''The Best Pair of Legs in the Business'' is a 1973

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Christopher Hodson starring

Reg Varney Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the LWT sitcom ''On the Buses'' (1969–73) and its thr ...

Diana Coupland Betty Diana Coupland (5 March 1928 – 10 November 2006), billed as Diana Coupland, was an English actress and singer, best remembered for her role in the sitcom '' Bless This House'', as Jean Abbott, the wife of Sid James character Sid, which s ...

and

Lee Montague Lee Montague (born Leonard Goldberg; 16 October 1927) is an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys. Montague was a student of the Old Vic School. Montague's film credits include ''The Camp on Bloo ...

. A comic/female impersonator at a

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

is concerned about the future. However he manages to secure both a job and a wife. The film is a cinematic version of an episode of ''

ITV Playhouse ''Playhouse'' is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour ...

'' (

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

) by the same writer and director and also starring Reg Varney, transmitted on 28 December 1968.

Plot

Sherry Sheridan's career is dying. He is tolerated rather than valued at the holiday camp. His wife Mary is having an affair with the outgoing camp manager who tries to persuade her to leave with him. Every time she is about to, something happens to prevent it. Sherry's agent drops him. He drinks heavily. The only people who show him any form of affection are two girls who prefer him to two randy boys. His estranged son Alan turns up in an attempt to heal relations. He invites his father to meet his fiancée and her parents including the father who is a vicar. Sherry attempts to puff himself up as a big shot entertainer who knows the Queen. Having disgraced himself, he goes back to the holiday camp alone. The two jilted boys find Sherry peeping into the caravan window of the two girls, who are undressing. They throw him in the swimming pool where he protests that he cannot swim. He is rescued by his son. In a final reconciliation scene, the son explains that the critical comment about having the best legs in the business was actually a compliment after a friend protested that he was embarrassed by his own father's legs in a knobbly knees competition.

Cast

- Sherry Sheridan *

- Mary Sheridan *

- Charlie Green * Jean Harvey - Emma Cooper * David Lincoln - Ron * George Sweeney - Dai * Clare Sutcliffe - Glad *

Penny Spencer Penny Spencer (born 1 January 1948) is a British actress, best remembered for her performance as coquettish schoolgirl Sharon Eversleigh in the LWT television comedy series ''Please Sir!'' (1968–70). She attended Coombe Girls School in New Ma ...

- Eunice * Michael Hadley - Alan Sheridan *

Bill Dean Bill Dean (born Patrick Anthony Connolly, 3 September 1921 – 20 April 2000) was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. Biography ...

- Bert * Reginald Marsh - Fred * Karen Kessey - May * Johnny Briggs - Millet *

Geoffrey Chater Geoffrey Michael Chater Robinson (23 March 1921 – 16 October 2021) was an English film, television and stage actor. He appeared in the crime drama series ''Callan'', ''Foyle's War'' and '' Midsomer Murders''. Biography Geoffrey Michael Chat ...

- Rev. Thorn * Clare Kelly - Mrs. Thorn *

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

- Kim Thorn * Jenny Thompson - Edna Pilbeam *

Claire Davenport Claire Bernice Davenport (24 April 1933 – 25 February 2002) was an English character actress well known for her large physique. Life and career Davenport was born on 24 April 1933 in Sale, Cheshire, and began acting in 1961 with a thea ...

- Eating Lady * Claire Shenstone - 1st Chemist * Jane Cardew - 2nd Chemist *

Preston Lockwood Reginald Herbert Lockwood (30 October 1912 – 24 April 1996), known professionally as Preston Lockwood, was an English radio and television actor. The only son of bus driver Herbert Lewis Lockwood and his wife Ethel May (née Preston), Lockwood ...

- 3rd Chemist

Production

The film was shot at

EMI-MGM Elstree Studios Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production centre operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road st ...

, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and on location in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. The holiday camp location was Riverside Caravan Centre in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns ...

References

External links

* 1973 films 1973 comedy-drama films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios British comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{comedy-drama-film-stub