''Run for Your Wife'' is a 2012 British comedy film, based on the 1983 theatre
farce ''
Run for Your Wife'', written by
Ray Cooney
Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director.
His biggest success, '' Run for Your Wife'' (1983), ran for nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 ...
, who along with John Luton also
directed
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
the film. Upon release, the film promptly received universally negative reviews from critics and has been referred to as
one of the worst films of all time, after it grossed just £602 in its opening weekend. It was released on 14 February 2013.
Plot
The story of London cab driver John Smith, with two wives, two lives, and a very precise schedule for juggling them both. With one wife, Michelle, at home in
Stockwell and another, Stephanie, at home in
Finsbury.
Trouble brews when Smith intervenes in a
mugging. After being hit on the head, he ends up in hospital. This upsets his schedule and causes both wives to report him missing. Smith becomes hopelessly entangled in his attempts with Gary, his doltish ne'er-do-well neighbour downstairs in Stockwell, to explain himself to his wives and two suspicious police officers.
Cast
*
Danny Dyer
Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...
– John Smith
*
Neil Morrissey – Gary Gardner
*
Denise van Outen – Michelle Smith
*
Sarah Harding
Sarah Nicole Harding (; 17 November 1981 – 5 September 2021) was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV reality series '' Popstars: The Rivals'', during which ...
– Stephanie Smith
*
Kellie Shirley
Kelly Jane Shirley (born 11 July 1981), known professionally as Kellie Shirley is an English actress who works in film, television, theatre and radio. She hails from Croydon via a large Northern Irish family. She has also co-presented programme ...
– Susie Browning
*
Christopher Biggins – Bobby Franklin
*
Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...
– Cyril
*
Nicholas Le Prevost
Nicholas Le Prevost (born 18 March 1947) is an English actor.
Early life
Le Prevost was born in Wiltshire. He was educated at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset from 1957 to 1961 and at Kingswood School, Bath from 1961 to 1964. ...
– D. S. Porterhouse
*
Ben Cartwright – D. S. Troughton
*
Derek Griffiths
Derek Griffiths (born 15 July 1946) is a British actor, singer, and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in television drama.
Career
Griffiths was ...
– Stockwell Police Officer
*
Nick Wilton
Nicholas Wilton is an English actor and scriptwriter. He has appeared as Mr Lister in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' as a recurring character; he has also appeared in ''Carrott's Lib'' and '' Jackanory''.
Early life
Wilton studied Engli ...
– Taxi Driver
*
Jeffrey Holland – Dick Holland
*Louise Michelle – Frances
*Mike Smithies - Grumpy Oldman
*Paul Curran - The Liar
*Mark Foxwell - The Ghost
Cameo roles (alphabetical)
*
Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts; 18 September 1947) is an English musician, comedian and actor. Born in Chester, he first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, la ...
– Hospital patient
*
Robin Askwith
Robin Mark Askwith (born 12 October 1950) is an English actor and singer who has appeared in a number of film, television and stage productions.
Making his film debut as Keating in the film '' if....'' (1968), a role he would reprise in ''Brita ...
– Bus driver
*
Lynda Baron
Lilian Ridgway (24 March 1939 – 5 March 2022), known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is best known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom ''Open All Hours'' (1976–1985) and its sequel ...
– Nurse
*
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television.
Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...
– Newspaper seller; Briers originated the role of John Smith in the West End.
*
Tony Britton
Anthony Edward Lowry Britton (9 June 1924 – 22 December 2019) was an English actor. He appeared in a variety of films (including ''The Day of the Jackal'') and television sitcoms (including '' Don't Wait Up'' and '' Robin's Nest''
He is the f ...
– Man on bus
*
Jess Conrad – Piano player
*
Tom Conti
Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
– Actor
*
Wendy Craig
Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig (born 20 June 1934) is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms ''Not in Front of the Children'', '' ...And Mother Makes Three'', '' ...And Mother Makes Five'' and ''Butterflies''. ...
– Nanny
*
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades.
During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...
– Hospital patient; Cribbins originated the role of (Stanley) Gardner in the West End.
*
Barry Cryer
Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory ...
– Busker
*
Ian Cullen
George Ian Cullen (20 October 1939 – 12 November 2019) was a British actor.
