterson said he had "not a moment of bad memories... the only other difficulty we had were the weather conditions. We tried to shoot Comfort and Joy in November/December in Glasgow: even when the weather’s good the light is gone by 5 o’clock. If you have a day time story you don’t have many hours to shoot it in. We always seemed to be chasing the light on the exteriors. That’s an abiding memory but everything else was a pleasure. I loved it."
Forsyth said about the film "Everyone handling my film was happy about the way things were going, except me," "Universal never expected to make much money on it, so they thankfully didn't exert much pressure on the making of the film. But they didn't invest much in its promotion, either."
Paterson later said "the ending was never quite right. We’d shot another ending and I don’t know why it wasn’t used. There was a tie up between Dickie and Clare Grogan’s character, but it wasn’t properly resolved so we shot another one. Any film that has an unsatisfactory ending isn’t the perfect film because that’s what people leave the cinema remembering."
Reception
The film was
screened in Cannes in May 1984.
[ It had its UK premiere as the opening film at the 1984 ]Edinburgh Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...
on 14 August 1984. It opened in London on 31 August 1984.
The film was number one at the UK box office for two weeks.
Critical response
In his review in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
wrote, "''Comfort and Joy'' is a charming film on its own, but something of a disappointment when compared to ''Gregory's Girl
''Gregory's Girl'' is a 1980 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan. The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhil ...
'' and ''Local Hero,'' in which the inventions were more consistently comic and crazy." The staff at Film4
Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...
agreed, calling it "... somehow not as satisfying as his orsyth'searly films." The reviewer went on to observe that, "Paterson is always worth seeing, while Grogan and David are equally watchable, but there aren't the belly laughs '' That Sinking Feeling'' provides so readily, or the casual charm of ''Gregory's Girl''." Adil. at ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' was also lukewarm, concluding that after "... evincing much laughter over an unexpectedly funny couple living together, Forsyth abruptly switches into a more conventional plot" and that "David and Paterson are terrific together and almost every line between them is a joy. From the point she departs with no explanation the pic flashes a sparky moment or two, but it doesn't reach the high spots again."[.]
On the other hand, Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
called ''Comfort and Joy'' "... one of the happiest and most engaging movies you are likely to see this year, and it comes from a Glasgow director who has made a specialty out of characters who are as real as you and me, and nicer than me."
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a rating of 100% based on ten reviews.''Comfort and Joy''
at Rotten Tomatoes.
Awards and nominations
Soundtrack
As with Forsyth's previous film ''Local Hero'',
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
provided the film's
score. Some musical passages were taken from the 1982
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
album ''
Love Over Gold
''Love over Gold'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 24 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album featured two singles: "Private Investi ...
''.
See also
*
Glasgow Ice Cream Wars
The ice cream wars were turf wars in the East End of Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s between rival criminal organisations selling drugs and stolen goods from ice cream vans. Van operators were involved in frequent violence and intimidation tac ...
, similar real-life events
References
External links
''Comfort and Joy''at the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
Film Forever
''Comfort and Joy''Screen-on-Line (
BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
)
*
*
*
''Comfort and Joy''film scene at
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{Bill Forsyth
1980s British films
1980s Christmas comedy films
1980s English-language films
1984 comedy films
1984 films
EMI Films films
English-language Scottish films
Films directed by Bill Forsyth
Films set in Glasgow
Scottish comedy films
Scottish films
Television series by STV Studios