Cullen first became interested in acting when appearing in a pantomime aged four (late 1943). He trained at RADA with a scholarship when he was 16.
An early televis ...
– Wrinkled Man
*
Pamela Cundell – War Widow
*
Geoffrey Davies
Geoffrey Davies (born 15 December 1942 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor.
Biography
The son of an accountant, Davies was educated at grammar school and studied at art college to be a commercial artist before becoming an ...
– Man in theatre queue
*
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
– Bag lady
*
Les Dennis
Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor, and comedian. He presented ''Family Fortunes'' from 1987 until 2002.
Early life
Dennis was born Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liverpoo ...
- Man on street
*
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
- Man in shop
*
Jean Fergusson - Exercising woman
*
Derek Fowlds
Derek James Fowlds (2 September 1937 – 17 January 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his appearances as "Mr Derek" in ''The Basil Brush Show'' (1969–1973), Bernard Woolley in the sitcom ''Yes Minister'' (1980–1984) and its s ...
– Man in hat
*
William Gaunt
William Charles Anthony Gaunt (born 3 April 1937 in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. He became widely known for television roles such as Richard Barrett in ''The Champions'' (1968–1969), Arthur Crabtree in '' No Place ...
– Man on bus
*
Liza Goddard
Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950) professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s.
Early life
Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.Before 1 ...
– Exercising woman
*
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...
– Busker
*
Nicky Henson – Hospital patient
*
Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is an English actress with a wide variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in ''Doctor Who'' (1977–1978), Anne Reynolds in ''The Omega Factor'' (1979), ...
– Doctors Receptionist
*
Vernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' All Star Family Fortunes'' ...
- Plate-spinning man
*
Jeff Leach - Thief in shop
*
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespea ...
– Exercising woman
*
Katy Manning
Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning (born 14 October 1946) is an English- Australian actress, television presenter, voice artist and former model. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as t ...
- Exercising woman
*
Vicki Michelle
Vicki Michelle, (born 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series Allo 'Allo!'' and as ...
– Tourist
*
Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer
* Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer
* Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...
– Allotment man
*
Derren Nesbitt
Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he also appeared in many television series in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He is known for his role as Major von ...
– Man on bus
*
Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to:
Politicians
* Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician
*Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire
*Geoffrey Pa ...
– Man on toilet
*
Bill Pertwee
William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom '' Dad's Army''.
Early life
Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 192 ...
– Man on bus; Pertwee originated the role of Porterhouse in the West End.
*
Jacki Piper
Jacqueline Crump (born 3 August 1946), known professionally by her stage name Jacki Piper, is an English actress, best known for her appearances as the female juvenile lead in the British film comedies '' Carry On Up the Jungle'' (1970), '' Carr ...
- Nurse
*
Su Pollard
Susan Georgina Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is an English actress and singer. Her career has spanned over 45 years; she is most famous for her role in the sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!''. She also appeared in ''You Rang, M'Lord?'' and '' Oh, Doctor Bee ...
– Newsagent
*
Linda Regan
Linda Regan (born 5 November 1949), born Linda Mary Drinkwater, is a actr ...
- Allotment woman
*
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
– Busker
*
Andrew Sachs
Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...
– Clumsy waiter
*
Prunella Scales
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...
– Woman at pub
*
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...
– Taxi passenger
*
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor.
Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...
– Man on bus
*
Pat Sharp
Patrick Sharpin, known professionally as Pat Sharp (born 25 October 1961), is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. In the UK, he is known mainly for his work on the children's ITV programme ''Fun House'', and his extensiv ...
- Man in flat
*
Sylvia Syms – Hip operation woman
*
Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was known for playing Captain Peacock in ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel ''Grace & Favour'' (''Are You Being Served? ...
– Man getting off bus
*
Wanda Ventham
Wanda Ventham (born 5 August 1935) is an English actress with many roles on British television since beginning her career in the 1950s. She played Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970s science-fiction television series ''UFO'' and had a recurring ...
– Lady on Bus
*
Marcia Warren
Marcia Warren (born 26 November 1942) is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in ''Blithe Spirit'' as Madame Arcati and '' The Sea'' (2008) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She is currently appearing in Netflix' ...
– Woman on seat
*
Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', '' Minder'' and '' New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of th ...
– Minding Person
*
Giles Watling
Giles Francis Watling (born 18 February 1953) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton since 2017. Prior to entering politics, he was an actor.
Early life and education
Born in Chingford to ac ...
– Man in pub
*
Moray Watson
Moray Robin Philip Adrian Watson (25 June 1928 – 2 May 2017) was an English actor from Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Life
Watson was born in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to Gerard Arthur Watson (1901–1940), a ship broker, who was killed during World ...
– Man on bus
*
Timothy West
Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...
– Man in pub
*
June Whitfield
Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress.
Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...
– Exercising woman
*
Finty Williams
Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress.
Life
Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...
- Woman on bus
*
Simon Williams – Café customer
*
Mark Wingett
Mark Christopher Wingett (born 1 January 1961) is an English actor.
He is best known for his roles as PC/DC Jim Carver in ''The Bill'' and '' EastEnders'' as Mike Swann, '' Hollyoaks'' as Frank Symons and '' Heartbeat'' as Terry Molloy. His fi ...
– Man outside café
Production
Over 80 celebrities agreed to make
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s having all agreed to donate their fees to a theatrical charity. The
executive producer is
Vicki Michelle
Vicki Michelle, (born 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series Allo 'Allo!'' and as ...
.
According to the end credits, there was a sequel planned based on Cooney’s later play ''Caught in the Net'', but due to the disastrous box office returns the project was clearly scrapped. During filming Dyer was mistaken by onlookers for an actual taxi driver.
Reception
''Run for Your Wife'' had so many overwhelmingly negative reviews upon release that the reviews themselves were widely reported in the UK media. The film was variously described as "a catastrophe", "as funny as leprosy" and "30 years past its sell-by date", with ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reviewer
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
saying that it "makes ''
The Dick Emery Show
''The Dick Emery Show'' is a British sketch comedy show starring Dick Emery. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1963 to 1981. It was directed and produced by Harold Snoad. The show was broadcast over 19 series with 166 episodes. The show experienced ...
'' look edgy and contemporary".
''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''s Anthony Quinn wrote, "The stage play ran for nine years – it
he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
will be lucky to run for nine days. Perhaps never in the field of light entertainment have so many actors sacrificed so much dignity in the cause of so few jokes... From the look of it, Cooney hasn't been in a cinema for about 30 years". The cameo-heavy cast was commented upon by several reviewers, with the
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
commenting that "no one emerges unscathed among the cameo-packed cast that reads largely like a roll-call for Brit TV legends you'd previously suspected deceased".
The ''
Daily Record'' described the film as "an exasperating farce containing not one single, solitary laugh. people losing their trousers and falling over, the film looks like a pilot for a (mercifully) never-commissioned 70s sitcom". An article in the ''Independent'' described ''Run for Your Wife'' (along with the similarly badly received ''
Movie 43
''Movie 43'' is a 2013 American anthology comedy film conceived by producer Charles B. Wessler. The film features fourteen different storylines, each one by a different director, including Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundie ...
'') as contenders for the title of the "worst film in history".
''
The Berkhamsted & Tring Gazette'' reported "critics have being queuing up to batter recent release ''Run for Your Wife'', with general agreement that it ranks among the worst British comedies of all time". The South African newspaper ''
Daily News'' stated that "''Run for Your Wife'' could be the worst film in history", the ''
Studio Briefing'' website reported that "Some writers are making the case that the British comedy ''Run for Your Wife'', written by and starring
iccomedian Ray Cooney, may be “the worst film ever"”, and ''
The Daily Mirror
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' reported (a few months after its release) that ''Run For Your Wife'' "was branded the worst British film ever."
''Run for Your Wife'' currently has a
0% rating on
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 ...
.
''Run for Your Wife''
Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
See also
*List of films considered the worst
The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey ...
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1965057, Run for Your Wife
2012 films
Plays by Ray Cooney
British comedy-drama films
British films based on plays
Films based on works by Ray Cooney
Films set in apartment buildings
Films set in London
British sex comedy films
Polygamy in fiction
2010s sex comedy films
2012 comedy films
2010s English-language films
2010s British films